Ian Wallace Interpretation:
Dream: You need to get to an important appointment but your car seems to have broken down. When you hurry out to where you parked it you are dismayed to find that it won’t start. Even though it has been regularly serviced and well looked after, it just won’t fire up and, as you walk around it, you may discover punctured tyres or that vital components are damaged or missing. You might also find that your whole car has disappeared. It may have been stolen or perhaps you just can’t remember where you parked it.
Meaning: Dreaming of a lost or broken-down car usually signifies that you feel you have somehow lost your impetus and ambition in waking life. The vehicles that transport you in dreams reflect different ways of getting where you want to go in your life. A car is usually a personal vehicle and so it often represents your individual drive as you progress in your career. It can also reflect how much power and control you have as you try to achieve particular personal ambitions. Circumstances, however, can often result in you having to park some of your aspirations in the hope that you can return to them later and continue with your progress. An important appointment indicates a significant opportunity to fire up your ambitions again. Having difficulty in starting the car suggests that you are finding it difficult to get fired up and motivated again. You may not have the same spark you once had or feel you don’t have all the resources you need to fuel your ambitions. It may have seemed that you were maintaining your drive towards your goal but you now realize that you have been neglecting some vital areas. Punctured tyres suggest that you are feeling a bit let down and deflated and need to get pumped up again about your goals. If your car seems to have been stolen, then you feel that you aren’t valuing yourself enough and this is preventing you from actively pursuing your ambitions.
Action: This dream is alerting you to a loss of your motivation and direction in waking life. Your drive can often fade away quite gradually if you do not maintain your underlying momentum and it can be quite a shock when you realize that it isn’t there when you really need it. The most direct way of regaining your drive is to decide where you want to focus your energies. The more decisive and driving you can be, the easier it will be to coax the vehicle for your ambitions back into life and get your career back on the road.
Background: Our personal vehicles symbolize our ability to choose an objective in life and independently travel towards it. Prior to the invention of the car at the end of the 19th century, it was more common to dream about a horse being sick or stolen. Those who live in cultures near or on water also dream of their boats sinking or being lost. The horse used to provide us with phrases such as ‘having the bit between their teeth’ or ‘having to rein in our ambitions’. Now we tend to use phrases associated with cars such as ‘running on empty’ or ‘shifting up a gear’.