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[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoChinatownWars https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gtafishradiator_8281.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Grilled Tuna: For occasions when non-fish related Vehicular Sabotage ''just won't do''.]]
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->''"Oh, no — the 'Brakes Cut' light!"''
-->-- '''Marge''', ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''

When a character maliciously tampers with someone else's vehicle (whether it's an automobile or motorcycle), vessel, or plane prior to it being used. Since EveryCarIsAPinto, this can turn a pleasant family drive in the trusty minivan into a hurtling terror ride in a burning metal death trap. In other situations, less dangerous methods may be used simply to slow the would-be driver or pilot down or to get revenge for a previous slight.

Any type of vehicle imaginable can be subject to Vehicular Sabotage, as long as there is a character with the tools and knowledge to pull it off. Anything from the trusty "unhinging the wagon wheels" ploy, to the "sugar in the gas tank" prank, to the "cut the brake lines" scheme, to the "strip the tires" trick, to the "[[PhlebotinumOverload overload the Phlebotinum-converter]]" gambit (and anything in between) can qualify, as long as it is the result of a deliberate action and not simple mechanical failure.

With [[EverythingIsOnline modern vehicles]], [[http://www.wired.com/2015/07/hackers-remotely-kill-jeep-highway/ remotely hacking the vehicle's computer]] is becoming common, combining this trope with HollywoodHacking.

Compare with VehicularAssault, in which a vehicle is used as a weapon by its pilot, and MurderByRemoteControlVehicle, in which a vehicle is used as a weapon against its pilot. A supertrope of BananaInTheTailpipe and ExternalCombustion, when the sabotage comes by way of an explosive device planted by the enemy, and sometimes PopTheTires. May be a cause of RunningOverThePlot. Frequently results in a car with MagicBrakes. This is also a favorite way to MakeItLookLikeAnAccident.

----
!!Examples
[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* ''Manga/ACruelGodReigns'': Jeremy does this to [[spoiler: kill his step-father Greg]].
* ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency'' has an example with heroic intent: Right before Joseph and Wamuu start their chariot race, Joseph requests to inspect the floor for any loose dirt, which Wamuu accepts, but he's actually throwing rocks directly in front of Wamuu's chariot's wheels, preventing it from moving when the race begins. During the race itself, both sides engage in this sabotage, and by the end of the race, both chariots have been completely destroyed.
* ''Franchise/LupinIII'': A favorite trick of Lupin when he's being pursued. He'll either sabotage them himself or have Goemon slice them to ribbons beforehand.
* In ''Anime/SailorMoon'', this is how [[spoiler: Mimete]] kills [[spoiler: Eudial.]]
* ''Manga/ResidentEvilHeavenlyIsland'': Soon after the ship's arrival at the island, Morio sneaks on-board and destroys the engine, preventing any chance of escape. It's later revealed that as part of the Kodoku Project, test subjects were programmed to prevent anyone from leaving the island.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Asian Animation]]
* In the third episode of ''Animation/RimbaRacer'' the cooling system of Tag's car is sabotaged by [[spoiler: Tamira, to try and convince him to quit]], forcing him to limit his speed during the race or explode. He manages to fix it while driving, but not before Wrecks rams him in the fuel tank. [[spoiler: In episode 8, it's shown that Mr. King has backdoors into the electronics of all the cars, but Meelo patches them a couple episodes later.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In ''ComicBook/{{Chassis}}'', Twist sends her personal droid to sabotage Chassis's areocar during a race.
* In ''ComicBook/TheMazeAgency'' #3, the criminal replaces the tyre on the test driver's car with a defective one, knowing that it will blow out on the rough ride he will be driving over.
* In ''ComicBook/ReidFlemingWorldsToughestMilkman'', after Mr. O'Clocke finally agrees to fire Reid if he wrecks one more milk truck, Crabbe decides to hurry the process along by cutting Reid's brake lines.
* Hartigan sabotages Junior Roark's car at the beginning of the ''ComicBook/SinCity'' tale, "The Yellow Bastard", by leaning over the engine... then holding two spark plugs, which somehow stops the car from starting.
* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
** A non-automobile example would be a [[UsefulNotes/TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks Silver Age]] story where Clark gets amnesia and falls in love with a ranch owner's daughter. A jealous suitor feeds loco weed to a bronco Clark intends to ride in order to earn money for an engagement ring, and Clark ends up "paralyzed" because of it.
** In ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 2005]]'' storyline ''ComicBook/GirlPower'', ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} fries the Outsiders' jet's dashboard to prevent them from coming to her aid when she confronts Lex Luthor.
** In ''ComicBook/TheCondemnedLegionnaires'', Satan Girl tears off the Legion Cruiser's engine so the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes cannot follow her and stop her from killing their companions.
** According to ''ComicBook/SupermanSecretOrigin'', this is how Post-Crisis ComicBook/LexLuthor gained his riches — he cut the brake line to his father's car and let him die.
* In ''ComicBook/ShazamTheNewBeginning'', Billy Batson's parents died due to Sivana having somebody sabotage the car so that it would crash and cause an accident.
* It's a major theme in ''ComicBook/JoZetteAndJocko'' album "The Stratoship H-22":
** Mr Legrand's car is sabotaged, so he has an accident.
** The C48 plane is also sabotaged and Mr Legrand is framed up for this.
** The stratoship is sabotaged during his test flight: a porthole gets loose.
** Mr Legrand's ship to the North Pole is sabotaged too: it crashes in the ocean.
* ''ComicBook/TheBlackSpider'': The plot-starting murder in ''Super-Mystery Comics'' v2 #2 was done by sabotaging a race car.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'':
** ''ComicBook/SensationComics'': The petty spoiled rotten actress Zita Zanders has Di's plane for a film sequence sabotaged so the wings come loose. Di is able to save it in such a way that her survival doesn't even threaten to reveal her secret identity as Wonder Woman due to her piloting skills.
** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': White Magician sabotages the repurposed [[ComicBook/NewGods Apokolipian]] transport Diana uses to save a stranded cosmonaut in an attempt to kill Franchise/WonderWoman, but Diana is able to jerry-rig something out of it and despite being tossed lightyears away from earth and picked up and enslaved by the Sangtee Empire she and the cosmonaut are able to make their way back to earth, it just takes them a while.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In ''Fanfic/CissneisPath'', Tifa and Yuffie get assigned to do this during the Costa del Sol arc, to ensure that they can escape.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film — Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnoldTheMovie'': The BigBad, [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Alphonse Perrier du von Scheck]], is subjected to this during his VillainousBreakdown after Arnold and Gerald stop his evil plan to avenge his ancestors who suffered a humiliating defeat in the Revolutionary War by illegally demolishing their neighborhood and replace it with a shopping mall [[spoiler:by [[EngineeredPublicConfession showing everyone the video of him]] [[FieryCoverUp burning]] [[DestroyTheEvidence the vital document in front of them]] [[HoistByHisOwnPetard taken from his own security camera footage]]]]. Just as he arrives to reprimand his construction crews for not doing their job, Scheck is horrified to find that his scheme has been exposed and is forced to make his escape as the angry townspeople advance on him, and in doing so, tries to run over everyone, [[WouldHurtAChild including Arnold and Gerald]], only to find that Arnold's grandmother stripped his tires. The angry mob made sure Scheck wasn't going anywhere, [[PutOnAPrisonBus except to prison]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
* ''Film/EightWomen'': The culprit ruins the car's engine so none of the characters can leave. Louise none-too-subtly suggests Gaby did it, which makes sense because as far as anyone knows she was the last one who was anywhere near the car before the sabotage was discovered. [[spoiler:It was actually Gaby's younger daughter Catherine.]]
* ''Film/TheAbductionOfSaintAnne'': Dave realizes his brake lines have been cut as he's driving downhill. His truck drives off-road and rolls over, but he manages to avoid serious injury.
* ''Film/AngelFace'': a car is tampered with so that it will shift into reverse when the driver tries to go forward.
* ''Film/TheArcher'': Rebecca cut the brakes on a motorcycle her mom's abusive boyfriend got, which caused him to get into a minor wreck, which he survived. This is why she got put in reform camp.
* ''Film/BadDayAtBlackRock'': Hector rips the distributor cap and spark plug wires out of Doc Velie's hearse to stop Macreedy from leaving town.
* ''Film/BadTimesAtTheElRoyale'': Sullivan disables all of the cars in the parking lot so that no one can leave the ''El Royale''.
* ''Film/BatmanReturns'': The Penguin manages to install a [[HollywoodHacking remote control]] in the Batmobile, then takes it on a destructive joyride through Gotham. Batman finds the device and regains control just in time to avoid running down an old lady.
* Creator/LaurelAndHardy don't do this themselves in the famed short ''Film/BigBusiness'', but their popular victim/antagonist carries this out with gusto on the boys' car even as they tear apart his house.
* ''Film/BigFatLiar'' was famous for this trope, when Jason and Kaylee did this to Marty's car, after putting dye in his pool and turning him blue! When he had his car towed the tow truck driver said, "They said something about a little blue car, they didn't say anything about a little blue man!".
* ''Film/{{Blastfighter}}'': the {{Evil Poacher}}s cut the brake lines and wreck the gearbox in Tiger's car so he can't sop or slow down as his car descends a winding mountain road
* ''Film/{{Blooded}}'': the first thing Liv does when she makes it back to the cottage is to attempt to start the Land Rover, but it won't go. It seems likely that the RLA sabotaged it, given they also [[CutPhoneLines cut the phone lines]].
* ''Film/BloodHarvest'': Jill's stalker tampers with [[spoiler:Sarah]]'s car doors so they can't be opened.
* ''Film/TheBluesBrothers'': On their way to sneaking in to their concert, Elwood makes Jake wait while he sprays glue onto the gas pedal of the Good Ol' Boys' RV. Later during the big ChaseScene, the driver's foot becomes stuck to the pedal (and the pedal stuck to the floorboard), causing him to go out of control and crash.
* ''Film/CapricornOne'': the bad guys not only cut Caufield's brake lines, they disable his parking brake, jam his gearshift lever in Drive, and somehow yank his accelerator pedal all the way down to the floor.
* ''Film/ChangingLanes'': Doyle Gipson removes the nuts from one of Gavin Banek's car tires as part of their ongoing CycleOfRevenge. To add insult to injury, Doyle arranges it so that the taxi he's riding in passes by Gavin in time for the former to wave, hold up a tire iron, and then let the nuts fall through his fingers, giving Gavin an OhCrap moment before his tire pops off on the busy New York freeway.
* ''Film/DTox'': the killer ensures no one can leave the rehab clinic by removing the carburetors from the snowmobiles and smashing them with a hammer.
* ''Film/EscapeToAthena''. The Greek resistance leader decides to assassinate a German officer by sabotaging the brakes of his ''kübelwagen'', but the officer catches him leaving the scene and arrests him for curfew violation, taking him back to headquarters in that same vehicle. Fortunately when the brakes are revealed not to work, this provides a distraction for him to escape by jumping out of the vehicle, which obligingly [[StuffBlowingUp crashes into a German ammunition dump]].
