A car in a dream commonly stands in for the direction your life is taking and how much say you feel you have over it. Driving smoothly can reflect confidence in your choices, while losing the brakes or riding as a passenger often points to autonomy that currently feels out of your hands.
Be wary and circumspect in your judgment, when a fortune is with a malevolent; nor be you overconfident that the malice of the infortune shall be averted. - William Lilly (1602.-1681.)