My sister in law has ruined their finances.

Poll of the Day

argonautweakend posted...
"he seems to agree that we should"

uhh yeah? you never gave them permission to take the car. They literally stole it.

For that matter, your brother/SiL would have no legal recourse if your parents just took their car right out of the driveway if they haven't formally transferred ownership. A misinterpreted text isn't going to hold up to any sort of scrutiny when the ownership paperwork is all still with your parents.
This is my signature. It exists to keep people from skipping the last line of my posts.