* Hitchcock's ''Film/FamilyPlot'' features the "cut brakes" version.
* ''Film/FearInc'': When Joe and the others attempt to escape the house, they discover Fear, Inc. has ripped the ignition out of the car.
* In ''Film/{{Graduation}}'', to stop Barbara from getting to the bank on the morning of the robbery, the teens sabotage the steering of her car, causing her to drive into a tree.
* In ''Film/TheGreatRace'', the villain's sidekick sabotages all the cars before the race... including their own. They realize it about a second before their engine falls out of the car.
* Used at least twice by gangsters in ''Film/TheGreenHornetSerials'' as part of "turn the business over to us while you still ''have'' a business" plots. Brakes and steering systems are both targeted.
* In ''Film/GunsGirlsAndGambling'', [[spoiler:John Smith]] cuts the water hose of Elvis Elvis's Cadillac, causing the car to overheat and strand him on the desert highway.
* In the first ''Film/IronEagle'' movie, a rival loosens the oil cap for the engine of Doug's plane just before a race against the rival's motorcycle, resulting in the plane spilling oil once the loosened cap works the rest of the way off due to engine vibration.
* In ''Film/TheIsland1980'', Manuel pretends to help Maynard escape, and provides him with a small skiff and directions to the open ocean. Once he is sailing, Maynard discovers water coming in through the bottom of the boat, and realizes that Manuel had drilled holes in the boat and plugged them with molasses, which dissolves once in the water.
* ''Film/ItNearlyWasntChristmas'' has a sled race where one contestant sabotaged everyone else's sleds by sawing one of their runners. When Santa's sled breaks, he manages not to crash on the spot and magics up a replacement runner.
* ''Film/JohnnyDangerously''’s prosecutor little brother’s car is sabotaged by a rogue member of Johnny’s gang as part of an attempted takeover of the gang, though Tommy does survive.
* In ''Film/KeepingMum'', Grace cuts the brake cables on the bikes belonging to Petey's bullies.
* In ''Film/{{Kingpin}}'', Ernie gets back at Roy for defeating him in his bowling tour by putting sugar into the gas tank.
* In ''Film/TheLoveBug'', Thorndyke attempts to sabotage Herbie by pouring his Irish coffee into the gas tank, presumably with the idea of it working like sugar in the gas tank. It works, but by leaving Herbie hungover, and although Thorndyke wins the race, [[DoomedNewClothes his freshly-pressed racing jumpsuit]] [[LaserGuidedKarma gets splattered with projectile-coughed whipped cream]].
* ''Film/MadMax1''. The Toecutter's gang sabotage the Goose's MFP motorcycle while he's in a nightclub. He crashes the motorcycle the next day with no apparent injury, but this leaves him vulnerable to a later fatal attack by the gang.
* ''Film/TheMonsterClub'': When the movie director Sam attempts to leave the village of Loughville, he discovers that the ghouls have sabotaged the engine of his car.
* In ''Film/MostLikelyToDie'', the killer cuts the fuel lines in all of the attendees' cars so no one can leave the canyon.
* In ''Film/{{Preservation}}'', Wit attempts to hotwire the truck, but it doesn't work. When she checks the engine, she discovers the hunters have stolen the battery.
* ''Film/{{Primal}}'': After escaping confinement, Loffler performs several acts of sabotage on the ''Mimer''. He trashes the bridge to destroy the primary steering system, and later sabotages the engines to leave the ship dead in the water.
* In ''Film/Seven1979'', Cowboy jabs a knife through the fuel tank of Kimo's limo, so the car will be forced to stop for gas.
* ''Film/TheShining''. Wendy is able to lock her insane husband in the pantry, but Jack just gives an EvilLaugh and informs her that he's already sabotaged both the radio and the Snowcat [[SnowedIn that's her only means of escaping]] the HellHotel. [[spoiler:Fortunately someone else turns up to help them, but while he quickly gets killed by Jack, Wendy and Danny use the Snowcat he arrived in to escape.]]
* In ''Film/TheShout'', Crossley lets the air of the tires of Anthony's bicycle at the church to delay him long enough to inveigle him into conversation.
* In ''Film/TheSoundOfMusic'', two nuns reveal to their Mother that they have removed the distributor and coil (respectively) from the Nazis' automobile, the better to keep them from catching the Von Trapp family.
* ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock'': Scotty "performing surgery" on the USS ''Excelsior'' transwarp drive.
** In ''Film/StarTrekIntoDarkness'', the ''Enterprise'' is sabotaged with the intent of leaving it stranded in Klingon space.
* The brake line is cut for the van driven by Bob and Doug in ''Film/StrangeBrew'' as part of an attempt to silence them before revealing the bad guy's plans.
* In ''Film/WhosHarryCrumb'', P.J. Downing's GoldDigger wife and her tennis instructor/lover are trying to kill her husband before he gives away his fortune as ransom for his daughter. The lover drains the brake fluid in Downing's classic car but leaves some pressure for level roads. The idea is that, once he goes down on a steep hill, the pressure won't be enough. It might have worked, but Harry asks Downing to take his car for a spin. He's the one who ends up in trouble when going downhill but miraculously survives when the impact with a tree is dampened by the perpetrators' car.
