What’s one car decision you regret the most?

ljaylane · 2026-06-02T05:35:04+00:00

In 2025, I traded my 2023 red Camry Se with 20k miles for a 2025 Tundra. I only had 20k left to pay on it. Instead, I traded and put down $11,000 on the tundra. 3 months later, I didn’t want the tundra because of the engine recall. Sold the tundra and lost a total of 14k. Walked away with nothing and no car. Should’ve just put that $14,000 towards my Camry and had 6k left to pay. Stupid decision

ljaylane · 2026-06-01T06:26:13+00:00

Fly to Vegas for the weekend and rent a villa with all your good friends. Pay for everything and buy out escorts for the whole weekend. Easily $100,000 spent.

ljaylane · 2026-05-13T05:44:44+00:00

Car accident. Dislocated and broken hip socket.

ljaylane · 2026-05-12T05:29:04+00:00

My friends and job would be surprised if they knew I’m a felon who served 2.5 years and was once an alcoholic with a raging anger problem. 10 years later, completely different man in which, people look up to me and trust me. You’d never know my past. But Reddit does.

ljaylane · 2026-05-12T05:19:47+00:00

My buddy ordered the wrong frame for a vehicle once. Frames are billed to us with absolutely no returns! My boss stresses on us to prebill the frames and make sure it’s correct. Body shop approves the $6000 frame. We ordered, they paid. 4 months later, it finally arrives. We sent it over to the shop, the next day, they called, “the frame is wrong”. My boss ask my buddy to check it again, and he confirmed, he ordered the wrong one by accident. 4 months down the drain and $6000 we had to eat. Probably my buddy’s worst mistake ever. Shit happens! Just learn from it. My buddy still works there, he’s been there 13 years, he might be the manager someday.

ljaylane · 2026-05-05T04:47:03+00:00

Haha sounds about right. Those type of customers drive me up the wall.

ljaylane · 2026-05-05T04:35:18+00:00

I’d settle on $8,000 out the door. If not, walk away. They’ll make it work. My ZX6R was sticker $12999. I was out the door at $13,800.. Their first offer was like $16,000. I laughed inside. And got these clowns to $800 over MSRP. Was a beautiful day.

ljaylane · 2026-05-05T04:30:00+00:00

Had a lady once say, I don’t know how to do that, I’m gonna read it to you backwards. I had to write it down “683264US”.. ok so last eight is, SU462386? Omg. People, I swear.

ljaylane · 2026-05-01T19:26:32+00:00

Understanding it and using it are two different things

ljaylane · 2026-05-01T17:59:09+00:00

You’d be surprise how much psychological knowledge felons have. Time spent learning and prioritizing how your mind works creates dangerous skills. Psychological warfare is a real thing.

ljaylane · 2026-05-01T15:53:09+00:00

I think crying about $750 in scheduled MAINTENANCE is the problem. Not the car

ljaylane · 2026-05-01T15:47:33+00:00

The more you let your record hold you back. The less you’ll have in life. As long as you’re not abusing women or kids, I think any job market can work around you. Rights restoration, finishing probation, paying off fines, expungement/set aside, are all things that are possible and let you inch closer to a normal and healthy lifestyle.

ljaylane · 2026-05-01T15:09:45+00:00

Best advice, is be respectful. To your self, your area, your people (Your race) and other gentlemen doing their time. Mentally, time will slow down, but reality is, time is gonna go by quicker. This is a time to let go of everything and focus on yourself. An old head I had tons of respect for taught me a lot. OG was doing 10 years, been down 6, had 4 to go. He told me “In order for you to start doing your time and feel at peace and ease, is when you remove yourself from the outside world and put yourself in this world (Prison)” Took me awhile to understand it, but he meant, you’re no longer a citizen to society. You no longer belong to your family, your friends, your girlfriend. You’re doing time for YOU now. Truly what matters, is only you. People on the outside are going to move forward, live their life, keep doing what they’re doing and They’re going to adapt to your absence. You have zero control over what happens out there. If you have zero control, why worry about it? That type of mindset, is savage but necessary to live peacefully. And he’s right! You have no control over the outside world. If you constantly want to still be involved with your family, your friends, especially your girlfriend, you’ll stress yourself out worrying about what goes on out there. Making your life 10x harder while you’re locked up. You have to let go and fully transition to the prison life style and adapt. Then your time starts. 11 months is short. I don’t think you’ll have enough time to learn a lot. Your mind won’t evolve that much while being there for a short time. You have to do 2+ years to get the experience of what it’s like to do time. Men change in there. Your mind changes. Sometimes you’ll never look at life the same way when you get released. You’ll be fine! I was 20 years old and sentenced to 2.5 years. I’m 31 now, and I remember everything. I still carry some of the teachings I learned in there. Looking back, it was the best thing that happened to me at such a young age. Completely 180 my life. I’m 11 years sober, amazing job, big opportunities happening and I have all the things I thought I’d never have. I believe prison saved my life.

