What was your costliest mistake?

[RussTJ]

Back when I was a teenager I had a Chevy Van that burned oil so I didn't realize the engine was running dry until the it had a rapping sound going strong. I ignored it a little longer and had to replace the engine as a result. That was an expensive lesson but I learned from it. Started dating a mechanic's daughter, now my wife, a few years later and wouldn't tell him that story for years out of embarrassment. I started the "your evolution as a mechanic" thread while thinking about my humble beginnings.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/your-evolution-as-a-mechanic.12110/

 

[Baltimoreed]

My son destroyed a perfectly good ‘86 oldsmobile engine by letting it run low on water. Bad part was he had driven it home from college [7 hr drive] without my wife’s or my knowledge to attend some concert and stayed with a friend. He got almost halfway back to school Sunday before it died on him. That was not a good phone call. My wife and I drove to Raleigh the next day to dolly it home. We were not amused.

 

[Irun]

Bought a second Jeep, '99 Sport, to build that was someone else's throw away. It was rust free, but badly abused and neglected. I spent the next year plus bringing it back to life. It got all the best parts, including a full Rubicon drive-train, and over 800 hours of my time. Sadly, the reason for building it never was realized and I'm now taking it back to stockish to sell.

Before

https://imgur.com/hAXnjhd

https://imgur.com/lF7ea8i

After

https://imgur.com/t1Ls4H1

https://imgur.com/psUd3e1

 

[jeepins]

Mine is simple really, but my costliest mistake was letting a repair shop down the road from me years ago replace my clutch. What a bunch of idiots. Had to take it back 3 times, I was traveling too much and couldn't do it myself so I thought.. hell it's easy, get these guys to do it. Got stuck twice in town, grinding, couldn't shift, who knows what they did. Finally got their one 'good' mechanic to do it and even then heard them all yelling at each other in the shop when I came back to pick it up. First time I ever went off on a place of business with a room full of other customers I was so pissed off. Told them none of them were qualified to even work at Jiffy Lube, except maybe the one guy.

Took me months to recoup the money I spent - rental car, towing, etc etc.. shop ended up reimbursing me but that was another nightmare. Basically every time I drive by the place I flip it off because it makes me feel all warm inside and since my ordeal have found out all the other shady idiotic crap they've done to others.

 

[JEEPCJTJ]

I'd have to think about this for a while if dealing with life in general. I'm sure most of them weren't cheap.

As for my costliest TJ mistake, I've got two:

1) A long smittybilt bikini top and header. Which I used once before realizing that just removing all the windows on my Best top was quicker and looked better.

2) A used U-Haul receiver hitch that I sanded, painted and bed lined before installing it a year and a half ago. It still looks good but why did I put a receiver hitch under my bumper on a vehicle that I take off road and may never pull a trailer with? Who knows? At least I didn't spend more time and money doing the trailer wiring.

So here we have about $200 total of my costliest TJ mistakes. Just 1% of what I've spent so far.

 

[4 banger TJ]

That time I used dimethylmercury instead of inorganic mercury salts when calibrating my nuclear magnetic resonance device, like I’m some kind of asshole.







If you get the reference, you know what I’m talking about.

 

[Jeffreybomb]

This thread... it feels off now...

I feel more sullied than a woman's leg during an accidental shart.

 

[Rockomuchaco]

Purchased for my daughter....April 2015

June...2015

 

[Plumber1]

Flat towing up to a snow run. Was going real slow into a turn to the parking lot but the Jeep still pushed the Jeep and jackknifed and the bumper of the Jeep went into my bed of my truck. I started rebuilding my dads old Jeep trailer that next week and bought my own within a year. I will not flat tow anymore. Trailers with breaks work sooooo much better.

Did it look anything like this

Or now this

 

[Baltimoreed]

Allowing my still too immature 19 yr old grandson to use his grandmother’s Explorer. The Tj tie in is he wrecked the same day that I bought Ripley.

 

[DrDmoney]

Allowing my still too immature 19 yr old grandson to use his grandmother’s Explorer. The Tj tie in is he wrecked the same day that I bought Ripley.
View attachment 124720

. Hopefully he was not injured

 

[Baltimoreed]

He got cut up some and banged around. Hopefully he learned something from the terrible experience. Still haven’t resolved the traffic court part of it.

 

[Mumblewood]

Did it look anything like this

View attachment 124712

View attachment 124713

Or now this

View attachment 124714

Close but mine was a one piece tow bar and hit the bed since an 87’ chevy pickup’s bumper doesn’t wrap around to the fender like that.
It now looks like this though

 

[whitrzac]

Haven't had any super costly mistakes in the jeep. Mostly not-planned upgrades when I trusted the internet...

Left my fj80 running burried in mud. Overheated it, blew the HG, drove it back to the parking lot, launched the rod through the block.

Most costly was not buying more BTC/ETH when I got back into it a few years ago....

 

[MutantNinjaTJ]

Setting my Jeep up for 33's and am now going to 35's to keep up with the newer, bigger Jeeps I run with.

 

[CryptoYeets]

Buying a Jeep...

 

[NDSpeed]

Asked my daughter (without a license) to park the family car in driveway after I finished washing my truck.

15’ 4wheel burnout into the bed.
She mistook the gas and brake pedal.

 

[cliffish]

View attachment 126123View attachment 126125
Asked my daughter (without a license) to park the family car in driveway after I finished washing my truck.

15’ 4wheel burnout into the bed.
She mistook the gas and brake pedal.

yep my daughter did same...luckily she just steam rolled a fence in front of a pizza place.

I on the other hand, hit the gas and brake pedalat the same time in my 74 TR6 and rammed it into the steel bumper of my E350 work van in my own driveway. Classic car insurance sure paid out well and I made out really well on that one.

 

[BoldlyGoing]

Selling my old TJ for far too little, buying a truck, hating it, and then buying my current LJ.

Granted I got an LJ out of it, but I let it go for far too little because I had trucks on the brain. Almost as soon as I bought the truck, I hated it and started looking for a Jeep. I even tried to buy the TJ back, but that guy had already re-sold it (probably at a much higher price).

no joke- I once followed a guy that was driving what I thought was my old TJ for about 30 minutes until I lost him in traffic.

still burns me up.

 

[cliffish]

Selling my old TJ for far too little, buying a truck, hating it, and then buying my current LJ.

Granted I got an LJ out of it, but I let it go for far too little because I had trucks on the brain. Almost as soon as I bought the truck, I hated it and started looking for a Jeep. I even tried to buy the TJ back, but that guy had already re-sold it (probably at a much higher price).

no joke- I once followed a guy that was driving what I thought was my old TJ for about 30 minutes until I lost him in traffic.

still burns me up.

A guy on one of my Triumph TR6 forums sold his TR6 for 13K (happily) that guy polished it and did a perfection detail (nothing more) and got 26K the next month on Bringatrailer.com.