* In ''Film/YouMightBeTheKiller'', the killer destroys the engine of the counselors' car so they can't escape the camp.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "{{Literature/Trends}}": Shelton sabotages Harman's rocket by breaking the liquid-oxygen compartments (fuel), so that when the engine was engaged, all of the fuel exploded at once, instead of being used as controlled propulsion. 28 people nearby the launch site die as a result, but Harman survives through good fortune.
* ''Literature/TheBabySittersClub'': In one of the mysteries, a young actor's limo is [[VehicularSabotage sabotaged]] by a crazy fan of his co-star who had been trying to discredit the kid throughout the whole book with increasingly dangerous stunts. Tragedy was only averted by Kristy figuring it out and just barely managing to get the driver to stop before driving off. NightmareFuel anyone?
* ''Literature/CauldronOfDeath'', by Creator/JohnGrange: In this PulpMagazine story, someone sabotages the brakes of the car [[TheHero Jim Anthony]] is borrowing, while it's parked at the top of a steep hill leading directly to the river. Good thing Jim is a ''Literature/DocSavage'' pastiche, and a magnificent driver.
* ''Literature/ComeMidnightMonday'': One character was introduced by the protagonists noticing him shoveling dirt into the fuel tanks of trucks. In the television adaptation, this was changed to pouring sugar into the fuel tanks.
* In ''Cops: Their Lives In Their Own Words'' pranks mentioned include spraying tear gas in the car's air conditioning.
* In ''Literature/TheGreatBalloonRace'', Count Pommodoro sabotages most of the other balloon's in the race. For example, the Dutch lose a piston, then a driving shaft, and finally the entire basket drops off.
* ''Literature/KateShugak'': In ''Restless in the Grave'', Finn Grant is murdered when the killer loosens the oil line in his plane. The killer later tries to do the same thing to the plane Kate is flying on.
* ''Literature/LammasNight'': One Thulist attempt to assassinate [[spoiler:William]] consisted of running a hose from the exhaust pipe into the passenger compartment. Would have overlapped with HumanSacrifice had it worked -- suffocation is both pretty much how carbon monoxide kills you and a "traditional" [[note]]in the world of the novel[[/note]] form of sacrifice.
* ''Literature/LeftBehind'': In the Dramatic Audio adaptation of ''Glorious Appearing'', some GC hooked up grenades to Mac [=McCullum=]'s helicopter in the hopes that it would blow up when he takes off in it. The sabotage fails to destroy the helicopter, though, thanks to Mac's faith in God.
* Creator/WilburSmith's ''Literature/CryWolf'': The male protagonists figure the PluckyGirl reporter will try to join the battle, so they remove the carbon rod from the armoured car she was driving. Unfortunately she has enough mechanical know-how to improvise a replacement.
* ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga'': In one of the books, Edward sabotages Bella's truck to stop her from visiting Jacob.
* Invoked in ''Literature/DannyTheChampionOfTheWorld''. The poachers' getaway driver gives the poachers an earful for not pouring a pound or two of sugar into the gamekeeper's car's gas tank before their big heist, calling having motorized gamekeepers around an unnecessary risk.
* ''Literature/TheDayOfTheTriffids''. When Torrence turns up in an armoured car to tell everyone they're now under his rule, the protagonists pour honey they've been making at their farm into the fuel tank during the night, then drive off leaving the gates open [[ExitPursuedByABear so the triffids can get in]].
* ''Literature/JaineAustenMysteries'':
** In ''The PMS Murder'', the killer puts a box of nails under Jaine's tires to try and scare her off.
*** In the same book, it's revealed that [[spoiler:Doris]] was trying to kill Marybeth this way by draining her brakes, but didn't due to a risk of being seen and the problem effectively solving itself when someone else did her in.
** In ''Death by Pantyhose'', the gear shift in Wheezy (the first car Jaine rents after her car is stolen), the gear shift breaks in her hand. She assumes this is because the car is an absolute clunker, but "Crazy Dave" reveals that someone unscrewed it to make that happen. Jaine realizes the killer did that.
* In Creator/IsaacAsimov's science fiction novel ''Literature/TheStarsLikeDust'' a sympathetic supporting character (Gillbret oth Hinriad) sabotages the hyperatomic motors on the starship which is taking him, Biron Farrill (the protagonist), the Love Interest, and the main antagonist to the last candidate planet for being "the rebellion world", with the intention of sacrificing all their lives in order to save the hidden base of LaResistance. Biron winds up having to undo the sabotage, as he knows more than poor Gillbret does.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In ''Series/TheAdventuresOfSuperman'' episode "[[Recap/TheAdventuresOfSupermanS6E12ThePerilsOfSuperman The Perils of Superman]]," the villains of the week use acid on Jimmy's brakes so that they give out when he rounds a curve.
* ''Series/AgathaRaisin'': In "Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham," the killer cuts the brake lines in Agatha's car in an attempt to scare her off the case.
* ''Series/AllMyChildren'''s Janet Green cuts the brake line on local busybody Laurel Manning's car, knowing that she's close to finding out who she really is (she'd returned to town under a fake identity following MagicPlasticSurgery).
* ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'': The episode “Assassin” revolved around a man who was trying to kill the titular character. His first attempt at doing this was to cut Brittas’ car brakes. Of course, this fails, although Helen is injured as a result.
* ''Series/{{Cannon}}'':
** A light plane crashes due to sabotage, resulting in the death of a country and western star, in "Country Blues."
** When the cult members break into Jennifer's home to murder her parents in "A Deadly Quiet Town," they [[CutPhoneLines cut the phone lines]] and sabotage the cars in the garage to prevent communication or escape.
* The murder method in the ''Series/ColdCase'' episode "WASP." The murderer switches the fuel and coolant lines in the victim's plane.
