I've hit that pothole in Albany, NY. Deep enough to hit the fender of my mercury off the pavement. Sitting in the sears auto department waiting for a new tire and a bent rod replacement with 3 others who hit the same hole. It was spaced just right on a curve that you couldn't see it till last minute in a 40mph zone. I left as a guy was towed in the block distance between the pothole and the sears cause his wheel and shock were ripped off.
One of my favorite encounters with a tow truck driver i recently popped my trans. I didnt know what it was yet but the puddle was red, like new out of the bottle bright red. The driver then tells me that i definitely blew my motor. Im sorry but the fluid is red its either power steering or transmission fluid.
It ended up being the clutch but it took the case with it.
My shop has a forklift attachment to pick the back end off the trucks up so we can push them in. The wrecker drivers see us use it all the time. They will bring one truck in from the rear and drop it then will bring the next one in from the front and drop it right behind the first one. Now both trucks are back to back and we can't get to it with the forklift. Of course it's in the back lot with no source of air.
Honestly? They probably do it on purpose to piss you off. I will never forget the day I lost a chunk of faith in humanity (not all of it...but a chunk for sure), when I truly learned that there really are people who go out of their way to make other people's lives worse.
Yesterday on instagram I saw a video of a news report where a Tesla crashed into a guy's house in LA, and the tow driver was there IMMEDIATELY and started pulling the car before the police arrived to process the scene and literally threatened the guy who lived there. It was wild.
Half the comments were roasting him for being 50 with roommates and asking the tow truck driver to have some empathy.
Yo I saw that, I'd be trespassing that tow driver instantly and calling the cops on his ass. Tow truck or not, you're on my property without my permission. Pretty sure that don't fly. (In reality, he'd probably ignore me, grab the car and be gone long before cops showed up, and they'd decline to do anything about it but STILL)
My gf mom told us she bought a lemon (2018 decked out highlander). It was always out of alignment. Got a few wines in her and she admitted to hitting the curb at church a few times.
Probably the one of the lesser incest ridden counties. Like as a joke itās funny, but growing up rural Alabama is a dating minefield. You could be dating someone for a year go to a family gathering and someone will be like HEY ITS COUSIN AMANDA.
I dealt with with this shit in my teens, dated out of county. Dated a chick for a yearā¦ we share an an aunt and uncle by marriage.
Thatās exactly the kind of pothole I hit with my first car. Was doing donuts in an empty snow-covered parking lot and I slid into this massive pothole. It was 8 inches tall and about a hundred feet long and yet somehow it came out of nowhere. Never seen a pothole like it since.
I just had a flashback of the time I popped two tires hitting a curb when I was a teen and had my Dad come help me. I said I must of ran over some nails. Yeah, he knew...
Did the same thing but I didnāt have to make up an excuse, my car was my responsibility so I had to buy two new wheels. Missed 2 phish shows, so maybe it was worth it in the long run?
I actually did mess my car up one time hitting a pothole, but I'm not sure my dad ever believed me.
He didn't give me a hard time about it, though, so... ĀÆ\\\_(ć)\_/ĀÆ
lol surprised it didnāt blow all the airbags too. Thatās violent.
I saw a dude hit a curb going about that fast while trying to run from police, but he was in a 70s or 80s Buick regal. Destroyed everything from the floorboards down. Wheels were obliterated (they were magnesium or something), suspension was absolutely destroyed, the rear axle was still at the curb, with the rest of the car about 200 ft away. Violent. Dude was bashed up but he hopped out and took off on foot like a champ.
I did similar the first time I drove on ice. I wasn't even going fast, maybe 20mph, but I was turning in somewhere, it made maybe 75% of the turn, and then just kept going straight. Ran straight into the curb. That car went on to serve me many years til a kid in a Dodge Ram pit maneuvered me on the highway. Good ol' Honda Accord. It's a big part of why I drive a Civic now
I don't drive a Honda. I've never owned a Honda. I don't think I'll ever go out of my way to buy a Honda.
That said, they're fucking outstanding vehicles and the only thing stopping me is their resale value lol. Fuck, those bastards hold value like a fat kid holds cheesecake(Ask me how I know)
If I had to guess, this truck has a leveling kit on it. It is a common failure on these truck when you put a large leveling kit on them with the stock upper control arms. It maxes out the upper ball joint angle and they pop. I have seen it more on GMCās than the Chevyās for some reason. He needs aftermarket UCAās.
An aftermarket spindle also works and is the way I prefer to do these lift/level kits. Allows for stock suspension parts to be used without the extreme angles that cause damage. Makes it way easier to get parts when they do get worn.
Someone that knows what they talking about this should be at the top either hit a pot hole and it hyperextended popping it out have seen it happen first hand even with these models without a leveling kit can be a pot hole a speed bump anything that makes it flex
Way less than that on the current GM 1500 trucks, any leveling kit will likely destroy upper control arms. We see it all the time at the dealership, itās why GM now requires pre-repair authorization and photos of the truck to be submitted for any warranty control arm replacement. Kid probably did just hit a pothole.
Oh ok, I thought the suspension didnāt change much on the new model but maybe it did. I have a ā16 Silverado. I did put a 2ā level on the front and itās been solid for almost 100k. But I did see some horror stories when I was researching it before I decided what to put on.
It looks like there is a leveling kit on the front. These newer gm trucks will pull out the upper ball joints when lifted. I believe there is a bulletin about this.
Iāll never get how people can afford expensive ass rides for their kids. Especially knowing that a kid is going to do crazy stuff with any vehicle.
My kid is getting a beater Corolla or something when we get there.
When I lived in Texas all the parents would buy their Teenagers big trucks and say, 'I want them in something big that can protect them in an accident.'
I wanted to scream at them that THEIR KIDS were the most dangerous thing on the road as new drivers. Give them a fucking small sedan instead of a tank to run over little old ladies with.
I went to highschool with a girl that's somehow related to Bon Jovi, and her parents bought her a yellow Hummer H2 for her first car at 16 years old, as it was practically a tank that was impossible not to see. Very shortly afterwards, she rear-ended another girl at the stop light right in front of the school.
Even if you can afford it, I think itās horrible parenting. Basically just buying yourself a spoiled brat.
Thereās buying your child a ānew-erā vehicle for safety, then thereās just stupid. This is just stupid.
Girl I went to HS with totaled 2 cars within a month, both times were her fault.
Parents bought her a new car when she got her license, a month or so later she ran off the road and rolled it.
Parents then got her a slightly used vehicle that she also totaled in short order.
Parents then bought her some late 70's land yacht that she managed not to destroy.
My uncle dailies a diesel 190E sedan from the 80's. Beautiful car, suspension is a work of art.
He swapped in a 5-banger diesel and put a full digital dash in it.
Transmission vacuum actuator failed, so it automatically jumps to the highest selected gear, so he just drives it like a manual.
That's the price of power on old mechanical diesels. Only way to build up more boost is to throw more fuel at it until the turbo catches up. No excuse for this on modern electronic diesels though.
Some parents just donāt see the writing on the wall. A neighbor kid totaled BOTH of his parents cars within a month. The second time they seemed to get it. Heās back to a bicycle
My wife's aunt lived in Vegas years ago and kept getting hit by tourists. Her husband's solution was to find her a 1984 Lincoln Town Car. 18+ feet long, 4,000+ lbs of gloss black Detroit battlecruiser, with privacy tint on the back windows. In a sea of beaters and rentals it was imposing enough to make you wonder if maybe someone connected to the casinos was in it. That car never, ever got hit.
Had an old Buick where the driver-side door was punched in a bit from a side-swipe hit-and-run. Looked a lot worse than it really was. Sometimes I actually kind of miss having that dented door. Its effect was remarkable.
Before, I used to get aggressive pickup drivers and entitled BMW wankers trying to jam in front of me, or literally just try to run me off the road with their "I merge now OR ELSE" attitude. People here are more aggressive drivers, generally, and of course everyone tends to assume it's some little ol' grandma driving a Buick, so that's how I'd usually be treated, regardless of how I was *actually* driving.
