These Are The Most Haunted Cars You've Ever Bought

Halloween has come and gone. You might have a bucket full of candy you're trying to keep your kids from binging in an hour. If we're being completely honest, you might be considering candy as your own dinner tonight. While most haunted houses will shutter until next, there's a year-round show sitting in your garage just waiting for another surprise performance when you're sitting behind the wheel.

We asked our readers last week about the most haunted cars they've ever bought. Responders filled the comments section with technical issues that I've honestly never seen before, like pop-up headlights that would erratically go up and down only in the rain. Speaking of water, there was even a boat that seemed to want to destroy itself out on the water. These are the kinds of problems that would haunt anyone's dreams. Without further ado, here are the vehicles most likely to have a connection to the supernatural:

My 2017 Chevrolet Volt was pretty much one thing after the other. AC only blew cold whenever it wanted to. Nagging "shift to park" messages even though I already put the car in park. A misfire. But the worst was when the car suddenly stopped and wouldn't move again, leaving me stranded in a parking garage at midnight. When I got it towed to the dealer, they traced it to a panel of wires that mysteriously burnt. The employees literally told me they had "never seen that in their life". The car was in the shop for three months because the dealer also said GM doesn't make the problem part anymore so they had to build one from scratch. I decided I was done with the car after that and got rid of it.

Submitted by: Giantsgiants

More cursed than haunted. My former car was a 2020 S560. Amazing car. Loved it. But I got hit in 3 separate minor accidents in 15 months. Never my fault – one while parked for gods sake. Each time requiring all the effort of insurance adjusters, body shops, etc. Prior to that car, I had been in one accident in about 32 years of driving (also not my fault). Traded for a 2025 S580e and love it even more – hopefully the curse didn't transfer.

Ps. How much you think a S-class with 3 accidents on the carfax is worth? Not much is correct :(

Submitted by: epnfrn

I owned an '88 Prelude Si back in college (think 1997) had been in a collision somewhere near the fusebox, and when it rained the popup headlights would alternate up and down (one up, one down, back and forth). I got really good at jumping out in the rain and pulling the exact fuse necessary to stop it, and then twist the headlights into the "up" position. I could have just left them up all the time, but the car looked SO much better with them down.

Submitted by: Dante

I had a real Christine situation with my first car.

My dad and I rebuilt a 1960 Chevy El Camino for me to drive. I loved that car and was directly involved in everything we did to get it back on the road. Installing a new engine, replacing the clutch, sculpting the bondo to cover all the rust, and laying down the Corvette red paint.

She never let me down. Always got me where I was going.

My girlfriend HATED that car. No AC, loud, and I spent probably as much time and money on it as I did her.

The car hated her right back. The starter would occasionally require a jump across the poles with a screwdriver to work, and it always seemed to be when she was with me.

Like I said, it didn't have AC, and I lived in West Texas then. It did have kick panel vents you could open for some relief, and one time, my girlfriend grabbed the knob to pull it open on her side. Somehow, and I don't even know how it was possible, she got, I dunno, pinched or something in a way THAT DREW BLOOD.

The girlfriend ended up being a cheater.

I still miss that car...⁸

Submitted by: Stillnotatony

Not a car, but how about a haunted, murderous boat story?

I had a sport fisherman. An evil one. The first bad day was when the twin outboards both died while crossing the intercoastal waterway, with tankers coming at me from both directions. Since both outboards were fed by separate gas tanks and has separate electrical systems, this shouldn't be possible, but it there I was. The next month it caught fire, but, unfortunately, I reacted and put it out. I never knew how, but drain plug could pop out all on its own, on the ocean once and at dock. Another time, while trying to assess some damage to the bottom gel coat, I climbed under the boat resting on its trailer. I absolutely did not touch the trailer or the boat, but the boat somehow knew anyway and made the trailer jack suddenly collapse, pinning me. Finally, I was trying to fix one of the outboard lower units. I was hanging backward off the transom by my legs, body wedged between the two motors. The other engine then popped loose its gas line which proceeded to douse my face with gasoline. I couldn't see, breathe and the gas filled both nostrils. I managed to extricate myself but later discovered the gas had burned away my sense of smell for the next few months. That's how I learned adult have stem cells in their nose – the "nose buds" regrow eventually.

Today, when I hear an unexpected knock at the door, I sometimes fear the boat has found me and that I'll open the door to two screaming propellers coming toward me....

