Some people hear “you can borrow it” and translate it to “this is mine now.”

When a car owner let her cousin borrow her vehicle for important errands, he went from borrower to backseat owner in record time.

But when she tried to pump the brakes, her family took her entitled cousin’s side.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA for refusing to lend my car to my cousin after helping him out before?

I (22F) have my own car that I worked really hard to get. It’s nothing crazy, but it’s mine and I take good care of it.

A few months ago, my cousin (25M) was having a rough time — no steady job, always relying on rides from people, missing opportunities because of transportation issues.

So being the empathetic person she was, she decided to do her cousin a huge favor.

I felt bad and decided to help him out. I started letting him use my car here and there for important things like job interviews and errands.

At first, it was fine. He was grateful and careful with it.

But his carefulness didn’t last long.

But over time, it started getting excessive. He would ask more frequently, sometimes last minute, and occasionally return the car late or with little to no gas.

There were even a couple of times I noticed small issues with the car that weren’t there before. Nothing major, but still annoying.

Now the cousin is starting to feel entitled to the car.

Recently, he asked if he could basically start using the car regularly since “it’s just sitting there most of the time anyway.”

I WFH, but that didn’t sit right with me.

So she tries to straighten him out, but he loses his cool.

I told him no, that I’m not comfortable with anyone using my car that often and that it’s something I want to keep for myself.

He got upset and said I was being selfish, especially since I helped him before and “it’s not a big deal.”

The rest of the family is getting involved now too.

Now some family members are also saying I should just let him use it since we’re family and I’m “doing okay.”

She was fine helping at first, but she doesn’t like what her cousin has turned into.

I don’t mind helping occasionally, but I feel like it’s turning into entitlement and I don’t want to deal with the stress of my car being someone else’s responsibility, but my family is making it a big deal.

AITAH for saying no?

Sounds like this cousin is about one rude comment away from losing car privileges for good.

What did Reddit have to say?

This commenter doesn’t want to see this woman get taken advantage of.

There are plenty of glaring red flags here.

If the family wants to help so badly, they should start putting their money where their mouth is.

Respect is seriously lacking here.

Her car, her decision. That’s just the way it is.

If you liked this post, check out this story about a family who hired a babysitter, then came home and questioned her qualifications and then refused to pay up.