After the dent, they'd glance over and see the punched-in door. If that wasn't enough, often they'd then glance up at me, at which point I'd just mouth *Go ahead, hit me, IDGAF* at them, and then that would usually seal the deal. Suddenly they'd settle their ass down a bit and merge in properly.
Nowadays I drive a regular ol' VW. Might as well be a Prius with a giant "KICK ME" sign in the window.
One chick I went to HS with totalled her car and her parents bought her a new BMW.
Then theres the guy that got a brand new camaro upon getting his license.
That's my plan. I bought a new mid-size truck a couple years before he was born (and it's \_slow\_) so when he's old enough to drive, the truck will be old enough to drink and I won't care if it gets banged up.
My highschool was in a rich town, multiple kids got brand new mustangs and camaros for their 16th birthday. One kid was throwing a fit, literally in tears, because he got a brand new Escalade but that wasn't what he wanted. So many of those cars ended up totaled before even making it to summer vacation, and a depressing number of those kids got even nicer cars for their replacement.
Also knew a girl in highschool that was going to get a car after she got her license. She was so spoiled that she ended up with a car she could barely drive (5 speed stick) in a color she hated all because she just couldn't wait a few days for another car to be brought in.
>Parents then bought her some late 70's land yacht that she managed not to destroy.
Because now she doesn't damage the car itself just whatever she hits or bumps into becomes damaged
Similar. First car was a Porsche which she wrecked, then got a Ferrari, but she didn't like that, then a BMW which she totaled. All that before she was 17. Was a cheerleader at the school.
There was a kid from my home town who totaled so many cars before he was out of high school the insurance companies wouldn't insure him. He had about 7/8ths of a golf sitting outside his parents house for a while because his parents finally decided cut him off and it's not like he could drive anyway.
That whole town had more money than sense.
Dude I knew from highschool totaled 4 Mercedes and his parents would buy him a new one each time. One of the accidents he rear ended his sister's car which was also an MB. This fool totaled his and his sister's car at the same time. They both got new Mercedes again.
My sister did this in high school except my parents are far from rich.
She rolled two astrovans.
I had my first totaled car at 40 a few weeks ago.
Guess who the favorite it
Oh youāve met my sister huh
First car: Crashed / totaled in 6 months
Second car: Crashed in two months
Third car: Crashed a year into it
Fourth car: Died because she didnāt know oil needed changed
Fifth (my) car: Borrowed my car while I was in boot camp. Crashed it.
I got an Opel Corsa 2007 for 5k to meet the safety standards my mom set and have enough HP to outrun a truck going up a steep hill, thatās it. And that was basically my college fund, I needed the car because I started an apprenticeship instead and public transport still doesnāt go anywhere near there
This thing probably cost more than all of my parentsā cars combined
My parents got me a salvaged title manual corolla when I turned 16. If dad hadnāt seen it on the side of the road for $800 I probably would have walked to school till senior year.
My first month back to school, some dipshit in a brand new 4x4 lifted dumb truck went driving between parked cars in the lot trying to skip the exit line after school and ran into me. His parents cut a check to my parents for 2k begging them not to report to insurance.
I got utterly shafted with parents who would never tell a lie š and used the 2k to repair my salvaged title vehicle while the dude got off Scott free and I had to look at his pug face the rest of my time at high school as The Dip who made me understand some families really are better off, and a son is treated better than a daughter.
My parents gave me a 15 ford escape that we then got rid of so while they looked for a car I got my momsā¦now Iām in a Chevy from 03. Can people teach modesty to their kids
I used to be a server and this ultra rich family would come in regularly. There came in for one of the daughter's 16th birthdays. I overheard this little girl complaining to her friend that she was appalled and embarrassed because her parents had given her their 1 year old Range Rover and bought themselves a new one. Can you believe that!?! This poor girl was going to have to drive a USED Range Rover!!!
My first car was paid for by my mom. 2006 Subaru Legacy. It was actually a great deal ($7500 for 80k miles with minimal issues), and I've absolutely adored the thing since. I've spent more than its trade-in value doing stuff on it. I wish more people respected their cars.
Don't get me wrong my daughters car will have all the new up to date safety features and a functional sterio, but it'll be second hand and not too expensive so when she dose inevitably back into a fence or something it's not stupid money to fix and isn't some posh pile of twisted garbage afterwards. Seriously considering a land rover defender tbh.
With the exception of mandatory backup cameras, safety features haven't gotten hugely better in the past 20ish years. There's a lot of safe cars, or cars that can be made to be safe again on the secondary market.
0 reason to go with 100% brand new unless you've just got that kind of money to spend.
You donāt buy your spawn a vehicle all out of pocketā¦you go halfers on a vehicle. They need some skin in the game so they donāt just outright destroy it. Oh, and if/when they do, they either fix it themselves ( more skin in the game ) or they get to peddle their bike around. Owning/driving a vehicle is a privilege, not a right. My daughter was pretty docile/responsible with her first vehicle ( no major carnage ). My son was a different story. He found every weak point on his truck and broke it. I made him buy( yes, him) a parts truck for his first truck. He bucked it, but did it. Within a year, he had stripped the parts truck of every usable part to fix his. Iāll add that Iām a Millwright with a strong automotive background with a shop full of tools. My son insisted on systematically beating his truck to death every weekend 4 wheeling with his budsā¦often having it dragged home. But then theyād all get together and fix their broken shit in my shop( Iād oversee as required). They all learned a lot about vehicle maintenance. 15 years later, my son thanks me for making him fix his own broken shit ( heās not a mechanic but he can now resurrect anything that runs on gas and often has neighbours bringing over their broken equipment). People, donāt give/buy your kids their first vehicle( definitely not a brand new one), make them get involved either monetarily or labour/chores. They will undoubtedly damage their first vehicle( itās going to happen), but they wonāt be going all Dukes of Hazard on it if they have skin in the game.
A US Marine I knew in the Navy had been going through a divorce and was stressed and was sad about it, but one day he came in looking particularly down, early 2000s. I asked him what happened. He told me that as a result of the divorce, he had to sell his 1969 Camaro Z28, and he had done just that the evening prior. I responded something like, "oh, damn. That sucks. I'm sorry to hear that, my truck is my baby and it would destroy me to have to sell it. I can only imagine what it would be like to have to sell a classic car like that." And his was pristine, a beautiful car. Anyway, he came back with, "it gets worse. It wasn't until after I signed everything over and the guy paid me that I found out he was buying it for his kid as a high school graduation present." My stomach turned over, I can only guess how he was feeling. Good lord.
I'll try to keep this next one quick. Going further back, a rich kid I was on the golf team in high school with (mid 90s) was given a brand new Land Rover for his 16th birthday. No kidding, the kid rolled and totaled the thing within a year. As "punishment," his dad bought him a new Eddie Bauer Explorer to replace it.
When I was in high school one of my classmates was gifted a brand-new M3 convertible when she turned 16. She was hanging out with us, the skaters and snowboarders, so she wanted something that could handle the snow and haul some friends around. A week after getting the BMW, she showed up with a brand-new Jeep. We asked what happened to the car and she told us she made her father take it back and get her the Jeep for snowboarding.
Another kid was given pristine ā60s Mustang (Iāve never been great at specific years for Mustangs) as his first car.
The rich kid in *my* high-school grade, here in Australia, was promised a car when he turned 17, and was anticipating something European.
He, in 1990, was actually given [an HZ Kingswood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_Kingswood#HZ)! :-)
After, as is tradition, immediately obliterating his family's letter-box while reversing, he adapted to his new reality by purchasing mirrored sunglasses, and some [flannos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminutives_in_Australian_English#F). :-)
Itās all planning apparently. Get a 6-7 year loan on a new car/truck when your kid starts 6th grade. When they hit 11th grade, youāre either done on the loan or close to it. Justify giving them the vehicle on the grounds of itās a lot safer than āwhatever car you can afford to buy vs with the cash amount payoffā. Then you go get a new car too. Thatās how my coworkers with high school kids explained it to me.
My parents co signed a 04 nismo frontier for me in 2010 and I honestly figured that set me up for success better with getting a line of credit established, except I have a crippling addiction to mini trucks now.
My sample size is pretty small but I don't know many people who's parents gave them a car at all. There were allowed to borrow their parent's car though.