* ''Series/{{Community}}'' - In ''Regional Holiday Music'', when Abed deliberately sabotages the Christmas pageant, glee club director "Mister Rad" goes ballistic and basically threatens to cut the brake lines of the glee club bus ''[[NoodleIncident again]]''.
* ''Series/{{CSI}}'':
** In "Chasing the Bus," the killer pours chloroform inside a bus tire, causing it to suffer a fatal blowout on the road.
** In "Risky Business Class," the killer sabotages the door seal on a jet, causing it to fail while the plane is in flight. This causes the plane to depressurize and crash.
** In "Grissom's Divine Comedy," a rag is shoved between the catalytic converter and the heat shield in the engine of a car, causing the engine to burst into flames.
* ''Series/CSIMiami'': In "Terminal Velocity," before being murdered, the VictimOfTheWeek had his classic car vandalized by someone pouring bleach into the oil.
* Sabotage to a racing car is used to commit murder in the ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' episode "The Formula."
* ''Series/DarkShadows'': In episode 15, David Collins removes the bleeder valve from Roger's car, causing him to crash going down the hill from Collinwood.
* ''Series/DeathInParadise'': In "Tour de Murder", a suspect confesses to having shaved the brake pads on the VictimOfTheWeek's bike, seemingly causing him to suffer a fatal crash on a sharp bend above a ravine. However, [[spoiler:the victim was murdered before the sabotage could come into effect]].
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E3Rosa "Rosa"]], one of the antagonists attempts to MakeWrongWhatOnceWentRight (prevent Rosa Parks' famous bus ride) by vandalizing the bus ahead of time -- slashing the tires and smashing the windshield. So the Doctor and Graham steal another bus.
%%* Happens quite often on ''Series/TheDukesOfHazzard'', occasionally even to The General Lee.
* ''Series/{{Elementary}}'': In "Flight Risk", the killer causes a fatal plane crash by putting sand in the plane's fuel tank.
* In the ''Series/ElleryQueen'' episode "The Adventure of the Sinister Scenario," a stuntman is killed when the brakes of the car he is driving in a stunt are tampered with.
* In the 1990's Australian series ''Embassy'', a terrorist tries to kill the Australian ambassador by putting a grenade (minus pin, with the lever held down with tape) in the fuel tank of his official car. When the petrol dissolves the glue on the tape, the safety lever flies free and sets off the grenade. It's effective for random terrorism but not assassination, as shown when the car explodes while it's parked on the embassy grounds, not while the ambassador is in it.
* ''Series/FatherBrown'':
** The VictimOfTheWeek in "[[Recap/FatherBrownS2E10 The Laws of Motion]]" has the brake lines of her car cut while she is participating in a hill climb.
** In "The Judgement Of Man", Sid makes the seemingly inconsequential announcement that the spark plugs from the Rolls Royce have been stolen. It isn't until [[spoiler:later in the episode that things become clearer. Although never depicted on-screen. it's safe to assume that Chip, aka Flambeau, stole the spark plugs so that he would be able to befriend Lady Felicia to the extent that she would invite him to the Belvedere Gallery.]]
** In "The Sins Of Others" a hired assassin cuts the brake lines of a sports car [[spoiler: and nearly wipes out most of the regular cast]].
** A saboteur cuts the fuel line on the coach transporting the Kembleford choir to the competition.
* In the opening TwoPartEpisode of ''Series/ForeverKnight'', VampireDetective Nick Knight hides in the trunk of his vintage Cadillac to shield himself from the sun. His partner Don Schanke then borrows the car without permission, not knowing Nick is stuck in the back. They both have an OhCrap moment when it turns out the SerialKiller they're investigating has cut the brake lines.
* ''Series/FrontierCircus'': In "The Balloon Girl," Ben rigs Katie's hot air balloon so that the air valve will open when she reaches a thousand feet in case she tries to flee. She does and the balloon deflates while in the air, forcing her back to the ground.
* ''Series/FunkySquad'': In "The Carnival is Over", Funky Squad's mysterious tormentor cuts the brakes on their Mustang; nearly sending them over a cliff.
* Played with in ''Series/GameShakers''. In one episode, Kenzie wants to tell the police that their sponsor, a rapper, broke a statue. His entourage confront her and tell her not to go to the police. She refuses and is adamant about going to the police. In the next scene, she gets into a bike accident because the brakes on her bike were removed. Kenzie assumes she's being intimidated. In truth, it was because her friend [[LethallyStupid Hudson]] tried to fix her bike.
* In the 2020 miniseries ''Series/TheHead'', there is a killer among the winterers on an Antarctic research station and [[TheRadioDiesFirst the satellite radio has been sabotaged]], so someone has to drive a Snowcat 270 miles in mid-winter to another station to get help. The Snowcat is packed full of fuel cans and someone gets in and presses the ignition button twice with no effect, but the third time the Snowcat bursts into flame burning them to death. It's later revealed that the killer sliced open the fuel line beforehand.
* ''Series/TheJohnLarroquetteShow''. John is forced to rent a bus to a group of neo-Nazis. After spending the episode trying to find a way to avoid this, he finally admits that the law says that he '''must''' rent them a bus. He then adds that the law doesn't say anything about '''not''' shoving a screwdriver through the gas tank as he holds up a screwdriver.
* ''Series/{{Justified}}'': In "Hammer," the second attempt to kill the judge involves sabotaging the exhaust of his car so it leaks carbon monoxide into the cabin.