Submitted by: Kansas Kansas

2011 Dodge Avenger SXT. Bought it used for my daughter. It wasn't pretty, but it ran great on a LONG test ride. She takes it to work the next day and she calls me that it's out in the parking lot with all the lights blinking and horn blaring away. I figured it was the alarm but it wasn't. Put a new battery in it that day (nightmare) and all seems fine. A few weeks later the battery light comes on and I test the alternator which is bad. I replaced it and good for a few more weeks. She comes home one day and tells me the horn starts blaring randomly along with the hazards. I couldn't find anything obvious so I drop it off at my mechanic and he changes whatever Dodge calls its fuse box. Runs great for a few more weeks and then it just starts randomly shutting off but restarts after sitting for a few minutes. I just gave up and sold it dirt cheap but told the buyer about all the issues. He didn't care because of the price. He actually called me back complaining about the car and how I ripped him off even though I explained in detail what a POS the car was. He backed down and admitted that he thought he could fix it himself. Absolutely the worst car I have ever owned. Every time my daughter and I see an Avenger we laugh.

Submitted by: Bruno

When I first bought my 1982 Mercedes 300td about four years ago, it seemed haunted by mysterious mechanical failures, the oil pressure gauge started shooting oil all over the cabin of the car, and I had to replace so many stubborn parts that refused to be removed without drawing blood. Some may say that these are the normal consequences of buying a poorly maintained 40-year-old car, but I think we all know the real answer is ghosts.

Submitted by: Matt Pipes

Not a car, but anyone who grew up in Chicago knows about Resurrection Mary, the ghostly hitchhiker who wandered Archer Ave looking for a ride home. A favorite thing to do around Halloween was to try and find her... 😳

Submitted by: Jimboy II, The Sequel

My 2003 Dodge Ram Van 1500. It has reliably run poorly the whole time I've owned it. I got it with supposedly 60,000 miles about 8 years ago and it ran fine, but by the time I got around to taking it to emissions, the CEL came on. The wife was supposed to take it across the country pretty quickly after we got it and on that trip she learned that it eats oil and coolant. I figured out most of the oil consumption by replacing a manifold gasket. The coolant still goes somewhere, but I never see a drop on the ground. I fixed the CEL by replacing the alternator, but it still comes back on periodically. It's at 140,000 miles now and still does what it needs to do, but it's always unhappy about it.

Submitted by: Clay Horste

My Miata wasn't haunted when I bought it... But driving home on a dark and stormy night I hit a cat. The next time I went to shift gears I heard a "meow" when I pressed the clutch pedal. I stopped and looked under the car – nothing! The clutch kept meowing for about 10 years. Then it stopped – I guess the cat's ghost got bored.

Submitted by: Nobody

When I got out of Navy boot camp, I bought a 1969 Volvo 144 up in the Chicago area for $300. To put it mildly, it needed work to pass inspection. It had a damaged headlight assembly so to aim it, we used window caulking and glued it in place. The automatic column shift lever bracket broke and to put it in gear it took two hands to wrestle it into drive. The driver's side window was held in place with a notched broom handle or it sat in the bottom of the door. It had a barely functional radio. It drove well for me for about a year and I slowly fixed all the issues. Used replacement fender, core support, headlight bucket, steering column, window regulator and handle, I even painted it in the base hobby shop back to its original red (first paint job I ever did). No sooner than I got it road worthy-ish, on the way out of the Orlando navy base, it decided to destroy itself internally by dropping the guts out of the torque converter and blow transmission fluid on the road next to a gas station. It chugged its way into a parking spot next to the tow truck as if gasping its last breaths and then all by itself thew the transmission into park and blew parts everywhere then threw a rod through the engine block as if to say "I'M DONE! NO MORE TO GIVE!" The hand of the Swedish car gods took any spirit it had left. I signed the title, put it under the wiper, grabbed my stuff, and walked away. I saw it parked it next to the donor car when looking for parts for my next $300 car.

Submitted by: Old_SLAAB_Guy

My mom's 1998 Mustang GT convertible with the manual (she's awesome!). It's had an electrical gremlin the entire time she's owned it. (20+ years) No one has ever been able to isolate the specific issue. The issue has prevented the convertible top from going up/down, headlights wouldn't turn on, radio issues, cluster issues. Only one issue at a time. She brings it to the shop, they can't isolate the issue. Then, sometime later, the issue goes away. She's even managed to drive it to the shop when these issues have been actively happening and the techs still couldn't find a reason. Battery has been replaced, grounds checked, alternator replaced. Every few years it's something. It sounds bad, but 99% of the time it runs without issue.

Submitted by: J-wagon