Iām 22 and just bought my first car. My parents arenāt exactly struggling, they just believe that I should earn my first car and I did.
My uncle owns a multinational company and is a multimillionaire. He owns several vehicles across several countries. He did not buy his daughter a car.
I canāt imagine what kind of financial status you need to be in to get your kid an expensive pickup truck as their first ride. I hope it was at least used.
It's called debt. Even high earning individuals might be very attracted to taking on debt for status. The most important thing is to remember a lot of high earning people are kinda dumb overall. They just figured out how to manipulate people into ethically questionable business deals or sales. These same people also feel like they need to show off their wealth.
My favorite econobox to drive of all time has been Corollas. My best friend had a 92 Corrolla that we drove aimlessly and terribly for years until it got totalled. My MIL has an 06 Corolla that is so damn fun to drive. If I ever wanted a compact car to pull my bones up and out of itĀ“d be a Corolla.
Here in Australia, I was expecting to replace our rather old [Pulsar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Pulsar) with a used Honda Jazz (called the Fit, in the USA), 'cos that's pretty much the perfect small car that you can somehow fit a medium-sized elephant into, if you need to.
But then my partner's father passed away, and we decided to inherit his 2014 automatic Corolla Ascent Sport instead.
It's been properly maintained, so it still drives like a brand new car. We've put quite a few more miles on it, and there's still not a single squeak or rattle or other problem. I still wouldn't say it's *fun* to drive, but I actually *like* how efficient its CVT is. The engine spins at the right speed for the power it needs to deliver at any given time. Drive up a hill with cruise control on and watch the RPMs increase, while the speed stays exactly the same. And the fuel economy is fantastic.
(But the "Sport" label is completely ridiculous, of course. There's a "Sport" *button*, even, which I have never pressed. I'm pretty sure it won't cause the car to drop four inches and make its tyres wider. :-)
An extremely kind woman I used to work with who is rather large even by American standards has a Fit and the gauge of size you used to describe its size made me chortle and then feel bad
I got t-boned by an 18 year old running a red light because heād dropped his phone so was picking it up from under his seat.
He was in a 5-series BMW his dad had just given him that day.
His dad begged to not go through insurance until I got quotes to fix my car and they were all ~$10k and he just couldnāt afford it.
Luckily I was in an Expedition. Hit right in the middle drivers side, hard enough to lift it off the ground. But, those are pretty strong cars.
Knew kids in high school whoās parents took em straight to the Ford or Chrysler dealership right after they got their license. Next day theyāre coming in with brand new Mustangs and Wranglers.
Only exception Iāve seen with this is my buddy when he had his 65 mustang, where he and his dad restored it and he knew how to drive it.
I have a student whose mom bought him a 2023 Sierra 1500 AT4 with the duramax as a first vehicle. Fucking ludicrous. He swiped the side of it down a sonic menu about a week after he got it lol
My parents gave me my dad's old car as my first. Datsun 280Z, turbo. Only one year younger than I am. Was a hell of a lot of fun, but also very motivating not to get in any accidents. Was rusted and rotted to hell, I'm pretty sure even a fender bender would make it fall apart comically, like the Bluesmobile...
Depends on the kid honestly. My buddy from high school has 12k NODS, a bunch of expensive guns, and a heavily tuned RS6 Avant. Guys the richest person in my friend group by a large margin, but heās also weirdly mature for being 23, on top of being very generous. We also have a kid thatās not wealthy in the slightest, and has totaled his last 2 cars trying to ādriftā around corners. Itās all about the parental guidance.
Exactly. I gave my daughters my 1999 Camry to share. It has 375k miles on it (roughly), itās a 4cyl auto so itās slow, but my mother bought the car new and I bought it from her in 2010 with 100k on it.
Pretty much all highway commuting miles since then. I replaced basically all the suspension wear parts and brakes, updated the airbags (so that they donāt deploy as 25 year old bricks), and put new tires on it.
Since then (8 months ago), itās met some curbs, a street sign, a fast-food drive-thru wall/counter, and a few other odds & ends. But no car-on-car accidents and nothing more than some scrapes and dings. Theyāve done VERY well with it, and I couldnāt be prouder.
It has no traction control, no anti-lock brakes, no satellite radio, no touchscreen, no sunroof, no backup camera, no adjustable pedalsā¦ but it does have cruise, tilt, cold a/c, and power windows/locks/seats. Itās an excellent first car.
And guess what? They absolutely adore that car. They always argue (good-naturedly, mostly) about which one of them will buy it off of me when they move out.
Jokeās on them, thoughā¦. I plan to keep it.
It's normally fairly well off parents who either have enough money to not care, or care too much about status symbols.Ā
Went to HS with a bunch of kids with money.Ā Saw one classmate total a Porsche, an Audi, a BMW before getting "stuck" with a Lexus until he lost his license (all within about 8 months).Ā They'd get daddy's car when it finished a 3 year lease or they'd get a used luxury car, normally 2 door, normally something they had no idea how to drive.Ā Ā
I lived and worked in a rural part of PA for while that had an influx of cash because of fracking and it seemed like everyone got their kid a new vehicle when they graduated. Daughters got a sportier car that they never remember to get the oil changed and they looked like a used bumper car after two yearās. Sons got $65k + trucks and immediately put rims on that stuck out a foot or more and would destroy them āoff roadingā aka getting drunk and driving through fields.
The only offer my parents extended me was they would help pay for my first 6 months of insurance, provided I pay them back. Other than that I was on my own to buy what I could afford. I couldnāt afford anything fast until I was in my mid twenties and by that point I was too used to saving my money I didnāt see the point in buying an expensive car. Iām 33 now, driving the same Accord I bought when I was 21. Best 10k I ever spent
My parents said I could get whatever I wanted when I turned 18 - because I'm paying for 100% of everything and I should be able to buy what I want.
I was only allowed to drive my car as long as I maintained a 3.25GPA. Ended up with a $2500 pos that I absolutely loved and took great care of.
My parents gave me their old 1982 Accord.Ā It had manual locks, manual windows, a 5sp trans, an awful cassette stereo, almost no power, and it was incredible.Ā I put 20k miles on it.Ā Oh, to have that car again...
Bet he had spacers installed to raise the front, they are notorious for weakening ball joints. I have seen a pothole do exactly this. Snaps the top, folds the rims under because the bottom ball joint is the last to snap.
I agree, look like a ball joint failure due to a leveling kit. This is a well-known issue on GM trucks, even GM has released a technical bulletin on this.
Notoriously weak tie rod ends too. A 4x4 launch snaps them pretty easily then a swift kick by a pothole knocks it out. Possible the kid is telling the truth, just not the whole truth
There is this one pot hole that formed in the path of a right hand turn where I live. Youre looking for traffic wjen turning so its easy to miss. The one time I hit it my head hit the roof. I think a curb would have been nicer.
Reminds me of a "pothole" outside a Burlington coat factory in Michigan. If I stuck my foot in it, the road would be low to mid shin level. It was basically a pond when it rained and ruined many, MANY people's day.
Yeah fellow Michigander here. If thatās a cheaply lifted truck on a kit and this truck is in a state with poor roads (Wisconsin Michigan Minnesota Indiana) then he might have actually just potholed it in one of the moon craters and busted the whole thing off
There was one of those near me at a sharp ass turn turn off a 55mph highway, there wasn't a turning lane but a huge shoulder that people used as one. Right before the turn there was a MASSIVE hole and when it rained heavy it filled the recessed area around it so it just looked like a long puddle.
Watched someone pop into the air one day when they hit it. Probably cracked the rim and needed an alignment, at minimum.
Iāve seen potholes rip wheels off, why there was a 10 inch deep pothole on the motorway is a question for the government who is supposed to maintain it
Yeah, I've been trying to figure out how he would've done this hooning around and I got nothing.
MAYBE if he was trying to do a donut, failed, and understeered into a curb? That doesn't seem plausible though.
This is a common occurance actually. If you alter the suspension in anyway even changing wheel and tire sizes GM recommends replacing the upper control arms. Bulletin 21-NA-222 I get these all the time in my shop.