* One episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' has the BodyOfTheWeek killed by his son putting KY Jelly in his motorcycle helmet as a prank, followed by somebody else having poured battery acid into the oil pan, eventually causing the engine to seize. He was thrown from the bike and died on impact because he didn't have his helmet on.
* ''Series/{{Leverage}}'':
** In "The Juror #6 Job," the crew short out the engine of the mark's electric car to prevent him from getting to court.
** "The Beantown Bailout Job" starts with Nate witnessing a near-fatal car crash caused by sabotage.
* In one episode of ''Series/LoisAndClark'', Jimmy Olsen's convertible is sabotaged so it will accelerate out of control. Of course, he's saved by Superman... [[spoiler: who simply lands on the passenger's seat and turns off the ignition]].
* The ''Series/MacGyver1985'' episode "The Enemy Within" featured the tampering with brakes version as an excuse for the title character to repair a moving vehicle.
** Also used in "Collision Course," in an attempt by the episode's antagonist to win a car race at all costs.
* ''Series/MadamSecretary'': Done twice in season one to MakeItLookLikeAnAccident.
** At the start of the series then-Secretary of State Vincent Marsh dies in a plane crash that Liz later discovers has similarities to a crash that killed an Iranian nuclear scientist, long suspected to have been a Mossad assassination. Liz manages to get the Israeli ambassador, a former operative, to tell her how it was done, off the record: by sabotaging one part of the plane to cause the rudder control to break.
** In the pilot, Liz's old friend from the CIA, George Peters, turns up dead in a car crash after becoming convinced Marsh's death wasn't an accident. In the first season finale, [[spoiler:Juliet]] confesses to having hacked the car's computer, in a modern update of the old cut-the-brake-lines trick.
** Season two's arc is touched off by a cyberattack against ''Air Force One'' that kills all the communications systems. [[spoiler:The same black hat, a hired gun for the Russian government, later tries to assassinate the President of Ukraine by crashing his plane, but he parachutes to safety.]]
* ''Series/MajorCrimes'': In "There's No Place Like Home," the killers cut the brake lines as a backup plan on the victim's car in case their first attempt failed. Finding the sabotaged car is what clues the detectives in that the death is not a suicide as it first appears.
* In the ''Series/MidsomerMurders'':
** In the episode "[[Recap/MidsomerMurdersS13E5 Master Class]]", one couple's car has its brake-line cut, leading to a near-fatal crash.
** In episode "[[Recap/MidsomerMurdersS14E1 Death of the Slow Lane]]," one of the murders was committed by shearing through the steering linkage on a car, causing it to crash while going round a sharp bend.
** In "[[Recap/MidsomerMurdersS15E4 Death and the Divas]]", an attempted murder by [[MagicBrakes cutting the victim's brake lines]] ends with the intended victim's face planted on the steering wheel and [[DeadManHonking the horn blaring]].
** In "[[Recap/MidsomerMurdersS16E4 The Flying Club]]", the fuel line on a stunt plane is cut during an airshow.
** In "The Debt of Lies", newly retired senior police officer Elaine Bennet dies crashing her car. Fleur informs Barnaby that someone has tampered with the brakes in Elaine’s car.
* ''Series/MissFishersMurderMysteries'': In "Blood at the Wheel," the wheel nuts on a female rally driver's car are loosened, causing the wheel to come off at high speed.
* In the ''Series/MissionImpossible'' episode "The Missile," a psychotic mechanic tampers with the brakes in Dana's car.
* ''Series/MurderSheWrote'': The killer tampers with the gearing on a stunt car to kill the stuntman driving it in "Shooting in Rome."
* The ''Series/MythBusters'' tested several mythical methods of sabotaging vehicles in one episode (sugar in the gas tank, BananaInTheTailpipe, etc). Most did not work; however, bleach in the gas tank caused the engine to cut out (it was shown the bleach caused the fuel tank to rust), and bleach in the ''oil'' caused the engine to overheat and eventually seize up permanently.
* In an episode of ''Series/OnceUponATime'', the breaks on Emma's car were sabotaged by [[spoiler: Sidney]] when she and Sidney were going to spy on the Mayor.
* ''Series/PersonOfInterest''. In "One Percent" and "Nothing to Hide," someone hacks the computer systems of a vehicle to make it crash.
* ''Series/PokerFace:''
** In episode 2, "[[Recap/PokerFaceS01E02TheNightShift The Night Shift]]", Jed attempts to sabotage Charlie's brakes once he realizes she's going to expose him, made easy because her car is already in the shop he works at. This is for revenge rather than to keep her quiet, as she'll be leaving town as soon as her car is fixed anyway. His uncle spots what he's done and repairs it.
** In episode 7, "[[Recap/PokerFaceS01E07TheFutureOfTheSport The Future of the Sport]]", racecar driver Keith Owens sabotages the racing car of his fellow driver Davis [=McDowell=] so he'll crash. Davis notices it and instead of fixing the car, also messes with the seat belt to make a crash much worse, then arranges for Keith's daughter to be driving it instead in hopes of disposing of both his current and potential rival.
* ''Series/TheProfessionals''. Doyle is being stalked by someone from his past who takes pleasure in making Doyle sweat before he kills him. In one scene his car is rigged to fail in stages -- first the brakes, then the steering, then after the car crashes a delayed-action bomb gives Doyle enough time to exit the vehicle before it blows up.
* This is a very common occurrence on ''Series/TheRockfordFiles'' where someone seems to cut Jim's brake lines every third episode.