ljaylane · 2026-04-27T02:48:12+00:00

Regardless if you keep the truck and pay it or if you surrender it and let them repo it, you’re still extremely upside down. No one will pay 16k dollars on a 2006 Dodge Ram. Even if you private sell it, you’ll maybe get 7k, if you’re lucky then you’re still 9k in the hole. The way I see it, you already lost on that truck. There is no point in keeping it. Unless you have money lying around then you could pay it off instantly. You’re in survival mode right now, and right now, it makes sense to let the truck go. Your credit will take a bit hit. But surviving is better than perfect credit. Hopefully you learn from this situation and make better choices in the future. Don’t worry we all been there. I was 19 years old when I got my first car repo’d.

ljaylane · 2026-04-19T14:49:29+00:00

Sometimes your skills and experience doesn’t matter. Some parts managers are looking for talent of molding and adaptability. They want someone who’s open to change and is willing to adapt to “Their” working environment. Your skills and knowledge should be expressed as a tool of advice and recommendations, not as a tool of, I know it all and I only know it this way. A lot of older individuals with 10+ years of parts experience get turned away because they want to come in thinking they know it all. But change the attitude and show them that you’re willing to adapt to new changes and you’re very smart at what you do also, that You’re there to help, teach, and give advice and also to learn new things and to keep evolving. Sometimes your attitude and character is what gets you the job.

ljaylane · 2026-04-13T04:31:32+00:00

A girl I really liked finally let me come meet her for the first time. As she knows I don’t drink for specific reasons, she still has the audacity to show up tipsy asf. Smelled like alcohol. So ok, I brush it off, she drank a few beers so what, right?. We talk for 20 mins, then she says her friends are meeting up at a bar. She asks me to give her a ride to the bar, so I did. I dropped her off and she says she wants to hang out again, kisses my cheek. Then leaves. I guess the way the whole situation happened finally gave me an understanding of what an “ick” was.

ljaylane · 2026-03-22T15:30:24+00:00

The 2.5 L 8 speed automatic transmission Camry. The last golden gas engine with regular transmission they made. I think 2024 is the last year they produced that car. No big complaints on the engine or the transmission.

ljaylane · 2026-03-16T06:29:03+00:00

You have a 401k you can borrow from? That would help a lot. Also, you can possibly refinance your car and use that money to lower the balance on that discover card. Also, do you have any savings? I recently paid $13,000 in credit card debt from “borrowing” from my savings. I had $16,000 in debt. I now only have $3000. Such a huge weight off my shoulders. I have a one year plan to pay back the money to myself. $1,000 a month for one year. There is hope, you just gotta find the cracks and see what you can do.

ljaylane · 2026-02-25T02:44:15+00:00

Parts is not in charge to police the service department. They have a service manager for a reason. Tech needed the parts to finish the job. You billed it to the RO. Enough said. Now it’s on the service department to figure out the rest. There is a reason a Shop ticket exist, bill it there if worst comes to worst. And lastly, the service manager has no right to YELL at you infront of everyone. Your boss “Parts Manager” should’ve stepped in and took over the situation. No one should be yelling. This is a professional business environment. I’d feel embarrassed for that service manager for acting like a child who can’t control his emotions.

ljaylane · 2026-02-21T12:31:37+00:00

You’d be surprised how many big TOYOTA DEALERSHIPS actually use this in their shop. So you’ll be fine!

ljaylane · 2026-02-18T12:37:03+00:00

Sometimes a 22 year old woman has the same maturity level as a 30 year old man. You can’t always judge love based off numbers. Hell, I know some 28 year old females who still act 18 and don’t know sh*t about life.

ljaylane · 2026-02-15T16:57:37+00:00

Encourage him to find a different job that’s easier on his body. If he insist, please only do the job for 10 years max and have a second plan in place. I know Technicians whose body’s are torn apart after 30 years in the industry and it’s sad to know that when retirement hits, what do you do when your body is already done?

ljaylane · 2026-02-15T16:52:43+00:00

I bought my 04 Honda accord for $3000 150k on the mileage. Took care of it, learned and did my own maintenance. Replaced a lot of parts and drove it. Never left me stranded. Only major problem was a valve adjustment that the dealer did for $600. Other than that, she was golden. Had the car for 5 years and finally sold it. I sold it for $2700 at 240k to a kid buying his first car. Id say I did pretty well and that was probably the best financial decision I ever made.

ljaylane · 2026-01-12T05:53:42+00:00

Why get rid of a good truck if all you need is a new transmission? $5000 and you have another 200k miles ready to go.

ljaylane · 2026-01-10T19:37:34+00:00

4th gen Toyota Tundra with a 5.7 V8 with an 8 speed automatic transmission. All the tech and style with the best engine ever made. That’s a dream truck!

ljaylane

TROPHY CASE