Dream Question: why am I dreaming about cars?

“I dream my car is trapped in an under water system, like a tunnel. What does this mean; am I strange or going bats?” Chris.

Thanks for sharing your dream with me, Chris. You’re definitely not going bats or strange!

This dream is offering you an important message, just like a friend giving you a piece of advice which you can choose to acknowledge or ignore. Here are my thoughts on this dream for you:

Cars in dreams, often symbolise our position in a particular area of life and, especially if you’re driving the car in the dream (and depending what’s happening), often reveals how in control of your life you feel.

Being in the driving seat is a metaphor for being in charge or control, but you found yourself trapped; maybe there’s a situation you feel you can’t leave, perhaps because of the weight of responsibility.

The interpretation of car dreams will also depend on other detail you recall, like whether it was your car or someone else’s, what colour it was, if the vehicle was ‘beaten up’ and who else was with you. You don’t mention anyone else in the car with you, so this may acknowledge that you feel you’re having to deal with this problem on your own.

Cars can also symbolise what motivates and inspires you – what ‘drives’ you – in life. Perhaps recently you’ve been feeling ‘stuck’ as to which direction to take in your life which will help you achieve your hopes and dreams. Another common car dream is where people stand on the brakes but nothing happens – another ‘sign’ that you’re feeling out of control or things are going too fast.

People sometimes dream about different parts of the car – taking a back seat could mean avoiding a decision or deciding to watch the world go by for a while and let others take charge.

The engine is what “drives” the car, so I encourage people to think about what gets their “motor running” – what motivates you and what’s stopping you getting where you want to be. The boot or trunk of the car can be useful storage, but also where we tend to dump things we don’t want. It can get cluttered and dirty. In these cases it might be time for a clear out of the things that are taking up too much space in your life, or room in your head.

However, you mention in your dream, that you feel as if you’re trapped in an under water system, like a tunnel. This may emphasise that you may have steered (or found) yourself in to a situation you’re now finding it difficult to escape from. Water has different meanings to different people (here are some examples) but for many people it symbolises the need to ‘cleanse’ certain parts of your life and start fresh, or that you might feel like you’re “drowning” under pressure (eg from work). This doesn’t mean getting rid of people or things, but perhaps purifying the way you think about them in a healthy and positive way.

We talk about ‘sinking’ or ‘trying to keep our heads above water’ in metaphorical terms, when speaking about money too, so again this may have been an issue or worry of late as in your dream, you were effectively in an ‘under water’ area.

Remember that cars are a modern day symbol. A few centuries ago someone wouldn’t dream about this ‘sign’ (unless it was a dream predicting the future). This might mean that what’s bothering you is a modern day concern, so maybe work-related, finances or something similar.

My top tips for car dreams:

In Freudian terms, a tunnel represented the female birth canal but this may be an outdated theory – it’s always worth trusting your gut as to what the tunnel may mean specifically for you. You could spend some time meditating on the image you remember from your dream and whether you felt scared, relieved or just ‘stuck’.

Take some time out to manage your stress effectively in case your dream is also suggesting that things are getting on top of you (again because you were ‘under’ something in your dream.)

Have a think about which areas you feel in control of at this time in your life and what’s driving you to distraction. Make a list of what you can control and how you can take positive action, then anything which is on the ‘Not under my control’ list, find a way of processing this so you can help manage the worry and get a better night’s sleeping and dreaming.

Keeping a dream diary can help understand common and recurring dreams. I talk about this and provide a template in my book, Answers in the Dark.

Please read the “important stuff” about this website before leaving a comment or question.  Thank you.