You know that moment when you think, “Hey, I’ll save a buck and try something new?” Well, one New Zealand teen took this to a whole new level by replacing his car’s brake fluid with—wait for it—dishwashing liquid. What could go wrong, right? As it turns out, everything. On his test drive, the brakes failed spectacularly. Let’s just say the result wasn’t squeaky clean.

Back in 2004, Wayne Hunt, 19, lived on New Zealand’s West Coast. He’d already faced legal issues, like driving without a license and stealing traffic cones. His car wasn’t doing much better.

Hunt’s car was unregistered, had no warrant, and had extremely low pressure in two tires. But that wasn’t the worst of it—he was leaking brake fluid fast. Most drivers would park the car right then, but Hunt had other ideas.

A technical aside: Hydraulic brake fluid is a refined petroleum product designed to resist compression or boiling, ensuring your brakes activate when you stomp on the pedal, even at high temperatures. Regular brake fluid can withstand up to 446°F, but dishwashing liquid? Not so much.

So when Hunt realized most of his brake fluid had leaked out, he topped off the system with dishwashing liquid. Then, he went for a test drive.

Instead of cautiously testing the brakes, Hunt went full throttle, only touching the brakes when approaching a bend. The pedal hit the floor, and the car didn’t even slow down. The system compressed the liquid–which is mostly water–leaving Hunt with zero braking power.

The result? His car spun 360 degrees, hit a curb, and wrapped around a power pole.

The good news? Hunt survived. The bad news? He suffered serious injuries, got sentenced to 220 hours of community service, and had his driver’s license suspended for another year. But something tells me his neighbors don’t mind him being off the road.