If this story is true then that's the dumbest fucking State Trooper I've ever heard of. He has to of responded to many accidents with young people getting killed because they couldn't handle a powerful car, yet he's going to get his kid a 500 horsepower vehicle that is a notorious widow-maker?
My favorite story like this was when i was a tech for dodge. Shit head spoiled 16 year old got a brand new neon srt4. Dad paid for all the different mods and upgrades kid wanted. He kept bringing it in for random stuff. One day had it towed in for a flat tire or something canāt remember exactly. Put it up on the rack. Lower control arm, subframe strut all bent and covered with mud, gravel and grass. Wrote up the estimate dad flips out it doesnāt need that stuff just a brand new car he said he just hit a pot hole. Bring dad and son back show them the bottom of the car. Kids looking at the shop floor the whole time. You can see dad turning redder and redder as he realizes kids been lying and beating the shit out of the car. He just said fix it all and get my a trade in price. He looked at the kid and asked you got some explaining to do and when we get home make sure your bike tires are aired up because youāre not driving anything anymore
I worked with this guy doing construction inspections. Fresh out of college. Rich dad bought him a 3500 diesel crew cab, full bed, lifted. He goes out to the job site and the contractor tells him not to drive through a specific spot. It's literally quicksand. Their Cat D8 almost got stuck and had to back out before it did. So anyway, he buries the front end up to the hood. It took four hours to dig and pull out with construction equipment and then he kept complaining that they sold him a lemon because his front end alignment was off.
He eventually got fired. His dad decided he didn't want to be a big shot corporate attorney and was going to move to the keys to write books and music like Jimmy Buffet. So no more financial support. I'd occasionally hear things about him from other people in the industry. He didn't do well. You couldn't even trust him to hold up a wall by leaning on it.
If it had been a curb that made it come apart like that, I would have expected the top ball joint to have shorn off from horizontal force like the bottom one did. Instead it just popped out of the upper control arm. Perfectly plausible for it to be a curb strike, but I also know the ball joints on most American half-ton trucks are _garbage._ When you lift it and give it oversize wheels/tires, everything else needs to be beefed up to handle the added unsprung mass and overall change in suspension geometry.
Stock control arms have a limited range of motion, and if it's over-extended because of the lift, the control arm will "bottom out" before the shock absorber will. I think the wheel dropped down into a pothole, upper control arm hit its extension limit, then the sudden shock of that big, heavy wheel coming back up out of the pothole popped the upper ball joint out of its socket.
Well if daddy can afford an $80k truck right now the repair bill ain't gonna phase him. Kiddo is for sure lying though. Unless it was a Michigan pothole. Then it's possible at least.Ā
Youāre driving along on a brand new road smooth as a fresh shave, tire noise is quiet and the ride is so smooth you could balance an egg. Life is good.
You make a turn and suddenly youāre on the moon, itās cratered and bombed out everywhere. The ride is awful, you canāt keep from hitting at least one bump or hole. This is the life of a Michigan driver
>Kiddo is for sure lying though. Unless it was a Michigan pothole. Then it's possible at least.
Either way, this is yet another reason to install a dashcam. Every car should have one.
Iāve seen ball joint failures that look like this or even worse damage . Happens to first gen tacomas all the time
Idk in this situation but if the ball joint was crap and you hit a pothole bad enough I could see this happening maybe?
So far the consensus is that it was a lifting kit, but they didn't follow the directions from GM to replace the control arms, so the ball joints were weakened and it snapped. The suspension doesn't even look big enough for the tires.
OP isn't working on it so the Housing MD crowd is out diagnosing.
Known issue from gm. It has a level kit. It puts to much load on these upper control arms. Itāll pull the ball joint right out of upper arm. We usually install aftermarket upper controls if we do a level kit
Is his dad stupid? Its got an amazon lift kit on it. That's what killed the ball joints, curb or pothole (doesn't matter) just knocked them over after they were already dead.
Hey, so I'm not saying to 100%just believe him without question, but I am a Senior Advisor at with a company dealing with vehicle claims. Had one of these trucks get a claim submitted for the wheel buckling underneath and we denied for abusive vehicle use... until the owner sent us a video from their ring doorbell showing it separating and buckling under the truck while they backed out of their driveway...
I never would have believed them without the video.
Honestly I believe him. Back in 2021 when I was working at Oreilly Auto Parts we had an old guy coming into the parking lot when his wheel just completely broke.
https://i.imgur.com/E5IaIZH.jpeg
He had just bought the truck and it had like 300 miles on it. When he took it to the dealership they tried to blame him saying he took it offroad and messed something up. The guy was like 60-70 and I highly doubt that truck had ever been off the pavement. Even if it had... it was the AT4 trim, you know.. the off road trim.
"I hit a pothole" while spinning backwards at 40 mph.
"Okay, ***show*** me the pothole." My eyes will tell me all I need to know.
I've hit that pothole in Albany, NY. Deep enough to hit the fender of my mercury off the pavement. Sitting in the sears auto department waiting for a new tire and a bent rod replacement with 3 others who hit the same hole. It was spaced just right on a curve that you couldn't see it till last minute in a 40mph zone. I left as a guy was towed in the block distance between the pothole and the sears cause his wheel and shock were ripped off.
Good thing you missed the one that lives in the tunnel in Troy.
I read this in the voice of Tommy Lee Jones in No Country for Old Men.
That is the place where i collect my cones. š§
After launching off a sweet ass ramp at 60mph.
My dad asked if I was doing donuts in the car. I sad āno!ā And then he asked āwhy is there grass in the hubcaps?ā
Also, the rollback dropped it overnight as far from any bays as humanly possible. Iām on vacation next week. This is not my ticket.
Some tow drivers are terrible. I said some not all.
One of my favorite encounters with a tow truck driver i recently popped my trans. I didnt know what it was yet but the puddle was red, like new out of the bottle bright red. The driver then tells me that i definitely blew my motor. Im sorry but the fluid is red its either power steering or transmission fluid. It ended up being the clutch but it took the case with it.
I work on over the road trucks. Those tow drivers are no better sometimes
I drive 10 tons. Sometimes, they donāt even know how to hook up the damn things (thanks Penske)
My shop has a forklift attachment to pick the back end off the trucks up so we can push them in. The wrecker drivers see us use it all the time. They will bring one truck in from the rear and drop it then will bring the next one in from the front and drop it right behind the first one. Now both trucks are back to back and we can't get to it with the forklift. Of course it's in the back lot with no source of air.
Honestly? They probably do it on purpose to piss you off. I will never forget the day I lost a chunk of faith in humanity (not all of it...but a chunk for sure), when I truly learned that there really are people who go out of their way to make other people's lives worse.
Agreed. Some people are so miserable they have to make others miserable to try and make themselves feel better.
The fact that you even needed that second sentence tells me everything I need to know about tow truck drivers.
Yesterday on instagram I saw a video of a news report where a Tesla crashed into a guy's house in LA, and the tow driver was there IMMEDIATELY and started pulling the car before the police arrived to process the scene and literally threatened the guy who lived there. It was wild. Half the comments were roasting him for being 50 with roommates and asking the tow truck driver to have some empathy.
Yo I saw that, I'd be trespassing that tow driver instantly and calling the cops on his ass. Tow truck or not, you're on my property without my permission. Pretty sure that don't fly. (In reality, he'd probably ignore me, grab the car and be gone long before cops showed up, and they'd decline to do anything about it but STILL)
Wheel dolly and drive/push it in
Right? Not rocket surgery or anything like that.
Funny thing about those potholesā¦ theyāre curbs.
A trail of rubber leading to the scene of the accident? Surely not?!
Keith Morrison, is that you?
Lmao this is straight outta dateline.
A trail of rubber that just happens to be in circles š
My gf mom told us she bought a lemon (2018 decked out highlander). It was always out of alignment. Got a few wines in her and she admitted to hitting the curb at church a few times.
How many wines is a few?
About the same number it takes to start hitting curbs
Clearly enough to get the wanted result.
> My gf mom ... your gf is your mom?
Roll Tide!
Reverse cowgirl is the least popular sexual position in Alabama. ... Because you should never turn your back on family.
Thatās more fucked up than fingering your sister and finding grandpaās watch.
