'I'm not paying you, it's your car': Young man demands roommates pay $500 for his car maintenance, they refuse

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
Jan 26, 2024 8:00 PM EST

You roll the dice when moving in with new people, and I don't say that lightly. Even if you guys are besties from the second grade, nobody is safe from a good old roommate horror story. I had my fair share of entitled roommates, and I can honestly say that paying double for my own tiny studio apartment is worth it, because after everything I went through, I'm over it. Wait till you hear what happened in this story…

'I gave you a ride, a couple of times' was OP's roommate's excuse for demanding $500 from them for car maintenance. They argued a bit back and forth, and then OP shared the entire text exchange with the backstory to r/badroommates, because this roommate was the worst. This roommate, who we'll call Chad for the sake of clarity, had offered OP and his other roommate a ride a couple of times. OP had given Chad gas money, but now, Chad was demanding a whole lot more, as he had run into a bit of car trouble… Scroll down to read how the events unfolded. Then, check out this school student who made sure their classmate got a big, fat zero on their final grade for a joint project.

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  • 01
    "I'm not paying for your car maintenance..."
    via Canva
  • 02
    Am I Overreacting?
    via u/Slakenera
  • 03
    21 My mom said she won't pay for my oil change or tires lol She said you and I drive you guys everywhere haha should since
    via u/Slakenera
  • 04
    you guys could save up together, it's only $500 are you insane? have a job what doesn't even
    via u/Slakenera
  • 05
    what do you mean? $500 for what? what kinda if oil change are you getting
    via u/Slakenera
  • 06
    no that's for my tires you've given me a ride a few times, and you offered why should I have to pay for your car maintenance ?? well I mean you and for my car so it seems fair. use me
    via u/Slakenera
  • 07
    how does that make any sense? You've always offered to pick me up, and every time I give you 20-30 dollars in gas. i've never used you for your car $20 doesn't do anything for my tank
    via u/Slakenera
  • 08
    it doesn't when all you do is drive me 3 miles down the road 'you're acting just like it's not my fault you got fired and used all your money on you don't need. be a little more responsible Read 7:17AM
    via u/Slakenera
  • 09
    responsible? that's rich coming from a kid that makes less than $900 a month, has no car or a license. I don't have energy to argue with you I was just telling you that's what my mom thinks and I agree Read 7:17 AM
    via u/Slakenera
  • 10
    My (17F) roommate (19M) who I've known a little over two years sent me a text saying me and my close friend "X" (17M) should pay for his car maintenance. I would have agreed if he was asking for help, as he recently lost his job, but when he said something about 500$ I was confused.
    via u/Slakenera
  • 11
    Me and "X" are emancipated, and met this friend when we were in high school together. He took us under his wing in a sense, and allowed us to stay in his guest room for just 50$ a month each (175$ now) as long as we didn't trash the place and respected his rules. "X" has never had a job, and gets money from his grandparents every now and then while I work part time because I'm in school (I make less than 500$ a month bc of my hours). I never really had the resources to get a drivers license
    via u/Slakenera
  • 12
    or car so I rely on other means of transportation while saving up. Roommate always offers to drive me around but I rarely accept because I feel like a burden to him, as he's already housing me and my friend. over the two years of us being roommates he's driven me to work less than 10 times. I haven't hung out with him in almost 3 months because i'm busy, meanwhile him and "X" hangout at least four times a week.
    via u/Slakenera
  • 13
    Roommate brought up the situation with his car once in front of us both a few weeks ago and told us we were overreacting when we asked him why we "had" to pay for his car's maintenance. both me and my friend received separate texts this morning from roommate mentioning the car again.
    via u/Slakenera
  • 14
    Me and "X" don't understand if he's serious and truly wants us to give him 500$? I don't know much about cars but I mean 500$ for tires? I would appreciate any advice, or suggestions. we truly don't know what we're supposed to do.
    via u/Slakenera
  • 15
    Wide Conflict_528 13 hr. ago . No giving him way more gas money than what you're even using is more than enough. He just seems cheap 1.3k Reply Share alman72 13 hr. ago His momma is getting a different story 581 Reply Share
    via u/Wide_Conflict_528, u/alman72
  • 16
    JustForge 14 hr. ago · edited 13 hr. ago Nah he is dumb as hell. If he offered you a ride, it's on him. Even if you weren't giving him 20 - 30 bucks for gas each time she decided he wanted to give you a ride. It's his car. Reply Share 1.6k
    via u/JustForge
  • 17
    EmpZurg 14 hr. ago In what world does 20$ do nothing for gas tanks? That's 5 gallons at a horrible price. Reply Share 872 redditfoo69 13 hr. ago Even in LA $20 does a quarter tank and I drive a BreakMyWallet 210 Reply Share
    via u/EmpZurg_, u.redditfoo69
  • 18
    SuperSpeeder Carl - 13 hr. ago If I had to guess, I think someone is lying to their mother about where they are going and who they are going with you and your friend are probably getting blamed for a lot more than you realize. 347 Reply Share
    via u/SuperSpeederCarl
  • 19
    muddymoose 13 hr. ago He's right. You should also be paying for his insurance and registration. While you're at it some aftermarket parts too. /j 257 Reply Share
    via u/muddymoose
  • 20
    Catlosky 13 hr. ago No. As someone who's driven since 18, I've never ONCE demanded compensation for rides. If someone offers gas $, I'd take it. But that was always them being generous in my eyes... what's a few minutes of of (his) day? General wear and tear on tires takes thousands of miles... I highly doubt you had him drive you thousands of miles out of his way. Reply Share 87
    via u/Catlosky
  • 21
    e_piffany 12 hr. ago I think asking for gas money is fair in some cases when the ride or destination is far out of the way and the people in the situation are all young and not established w a bunch of money to roll in, but asking someone to pay you $500 for an oil change is kinda insane. I've also never known a oil change to cost $500 so that piece confuses me also 12 Reply Share
    via u/e_piffany
  • 22
    stxrmchaser 14 hr. ago · edited 13 hr. ago That is absolutely ridiculous and I honestly would blow him off and not give it a second thought if I were you. The average lifespan of car tires is about 60,000 miles so if he's only driven you to work a handful of times, as the kids say, "the math ain't mathin'." He's just trying to make you feel guilty and see what he can get out of you. Don't cave. This is an absolute joke. Shame on him and his mother for even suggesting it.
    via u/stxrmchaser
  • 23
    Now that you know this is the kind of person he is, I wouldn't be accepting any more favors from him, either. Tl;dr - don't give him another dollar. You've already been more than generous with the gas money you've given him. His car maintenance is his responsibility. Period.
    via u/stxrmchaser
  • 24
    You're under ZERO obligation (legally) to pay for his maintenance and morally, it's not like you've been accepting regular rides enough to justify even paying him $100 for an oil change. (Oil changes can range from on average $50- 100 every 3-6 months depending on the type of car, how often they drive, etc. And a brand new set of all four tires can cost about $500 but that would only need to be done once every 5-7 years or so again depending on how much they drive, etc. Lots of variables here de
    via u/stxrmchaser

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garage charger fixing bad roommates oil change car repairs cars text fails car maintenance driving parenting tires housemate young people payment roommates
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