* This has become something of a tradition on ''Series/{{Top Gear}}'''s international specials. It started on the US trip where Hammond and Clarkson, who were a) boiling in Florida's heat and humidity and b) sick of May being smug about being the only one with working air-conditioning, sabotaged May's air-con. In the Middle East special, Hammond's radio was re-wired to a hidden one that came on when the car started and was locked on playing Music/{{Genesis|Band}}, a band Hammond ''hates'' rather loudly. And it went to an enormous extreme in the Nile special, where the presenters resorted to stealing parts of car bodywork from each other; by the end of the special, their cars were thoroughly mixed between BMW, Subaru, and Volvo.
* The ''Series/TopGearUS'' "One Tank Episode" has Adam and Tanner weighing Rutledge's really light car with about 400 pounds of kitty litter. Rut discovered this and retaliated by putting the litter in the back of Adam's massive heavy truck.
* ''Series/UglyBetty'':
** How Claire killed Fey Sommers before the series began.
** Later on, [[spoiler:Alexis]] does this to [[spoiler:Bradford]]'s car, but [[HoistByHisOwnPetard has to use the car in an emergency and crashes]].
* ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'':
** Season 2's {{Multi Part|episode}} story "Something in the Shadows" has this happen to Walker's GMC Sierra, thanks to Curtis Nypo and his band of drug dealers (his prospective stepson, played by [[Creator/GiovanniRibisi Giovanni "Vonni" Ribisi]], being dragged into the operation despite having joined Walker's karate classes): Walker's accelerator and brakes were rigged, and no matter how much Walker tried to apply the brakes, the truck kept accelerating until it was stopped in a pond. [[spoiler:Walker luckily gets it fixed by the end of the episode]].
** Gage suffers this in Season 9's "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS9E12DesperateMeasures Desperate Measures]]". While stopping at a restaurant on his way back to Dallas following a charity motorcycle ride, the drive belt for his motorcycle is cut by two thugs whom he roughed up for harassing two women, namely Lara Pope and Jane "Hitch" Harrelson, who, [[LittleDidIKnow little did he know]] at the time, were two of four escaped convicts trying to lay low[[note]]Lara trying to [[ClearMyName clear]] [[FrameUp herself]] of a murder that her mobster ex-husband, Garrett Pope committed, while Harrelson, AKA the "Thrill Killer", received life without parole for killing three men[[/note]] after their prison bus was ambushed and run off the road by [[OutlawCouple the boyfriends of the other two escapees]]. [[KarmaHoudini The two harassers get away scot-free]], and to add insult to injury for Gage, his cellphone's battery is dead, and when the two women unknowingly offer him a ride to get the motorcycle fixed, they find out who he is when they are stopped by a State Trooper for speeding and left off with a warning, and vice versa when Harrelson decides to kill him. Gage apprehended Harrelson after the fact while Lara got away trying to find her son with his motorcycle still strapped to the bed of her uncle's pickup.
--->'''Harasser:''' ''[fleeing the restaurant]'' Hope you like walking!
* ''Series/WhodunnitUK'': In "Final Drive," the VictimOfTheWeek is murdered when the killer cuts the brake lines on his car.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Mentioned in "Grenade" by Music/BrunoMars, via the line "You smile in my face then rip the brakes out my car." It's one of the ways his girlfriend's abusing him.
* "Banditos" by The Refreshments, second verse: "Put the sugar in the tank of the sheriff's car, and slash the deputy's tires and they won't get very far when they finally get the word that there's been a holdup."
* Music/CarrieUnderwood does this to take revenge on a cheating lover in the song and music video for "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaSy8yy-mr8 Before He Cheats]]".
* Music/WeirdAlYankovic mentions this in "You Don't Love Me Anymore": "Why did you disconnect the brakes on my car?/That kind of thing is hard to ignore."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mythology]]
* OlderThanFeudalism: The [[Myth/GreekMythology Greek hero]] Pelops pulled this on his prospective father-in-law, King Oinomaos, whom he needed to beat in a chariot race in order to win the hand of his daughter Hippodamia. Possibly with Hippodamia's collusion, Pelops bribed Oinomaos's charioteer to replace the bronze linchpins that held the chariot wheels on with wax ones. In the (literal) heat of the race, the wax pins melted and Oinomaos' chariot wheels came off, killing him. The charioteer tried to claim Hippodamia himself, and was RewardedAsATraitorDeserves.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pinball]]
* In the backstory for Creator/WilliamsElectronics' ''Pinball/WhoDunnit1995'', the brakes on Tex's car are sabotaged by [[spoiler:Butler, after he overhears Tex threatening Victoria.]] Tex drives off a cliff and the car explodes.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Puppet Shows]]
* If we were to list every example of this trope happening in a [[UsefulNotes/{{Supermarionation}} Gerry Anderson show]], we'd be here all day:
** The Series/{{Thunderbirds}} episode ''[[Recap/ThunderbirdsS1E12OperationCrashDive Operation Crash Dive]]'' has a terrorist organization dedicated to sabotaging aircraft cut the EPU wires on the Fireflash, making them crash into the sea.
*** The episode ''[[Recap/ThunderbirdsS1E5EdgeOfImpact Edge Of Impact]]'' has The Hood sabotage a fighter plane known as Red Arrow using a homing device which makes them crash into both a hangar and a communications tower.
** The first episode of Series/CaptainScarletAndTheMysterons has The Mysterons give Captain Scarlet and Captain Brown's Spectrum Saloon a puncture making it crash off a cliff and killing the two of them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* In the play ''Theatre/BlitheSpirit'' Charles' first wife (who is a ghost) tampers with his brakes so he'll die and join her in the afterlife. But unfortunately for all, it is Charles's second wife Ruth who drives the car and gets killed, turning her into a ghost too.