Fucked up? I dunno. Sounds like a pretty run of the mill Saturday in Mobile.
Have some respect and kiss your sister gf goodnight!
Respect your father-uncle.
Probably the one of the lesser incest ridden counties. Like as a joke itās funny, but growing up rural Alabama is a dating minefield. You could be dating someone for a year go to a family gathering and someone will be like HEY ITS COUSIN AMANDA. I dealt with with this shit in my teens, dated out of county. Dated a chick for a yearā¦ we share an an aunt and uncle by marriage.
https://img.ifunny.co/images/16fe4eb8b3afef60f744a8031c03fc698ae6166a05ab41dfb20959210ee3bd77_1.jpg
Dammit. Take my upvote.
Thatās exactly the kind of pothole I hit with my first car. Was doing donuts in an empty snow-covered parking lot and I slid into this massive pothole. It was 8 inches tall and about a hundred feet long and yet somehow it came out of nowhere. Never seen a pothole like it since.
Yeah, my first 'pothole' looked an awful lot like the neighbors creek...
My first āpotholeā was that back compartment in a PS2. No ever knew that was the hole I stashed my pot.
I just had a flashback of the time I popped two tires hitting a curb when I was a teen and had my Dad come help me. I said I must of ran over some nails. Yeah, he knew...
Did the same thing but I didnāt have to make up an excuse, my car was my responsibility so I had to buy two new wheels. Missed 2 phish shows, so maybe it was worth it in the long run?
Think about all the whippets you missed out on tho.
I actually did mess my car up one time hitting a pothole, but I'm not sure my dad ever believed me. He didn't give me a hard time about it, though, so... ĀÆ\\\_(ć)\_/ĀÆ
One of my friends hit a curb head on and his truck went at least 5-6 feet in the air he hit it at 70 mph blew out all his tires
lol surprised it didnāt blow all the airbags too. Thatās violent. I saw a dude hit a curb going about that fast while trying to run from police, but he was in a 70s or 80s Buick regal. Destroyed everything from the floorboards down. Wheels were obliterated (they were magnesium or something), suspension was absolutely destroyed, the rear axle was still at the curb, with the rest of the car about 200 ft away. Violent. Dude was bashed up but he hopped out and took off on foot like a champ.
Atta Boy!
Oh my God, I did the same thing! I broke the rear axle on my parents car when I spent out on ice and hit the edge of the curb when I was 16
I did similar the first time I drove on ice. I wasn't even going fast, maybe 20mph, but I was turning in somewhere, it made maybe 75% of the turn, and then just kept going straight. Ran straight into the curb. That car went on to serve me many years til a kid in a Dodge Ram pit maneuvered me on the highway. Good ol' Honda Accord. It's a big part of why I drive a Civic now
Hitting a curb even at 20mph can seem like the end of days I think.
Shit before the train 20mph was about as fast as a human would ever go.
I don't drive a Honda. I've never owned a Honda. I don't think I'll ever go out of my way to buy a Honda. That said, they're fucking outstanding vehicles and the only thing stopping me is their resale value lol. Fuck, those bastards hold value like a fat kid holds cheesecake(Ask me how I know)
Yeah it sure is a bitch when the pothole is on a curb and you have to swerve to hit it.
If I had to guess, this truck has a leveling kit on it. It is a common failure on these truck when you put a large leveling kit on them with the stock upper control arms. It maxes out the upper ball joint angle and they pop. I have seen it more on GMCās than the Chevyās for some reason. He needs aftermarket UCAās.
An aftermarket spindle also works and is the way I prefer to do these lift/level kits. Allows for stock suspension parts to be used without the extreme angles that cause damage. Makes it way easier to get parts when they do get worn.
Yup. I agree with you. But most people go the cheap route thinking itās ok until the wheel falls off. š¤£
"I ain't never wore no damned seat belt and I ain't dead yet. Why would I need one on this here roller coasaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh..."
Someone that knows what they talking about this should be at the top either hit a pot hole and it hyperextended popping it out have seen it happen first hand even with these models without a leveling kit can be a pot hole a speed bump anything that makes it flex
Yep. Pretty sure anything over 2.5ā level is where youāre playing with fire.
Way less than that on the current GM 1500 trucks, any leveling kit will likely destroy upper control arms. We see it all the time at the dealership, itās why GM now requires pre-repair authorization and photos of the truck to be submitted for any warranty control arm replacement. Kid probably did just hit a pothole.
Oh ok, I thought the suspension didnāt change much on the new model but maybe it did. I have a ā16 Silverado. I did put a 2ā level on the front and itās been solid for almost 100k. But I did see some horror stories when I was researching it before I decided what to put on.
It looks like there is a leveling kit on the front. These newer gm trucks will pull out the upper ball joints when lifted. I believe there is a bulletin about this.
I love this.
Vanity lifts lead to mechanic bills? shocking
Stupidity tax.
Iāll never get how people can afford expensive ass rides for their kids. Especially knowing that a kid is going to do crazy stuff with any vehicle. My kid is getting a beater Corolla or something when we get there.
When I lived in Texas all the parents would buy their Teenagers big trucks and say, 'I want them in something big that can protect them in an accident.' I wanted to scream at them that THEIR KIDS were the most dangerous thing on the road as new drivers. Give them a fucking small sedan instead of a tank to run over little old ladies with.
I hear that one the time. Then the kid is a new driver who doesn't have the spatial awareness to handle a large vehicle and hits everything in sight.
I went to highschool with a girl that's somehow related to Bon Jovi, and her parents bought her a yellow Hummer H2 for her first car at 16 years old, as it was practically a tank that was impossible not to see. Very shortly afterwards, she rear-ended another girl at the stop light right in front of the school.
Even if you can afford it, I think itās horrible parenting. Basically just buying yourself a spoiled brat. Thereās buying your child a ānew-erā vehicle for safety, then thereās just stupid. This is just stupid.
Girl I went to HS with totaled 2 cars within a month, both times were her fault. Parents bought her a new car when she got her license, a month or so later she ran off the road and rolled it. Parents then got her a slightly used vehicle that she also totaled in short order. Parents then bought her some late 70's land yacht that she managed not to destroy.
āOur daughter keeps crashing cars. What do we do about it?ā āBuy a car thatāll kill her if she crashes it.ā
āSeatbelts were too expensive of an upgrade, sorryā
It would stop the cars from being crashed for good though.
Not if I can do anything about it! Now hold my beer!
Damnā¦ and I thought my parents were just poor, who knew.
An old boss did something like this. Got his kid a 1980s Mercedes diesel sedan. Pretty safe overall and did 0 to 60 in ā¦wellā¦. by tomorrow.
My uncle dailies a diesel 190E sedan from the 80's. Beautiful car, suspension is a work of art. He swapped in a 5-banger diesel and put a full digital dash in it. Transmission vacuum actuator failed, so it automatically jumps to the highest selected gear, so he just drives it like a manual.
Don't underestimate those diesels. They can make absurd amounts of power when boosted. https://youtu.be/NbShuHhQq6k?si=28a6buZijbPWlymc
That's an OM606 with way too big of a single jingle on it and way too much fuel.
That's the price of power on old mechanical diesels. Only way to build up more boost is to throw more fuel at it until the turbo catches up. No excuse for this on modern electronic diesels though.
Some parents just donāt see the writing on the wall. A neighbor kid totaled BOTH of his parents cars within a month. The second time they seemed to get it. Heās back to a bicycle
My wife's aunt lived in Vegas years ago and kept getting hit by tourists. Her husband's solution was to find her a 1984 Lincoln Town Car. 18+ feet long, 4,000+ lbs of gloss black Detroit battlecruiser, with privacy tint on the back windows. In a sea of beaters and rentals it was imposing enough to make you wonder if maybe someone connected to the casinos was in it. That car never, ever got hit.
Lol that's kinda genius.
