absolutely, no questions asked...

My little sister asked me years ago to borrow one of my cars "just for the weekend". I loaned her my 1984 Turbo T-bird Official Car of the US Grand Prix. Well, on the following Wednesday (past the weekend she borrowed it for) she called to tell me my car was totaled by her husband in a head-on collision with a drunk driver at 3:00 PM on Tuesday. She said that her husband and stepson were badly hurt and were recovering. She also said "your car was towed to a salvage yard and they charge $175 per day storage if you want to get it back". I said, why didn't you have it towed to your house where it could sit for free? Why didn't you have it towed back to me (two hours away)? She said that she didn't care about my stupid car because her husband was very hurt, so she just let the police tow it away. It was all my problem now, she said. Well I made arrangements to tow it back to me and I found that the salvage yard already started stripping it! They cut out the radio, speakers, seats, etc... Before this, the car had a new engine in it (20,000 miles previously) and the interior was primo (this was in the mid 1990s).

Well I had a local body shop come look at it in my yard and he gave me a price of $800 to fix the bent front frame rails (not including parts) and another $400 for misc. work to include refitting the front end and front fenders. They even included round trip free towing. So I took him up on it and found another 1984 T-bird in the junk yard that I could get everything but the windshield from for only $300. They even cut off the frame rails for me. So for $1,700 I got back a car with fitted (but not installed) front end. I put it all back together and repainted it, had a new windshield installed for $120. The insurance gave me $2,500 so I made a few bucks for my troubles (though it was more trouble than I bargained for!).

Well I drove it for another two years and then gave it to my little brother for free when I got a Grand National. He drove it for another two years before it broke another piston ring. It's been yard art at his house for about 18 years now.

I don't maintain contact with either of them any more because they both are just moochers.

Bottom line is don't lend your cars even to family members unless you are willing to take on some drama and anxiety.