* In the FilmNoir [[ShowWithinAShow within the show]] in ''Theatre/CityOfAngels'', Mallory claims to have done away with Peter by tampering with the brakes of his van. Peter lives, though this is implied to be the result of ExecutiveMeddling.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/AlwaysSometimesMonsters'', one of the ways to handle the race between Markansas and Stan is to cut Stan's brakes. [[spoiler: If you do this, Stan's car will crash and explode, and his four children will witness the entire thing.]]
* ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngel'': A plot point in the third game, Eternal Lovers, is that Tact's chosen Angel gets her Emblem Frame sabotaged by [[spoiler:Wein]], causing it to go rogue and forcing Tact to shoot it down before it falls into the enemy's hands. To make it worse, it happens right after they have an argument with each other and the Angel in question will suffer some brain damage (due to the HALO system's going haywire) leaving her with a condition to fix before she's ready to pilot again.
* The mission "Pimp His Ride" in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoChinatownWars'' (pictured above) has [[PlayerCharacter Huang]] sabotaging a famous street racer's car by smashing the engine, disconnecting wires, puncturing the coolant tank, and messing up the air conditioning with a dead fish for good measure. After all this is done, the player has to drive the car back to the garage, which is every bit as difficult as you'd expect.
* ''VideoGame/LoveAndPies'': The brakes to Esme's van are cut, causing her to crash into the walls at the cafe. It was the anonymous caller, who read Eve's article about the crash, who did it.
* One objective in the first campaign of ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorAlliedAssault'' is to cut the wires on several Nazi lorries. There's plenty of planting bombs on parked tanks throughout the game as well.
* The last race during the TasteOfPower at the start of ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeedMostWanted'' is against the BigBad of the game, with the winner getting the loser's car. Your car has been sabotaged by his men and breaks down halfway through the race. As a result, he wins and takes your souped-up BMW.
* In ''VideoGame/SpaceQuestVTheNextMutation'', Beatrice sabotages the starship [[spoiler:SCS ''Goliath'']] by stealing its "warp distributor cap", which looks exactly like a spark plug distributor cap. Fitting, since the ship's warp engine looks like an internal combustion "V"-engine.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Roger cut Stan's brake lines on ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad''
** Subverted in another episode, where Steve is seeking revenge against three cheerleaders for humiliating his girlfriend. One of the girls drives down a hill and when she hits the brakes they don't work. She panics as it looks like she's about to go over the cliff, until she realizes she's just been slamming on the wrong pedal ("Oops, that's the [[DrivingStick clutch!]]") and slows to a halt. Steve actually has [[{{Squick}} much worse revenge in mind]]...
* This appears to happen to WesternAnimation/DangerMouse's Mk. III motorcar in "What A Three-Point Turn-Up For The Book." The car takes off on its own and becomes malevolent. When DM finally gets the upper hand, he discovers the problem--the workings of a washing machine accidentally got installed in the car during a servicing.
* Dennis once put detergent in his father's gas tank in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/DennisTheMenace''.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "Brian: Portrait of a Dog", when Brian leaves after getting fed up with Peter's domineering, Peter remarks that "He won't get far without ''this''" as he holds up a distributor, which Brian had no use for since he wasn't driving anywhere.
* While working a case to recover a binder full of term papers, the titular character in ''WesternAnimation/{{Fillmore}}'' had the brake lines in his bicycle replaced with ketchup and mustard dispensers.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/HeathcliffAndTheCatillacCats'', Heathcliff builds a soapbox derby racer, only for it to be sabotaged by Hector, Wordsworth, and Mungo.
* ''WesternAnimation/SherlockHolmesInTheTwentySecondCentury'': In "The Scales of Justice", the villain attempts to dispose of Holmes and Watson by sabotaging their FlyingCar so its engine shorts out while they are in the air.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In order to smoke out a person trying to kill Homer, he is made the King of the Mardi Gras parade. The person trying to kill him has tampered with the brakes of his float so he can't stop.
** The page quote comes from "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge", where Marge suspects Becky is trying to replace her in the family and finds her brakes can't work. It turns out Homer accidentally drained the brake fluid.
** In "Trash of the Titans", Homer runs for sanitation commissioner, going head-to-head with the incumbent in a debate at the town hall.
--->'''Patterson:''' Sorry I'm late everyone. ''Somebody'' tampered with my brakes!\\
'''Homer:''' Well then, you should have been early!
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsResistance'': In [[Recap/StarWarsResistanceS1E3FuelForTheFire "Fuel for the Fire"]], Jace Rucklin, a racer who has designs on stealing powerful Corellian hyperfuel from Jarek Yeager, protagonist Kaz's boss, [[IOweYouMyLife ingratiates himself]] to Kaz by challenging him to a speeder bike race in which the bike Kaz rides has been sabotaged so he can rescue him, specifically so Kaz will feel he owes Rucklin and sneak him into Yeager's office later, where Rucklin has a chance to swipe the fuel.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Stoked}}'': The groms sabotage Bummer's golf cart in "A Prank Too Far", leading them to think that they've killed him.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' episode "Burger vs. Burrito", as part of their prank war caused by them disagreeing on which food is superior, Beast Boy messes with Cyborg by replacing the T-Car's engine with a burrito.
* A standard [[DickDastardlyStopsToCheat Dick Dastardly]] tactic in the ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces'', to try to get a leg up on the competition.
[[/folder]]

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