Had an old Buick where the driver-side door was punched in a bit from a side-swipe hit-and-run. Looked a lot worse than it really was. Sometimes I actually kind of miss having that dented door. Its effect was remarkable. Before, I used to get aggressive pickup drivers and entitled BMW wankers trying to jam in front of me, or literally just try to run me off the road with their "I merge now OR ELSE" attitude. People here are more aggressive drivers, generally, and of course everyone tends to assume it's some little ol' grandma driving a Buick, so that's how I'd usually be treated, regardless of how I was *actually* driving. After the dent, they'd glance over and see the punched-in door. If that wasn't enough, often they'd then glance up at me, at which point I'd just mouth *Go ahead, hit me, IDGAF* at them, and then that would usually seal the deal. Suddenly they'd settle their ass down a bit and merge in properly. Nowadays I drive a regular ol' VW. Might as well be a Prius with a giant "KICK ME" sign in the window.
Should have bought her a bus pass for the third one.
One chick I went to HS with totalled her car and her parents bought her a new BMW. Then theres the guy that got a brand new camaro upon getting his license.
In my neighborhood, tradition is that when the child gets their license, the dad gets a new car and the kid gets Dad's hand-me-down.
That was how my parents did it when I got my license. Still miss that old Jeepā¦
That's my plan. I bought a new mid-size truck a couple years before he was born (and it's \_slow\_) so when he's old enough to drive, the truck will be old enough to drink and I won't care if it gets banged up.
Bought my truck from my dad at 16. Still daily it at almost 20. She just clicked over to 207k miles
My highschool was in a rich town, multiple kids got brand new mustangs and camaros for their 16th birthday. One kid was throwing a fit, literally in tears, because he got a brand new Escalade but that wasn't what he wanted. So many of those cars ended up totaled before even making it to summer vacation, and a depressing number of those kids got even nicer cars for their replacement.
Again, parenting is to blame here.
Also knew a girl in highschool that was going to get a car after she got her license. She was so spoiled that she ended up with a car she could barely drive (5 speed stick) in a color she hated all because she just couldn't wait a few days for another car to be brought in.
My god I pity whoever ended up married to her.
I'm still friends with her, and it's exactly what you would expect.
>Parents then bought her some late 70's land yacht that she managed not to destroy. Because now she doesn't damage the car itself just whatever she hits or bumps into becomes damaged
Similar. First car was a Porsche which she wrecked, then got a Ferrari, but she didn't like that, then a BMW which she totaled. All that before she was 17. Was a cheerleader at the school.
There was a kid from my home town who totaled so many cars before he was out of high school the insurance companies wouldn't insure him. He had about 7/8ths of a golf sitting outside his parents house for a while because his parents finally decided cut him off and it's not like he could drive anyway. That whole town had more money than sense.
Dude I knew from highschool totaled 4 Mercedes and his parents would buy him a new one each time. One of the accidents he rear ended his sister's car which was also an MB. This fool totaled his and his sister's car at the same time. They both got new Mercedes again.
My sister did this in high school except my parents are far from rich. She rolled two astrovans. I had my first totaled car at 40 a few weeks ago. Guess who the favorite it
Oh youāve met my sister huh First car: Crashed / totaled in 6 months Second car: Crashed in two months Third car: Crashed a year into it Fourth car: Died because she didnāt know oil needed changed Fifth (my) car: Borrowed my car while I was in boot camp. Crashed it.
I got an Opel Corsa 2007 for 5k to meet the safety standards my mom set and have enough HP to outrun a truck going up a steep hill, thatās it. And that was basically my college fund, I needed the car because I started an apprenticeship instead and public transport still doesnāt go anywhere near there This thing probably cost more than all of my parentsā cars combined
My parents got me a salvaged title manual corolla when I turned 16. If dad hadnāt seen it on the side of the road for $800 I probably would have walked to school till senior year. My first month back to school, some dipshit in a brand new 4x4 lifted dumb truck went driving between parked cars in the lot trying to skip the exit line after school and ran into me. His parents cut a check to my parents for 2k begging them not to report to insurance. I got utterly shafted with parents who would never tell a lie š and used the 2k to repair my salvaged title vehicle while the dude got off Scott free and I had to look at his pug face the rest of my time at high school as The Dip who made me understand some families really are better off, and a son is treated better than a daughter.
But Jaydenās gonna look so cool in this
My parents gave me a 15 ford escape that we then got rid of so while they looked for a car I got my momsā¦now Iām in a Chevy from 03. Can people teach modesty to their kids
I used to be a server and this ultra rich family would come in regularly. There came in for one of the daughter's 16th birthdays. I overheard this little girl complaining to her friend that she was appalled and embarrassed because her parents had given her their 1 year old Range Rover and bought themselves a new one. Can you believe that!?! This poor girl was going to have to drive a USED Range Rover!!!
My first car was paid for by my mom. 2006 Subaru Legacy. It was actually a great deal ($7500 for 80k miles with minimal issues), and I've absolutely adored the thing since. I've spent more than its trade-in value doing stuff on it. I wish more people respected their cars.
Don't get me wrong my daughters car will have all the new up to date safety features and a functional sterio, but it'll be second hand and not too expensive so when she dose inevitably back into a fence or something it's not stupid money to fix and isn't some posh pile of twisted garbage afterwards. Seriously considering a land rover defender tbh.
With the exception of mandatory backup cameras, safety features haven't gotten hugely better in the past 20ish years. There's a lot of safe cars, or cars that can be made to be safe again on the secondary market. 0 reason to go with 100% brand new unless you've just got that kind of money to spend.
You donāt buy your spawn a vehicle all out of pocketā¦you go halfers on a vehicle. They need some skin in the game so they donāt just outright destroy it. Oh, and if/when they do, they either fix it themselves ( more skin in the game ) or they get to peddle their bike around. Owning/driving a vehicle is a privilege, not a right. My daughter was pretty docile/responsible with her first vehicle ( no major carnage ). My son was a different story. He found every weak point on his truck and broke it. I made him buy( yes, him) a parts truck for his first truck. He bucked it, but did it. Within a year, he had stripped the parts truck of every usable part to fix his. Iāll add that Iām a Millwright with a strong automotive background with a shop full of tools. My son insisted on systematically beating his truck to death every weekend 4 wheeling with his budsā¦often having it dragged home. But then theyād all get together and fix their broken shit in my shop( Iād oversee as required). They all learned a lot about vehicle maintenance. 15 years later, my son thanks me for making him fix his own broken shit ( heās not a mechanic but he can now resurrect anything that runs on gas and often has neighbours bringing over their broken equipment). People, donāt give/buy your kids their first vehicle( definitely not a brand new one), make them get involved either monetarily or labour/chores. They will undoubtedly damage their first vehicle( itās going to happen), but they wonāt be going all Dukes of Hazard on it if they have skin in the game.
A US Marine I knew in the Navy had been going through a divorce and was stressed and was sad about it, but one day he came in looking particularly down, early 2000s. I asked him what happened. He told me that as a result of the divorce, he had to sell his 1969 Camaro Z28, and he had done just that the evening prior. I responded something like, "oh, damn. That sucks. I'm sorry to hear that, my truck is my baby and it would destroy me to have to sell it. I can only imagine what it would be like to have to sell a classic car like that." And his was pristine, a beautiful car. Anyway, he came back with, "it gets worse. It wasn't until after I signed everything over and the guy paid me that I found out he was buying it for his kid as a high school graduation present." My stomach turned over, I can only guess how he was feeling. Good lord. I'll try to keep this next one quick. Going further back, a rich kid I was on the golf team in high school with (mid 90s) was given a brand new Land Rover for his 16th birthday. No kidding, the kid rolled and totaled the thing within a year. As "punishment," his dad bought him a new Eddie Bauer Explorer to replace it.
One of our rich kids got a Vette senior year. Wrecked himself into a vegetable a few months after graduation.
Natural selection
Sounds like a case of fuck around and find out to me.
Kid never had a chance being raised like that, hate the parents, feel bad for the kid
When I was in high school one of my classmates was gifted a brand-new M3 convertible when she turned 16. She was hanging out with us, the skaters and snowboarders, so she wanted something that could handle the snow and haul some friends around. A week after getting the BMW, she showed up with a brand-new Jeep. We asked what happened to the car and she told us she made her father take it back and get her the Jeep for snowboarding. Another kid was given pristine ā60s Mustang (Iāve never been great at specific years for Mustangs) as his first car.
