I just graduated high school and my parents wanted to buy me a car for college. My budget was at most three thousand dollars, so I decided to search various used car dealerships and websites for a fairly modest car. After failing to find anything I liked, my friend told me he was selling his ’89 Acura Integra for only $2000! I instantly bought it from him without much inspection and brought it home. I showed it off to my parents and they cosigned for car insurance immediately. I absolutely loved the car and spent the next few weeks driving it everywhere and showing it to everyone.

One sunny afternoon I was driving on the freeway when out of nowhere I heard this loud screeching noise and saw smoke streaming out of my hood. I pulled over and called a tow truck immediately. The tow truck driver gave it a quick inspection and informed me that the radiator had extensive damage and the timing belt was so worn it looked like a snake skin. The total to fix these problems at the mechanic was far more than the car itself was worth, and I ended up with a useless hunk of metal in my garage at home and no car for college. My “friend” rightfully felt a bit guilty after this incident and apologized countless times, but I never saw a penny in compensation from him. On the plus side, I stayed healthy my freshman year since I rode my bicycle everywhere.