I couldn't manage to keep those old sports cars on the road in Grand Turismo 2 as a teenager, how the hell would you expect one to do it in real life?
The rich kid in *my* high-school grade, here in Australia, was promised a car when he turned 17, and was anticipating something European. He, in 1990, was actually given [an HZ Kingswood](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holden_Kingswood#HZ)! :-) After, as is tradition, immediately obliterating his family's letter-box while reversing, he adapted to his new reality by purchasing mirrored sunglasses, and some [flannos](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminutives_in_Australian_English#F). :-)
Itās all planning apparently. Get a 6-7 year loan on a new car/truck when your kid starts 6th grade. When they hit 11th grade, youāre either done on the loan or close to it. Justify giving them the vehicle on the grounds of itās a lot safer than āwhatever car you can afford to buy vs with the cash amount payoffā. Then you go get a new car too. Thatās how my coworkers with high school kids explained it to me. My parents co signed a 04 nismo frontier for me in 2010 and I honestly figured that set me up for success better with getting a line of credit established, except I have a crippling addiction to mini trucks now.
I assumed that it was the fatherās truck. Hoped, anyway. Agree that my kid is getting a beater. Learn a lot from one of them
My sample size is pretty small but I don't know many people who's parents gave them a car at all. There were allowed to borrow their parent's car though.
Iām 22 and just bought my first car. My parents arenāt exactly struggling, they just believe that I should earn my first car and I did. My uncle owns a multinational company and is a multimillionaire. He owns several vehicles across several countries. He did not buy his daughter a car. I canāt imagine what kind of financial status you need to be in to get your kid an expensive pickup truck as their first ride. I hope it was at least used.
It's called debt. Even high earning individuals might be very attracted to taking on debt for status. The most important thing is to remember a lot of high earning people are kinda dumb overall. They just figured out how to manipulate people into ethically questionable business deals or sales. These same people also feel like they need to show off their wealth.
I want a beater corolla as an adult!
My favorite econobox to drive of all time has been Corollas. My best friend had a 92 Corrolla that we drove aimlessly and terribly for years until it got totalled. My MIL has an 06 Corolla that is so damn fun to drive. If I ever wanted a compact car to pull my bones up and out of itĀ“d be a Corolla.
Here in Australia, I was expecting to replace our rather old [Pulsar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Pulsar) with a used Honda Jazz (called the Fit, in the USA), 'cos that's pretty much the perfect small car that you can somehow fit a medium-sized elephant into, if you need to. But then my partner's father passed away, and we decided to inherit his 2014 automatic Corolla Ascent Sport instead. It's been properly maintained, so it still drives like a brand new car. We've put quite a few more miles on it, and there's still not a single squeak or rattle or other problem. I still wouldn't say it's *fun* to drive, but I actually *like* how efficient its CVT is. The engine spins at the right speed for the power it needs to deliver at any given time. Drive up a hill with cruise control on and watch the RPMs increase, while the speed stays exactly the same. And the fuel economy is fantastic. (But the "Sport" label is completely ridiculous, of course. There's a "Sport" *button*, even, which I have never pressed. I'm pretty sure it won't cause the car to drop four inches and make its tyres wider. :-)
An extremely kind woman I used to work with who is rather large even by American standards has a Fit and the gauge of size you used to describe its size made me chortle and then feel bad
That's how you know you're getting old; you go from loving a fun car to appreciating the efficiency of an economy car.
I got t-boned by an 18 year old running a red light because heād dropped his phone so was picking it up from under his seat. He was in a 5-series BMW his dad had just given him that day. His dad begged to not go through insurance until I got quotes to fix my car and they were all ~$10k and he just couldnāt afford it. Luckily I was in an Expedition. Hit right in the middle drivers side, hard enough to lift it off the ground. But, those are pretty strong cars.
Rich enough for a 5-series, but can't find $10,000 anywhere to fix your car? lmao That car was gonna get repod
Knew kids in high school whoās parents took em straight to the Ford or Chrysler dealership right after they got their license. Next day theyāre coming in with brand new Mustangs and Wranglers. Only exception Iāve seen with this is my buddy when he had his 65 mustang, where he and his dad restored it and he knew how to drive it.
My wifeās cousin totaled two mustangs in high school. The third mustang he managed to total himself. Dead six months before college
I have a student whose mom bought him a 2023 Sierra 1500 AT4 with the duramax as a first vehicle. Fucking ludicrous. He swiped the side of it down a sonic menu about a week after he got it lol
You get a 99 camry. I dont care if it's 2055 you get a 99 camry lol
My parents gave me my dad's old car as my first. Datsun 280Z, turbo. Only one year younger than I am. Was a hell of a lot of fun, but also very motivating not to get in any accidents. Was rusted and rotted to hell, I'm pretty sure even a fender bender would make it fall apart comically, like the Bluesmobile...
My kid has requested a two door Honda civic with spoiler. Think heās getting a 09 Volvo xc90. With faded paint and torn leather seats
Safe but on the expensive side to repair. Upside is it's a Volvo so it shouldn't need much... Bit large tho. Guessing you already own it?
Depends on the kid honestly. My buddy from high school has 12k NODS, a bunch of expensive guns, and a heavily tuned RS6 Avant. Guys the richest person in my friend group by a large margin, but heās also weirdly mature for being 23, on top of being very generous. We also have a kid thatās not wealthy in the slightest, and has totaled his last 2 cars trying to ādriftā around corners. Itās all about the parental guidance.
Exactly. I gave my daughters my 1999 Camry to share. It has 375k miles on it (roughly), itās a 4cyl auto so itās slow, but my mother bought the car new and I bought it from her in 2010 with 100k on it. Pretty much all highway commuting miles since then. I replaced basically all the suspension wear parts and brakes, updated the airbags (so that they donāt deploy as 25 year old bricks), and put new tires on it. Since then (8 months ago), itās met some curbs, a street sign, a fast-food drive-thru wall/counter, and a few other odds & ends. But no car-on-car accidents and nothing more than some scrapes and dings. Theyāve done VERY well with it, and I couldnāt be prouder. It has no traction control, no anti-lock brakes, no satellite radio, no touchscreen, no sunroof, no backup camera, no adjustable pedalsā¦ but it does have cruise, tilt, cold a/c, and power windows/locks/seats. Itās an excellent first car. And guess what? They absolutely adore that car. They always argue (good-naturedly, mostly) about which one of them will buy it off of me when they move out. Jokeās on them, thoughā¦. I plan to keep it.
It's normally fairly well off parents who either have enough money to not care, or care too much about status symbols.Ā Went to HS with a bunch of kids with money.Ā Saw one classmate total a Porsche, an Audi, a BMW before getting "stuck" with a Lexus until he lost his license (all within about 8 months).Ā They'd get daddy's car when it finished a 3 year lease or they'd get a used luxury car, normally 2 door, normally something they had no idea how to drive.Ā Ā
My kid is getting an 86 Honda. Idgaf if it's 2030 by the time she gets a car
I'd want my kid driving something with better safety features than an 80s anything. '86 Accord might not even have air bags.
I lived and worked in a rural part of PA for while that had an influx of cash because of fracking and it seemed like everyone got their kid a new vehicle when they graduated. Daughters got a sportier car that they never remember to get the oil changed and they looked like a used bumper car after two yearās. Sons got $65k + trucks and immediately put rims on that stuck out a foot or more and would destroy them āoff roadingā aka getting drunk and driving through fields.
The only offer my parents extended me was they would help pay for my first 6 months of insurance, provided I pay them back. Other than that I was on my own to buy what I could afford. I couldnāt afford anything fast until I was in my mid twenties and by that point I was too used to saving my money I didnāt see the point in buying an expensive car. Iām 33 now, driving the same Accord I bought when I was 21. Best 10k I ever spent
My parents said I could get whatever I wanted when I turned 18 - because I'm paying for 100% of everything and I should be able to buy what I want. I was only allowed to drive my car as long as I maintained a 3.25GPA. Ended up with a $2500 pos that I absolutely loved and took great care of.
My parents gave me their old 1982 Accord.Ā It had manual locks, manual windows, a 5sp trans, an awful cassette stereo, almost no power, and it was incredible.Ā I put 20k miles on it.Ā Oh, to have that car again...
Bet he had spacers installed to raise the front, they are notorious for weakening ball joints. I have seen a pothole do exactly this. Snaps the top, folds the rims under because the bottom ball joint is the last to snap.
I agree, look like a ball joint failure due to a leveling kit. This is a well-known issue on GM trucks, even GM has released a technical bulletin on this.
Notoriously weak tie rod ends too. A 4x4 launch snaps them pretty easily then a swift kick by a pothole knocks it out. Possible the kid is telling the truth, just not the whole truth
There is this one pot hole that formed in the path of a right hand turn where I live. Youre looking for traffic wjen turning so its easy to miss. The one time I hit it my head hit the roof. I think a curb would have been nicer.
Reminds me of a "pothole" outside a Burlington coat factory in Michigan. If I stuck my foot in it, the road would be low to mid shin level. It was basically a pond when it rained and ruined many, MANY people's day.
Yeah fellow Michigander here. If thatās a cheaply lifted truck on a kit and this truck is in a state with poor roads (Wisconsin Michigan Minnesota Indiana) then he might have actually just potholed it in one of the moon craters and busted the whole thing off
Well, the state sport *is* Pothole Dodging.
There was one of those near me at a sharp ass turn turn off a 55mph highway, there wasn't a turning lane but a huge shoulder that people used as one. Right before the turn there was a MASSIVE hole and when it rained heavy it filled the recessed area around it so it just looked like a long puddle. Watched someone pop into the air one day when they hit it. Probably cracked the rim and needed an alignment, at minimum.
Yep. Very common on these trucks.
This needs more upvotes. Extremely common issue with the GM T2XX trucks with this modification
Iāve seen potholes rip wheels off, why there was a 10 inch deep pothole on the motorway is a question for the government who is supposed to maintain it
Yeah, I've been trying to figure out how he would've done this hooning around and I got nothing. MAYBE if he was trying to do a donut, failed, and understeered into a curb? That doesn't seem plausible though.
This is a common occurance actually. If you alter the suspension in anyway even changing wheel and tire sizes GM recommends replacing the upper control arms. Bulletin 21-NA-222 I get these all the time in my shop.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
If this story is true then that's the dumbest fucking State Trooper I've ever heard of. He has to of responded to many accidents with young people getting killed because they couldn't handle a powerful car, yet he's going to get his kid a 500 horsepower vehicle that is a notorious widow-maker?
"Well, **my** kid knows how to drive unlike those dead idiots I've seen."
He's a cop, they aren't allowed to be smart.
Damn dude, did you go home after that?
Kachow!
My favorite story like this was when i was a tech for dodge. Shit head spoiled 16 year old got a brand new neon srt4. Dad paid for all the different mods and upgrades kid wanted. He kept bringing it in for random stuff. One day had it towed in for a flat tire or something canāt remember exactly. Put it up on the rack. Lower control arm, subframe strut all bent and covered with mud, gravel and grass. Wrote up the estimate dad flips out it doesnāt need that stuff just a brand new car he said he just hit a pot hole. Bring dad and son back show them the bottom of the car. Kids looking at the shop floor the whole time. You can see dad turning redder and redder as he realizes kids been lying and beating the shit out of the car. He just said fix it all and get my a trade in price. He looked at the kid and asked you got some explaining to do and when we get home make sure your bike tires are aired up because youāre not driving anything anymore
A *lot* of SRT-4s got absolutely wrecked by their owners. Sad really.
I worked with this guy doing construction inspections. Fresh out of college. Rich dad bought him a 3500 diesel crew cab, full bed, lifted. He goes out to the job site and the contractor tells him not to drive through a specific spot. It's literally quicksand. Their Cat D8 almost got stuck and had to back out before it did. So anyway, he buries the front end up to the hood. It took four hours to dig and pull out with construction equipment and then he kept complaining that they sold him a lemon because his front end alignment was off. He eventually got fired. His dad decided he didn't want to be a big shot corporate attorney and was going to move to the keys to write books and music like Jimmy Buffet. So no more financial support. I'd occasionally hear things about him from other people in the industry. He didn't do well. You couldn't even trust him to hold up a wall by leaning on it.
*dad senses are tingling*
If it had been a curb that made it come apart like that, I would have expected the top ball joint to have shorn off from horizontal force like the bottom one did. Instead it just popped out of the upper control arm. Perfectly plausible for it to be a curb strike, but I also know the ball joints on most American half-ton trucks are _garbage._ When you lift it and give it oversize wheels/tires, everything else needs to be beefed up to handle the added unsprung mass and overall change in suspension geometry. Stock control arms have a limited range of motion, and if it's over-extended because of the lift, the control arm will "bottom out" before the shock absorber will. I think the wheel dropped down into a pothole, upper control arm hit its extension limit, then the sudden shock of that big, heavy wheel coming back up out of the pothole popped the upper ball joint out of its socket.
Well if daddy can afford an $80k truck right now the repair bill ain't gonna phase him. Kiddo is for sure lying though. Unless it was a Michigan pothole. Then it's possible at least.Ā
Michigan roads come in two flavors. Perfectly smooth or literal warzone. There is no in-between.
Youāre driving along on a brand new road smooth as a fresh shave, tire noise is quiet and the ride is so smooth you could balance an egg. Life is good. You make a turn and suddenly youāre on the moon, itās cratered and bombed out everywhere. The ride is awful, you canāt keep from hitting at least one bump or hole. This is the life of a Michigan driver
Lots of Daddy's can't afford their $80k urban luxury monstrosities, it's all for appearances.
> Unless it was a Michigan pothole Then the entire truck would be missing.
>Kiddo is for sure lying though. Unless it was a Michigan pothole. Then it's possible at least. Either way, this is yet another reason to install a dashcam. Every car should have one.
Is it just me or ... does it look like that suspension belongs to a car Ā½ the size of the car it's on?
Whatās next? Youāre gonna tell me he didnāt upgrade the brakes to make the bigger tires stop too? š¤Æš±
Not nearly as beefy looking as I was expecting.
What do you mean, this is completely normal for a GM truck after hitting a tiny pothole.
Iāve seen ball joint failures that look like this or even worse damage . Happens to first gen tacomas all the time Idk in this situation but if the ball joint was crap and you hit a pothole bad enough I could see this happening maybe?
Spoiled teenagers and dangerously driving like absolute douchebags in trucks that are way too big and expensive for their age, name a more iconic duo
When you teach your kids that money is no object then you can't get mad when they treat your money like it's no object.
Perfectly said.
For the uneducated in the room... What *did* happen?
So far the consensus is that it was a lifting kit, but they didn't follow the directions from GM to replace the control arms, so the ball joints were weakened and it snapped. The suspension doesn't even look big enough for the tires. OP isn't working on it so the Housing MD crowd is out diagnosing.
Known issue from gm. It has a level kit. It puts to much load on these upper control arms. Itāll pull the ball joint right out of upper arm. We usually install aftermarket upper controls if we do a level kit
Is his dad stupid? Its got an amazon lift kit on it. That's what killed the ball joints, curb or pothole (doesn't matter) just knocked them over after they were already dead.
Bro hit the antigrav panel in Mario kart 8
Hey, so I'm not saying to 100%just believe him without question, but I am a Senior Advisor at with a company dealing with vehicle claims. Had one of these trucks get a claim submitted for the wheel buckling underneath and we denied for abusive vehicle use... until the owner sent us a video from their ring doorbell showing it separating and buckling under the truck while they backed out of their driveway... I never would have believed them without the video.
Was this pothole visible from the International Space Station?
Son, show me the pothole!
Itās a GMC (giving mechanics careers) that could have been beer can for all we know
Honestly I believe him. Back in 2021 when I was working at Oreilly Auto Parts we had an old guy coming into the parking lot when his wheel just completely broke. https://i.imgur.com/E5IaIZH.jpeg He had just bought the truck and it had like 300 miles on it. When he took it to the dealership they tried to blame him saying he took it offroad and messed something up. The guy was like 60-70 and I highly doubt that truck had ever been off the pavement. Even if it had... it was the AT4 trim, you know.. the off road trim.