Awkward car situations.

greendawn

Did you ever have a serious problem while driving an awkward breakdown fire, or accident?

My worst was when I got an overheating problem on a night in the middle of nowhere. It was the water pump, but by driving 20 miles at a time stopping to cool down and then restarting I got home.

undercover

I've run out of gas, flat tires, dead batteries in weird places, blown a head gasket, broke a wheel rotor, blew out a brake cylinder, wrecked, been broken into while in the movies, vandalized and gotten lost.

LittleToe

Where do I start?

How about having the alternator die, when my brother and I were driving home overnight from visiting friends in England.
The battery finally ran down on the middle of the Penines (between Scotch COrner and Penrith). The mist was down and it was like a scene out of a werewolf movie!

Or having a high-speed blowout in the fast lane of the M1?

Or breaking down in Lancaster, again in the middle of the night, when heding home via the Isle of Skye. The breakdown guy got us to the boat on time, but not without a few scares as he kept falling asleep at the wheel.

Or heading down to England, and breaking down getting on the boat. THe breakdown truck took us all the way to Nottingham (600+ miles) before breakling down 30 miles short of our destination.

Should I go on?

LT, of the "unlucky with automotive vehicles, in a past life" class

BrendaCloutier

Ok, on one vacation we:

Had a tire Blowout in Buell (ID),
bought two Tires in Twin Falls (ID),
lost and replaced a Muffler in Moab (UT).

The next time we used the van we had the
Alternator go out and replaced in port Angeles (WA).

We're a little afraid of driving it very far.

Qcmbr

I just passed my test , gramps lent me the car, I was driving uphill to a stop light and the gear stick came off in my hand , the engine died and I sat there with a big brown streak in my pants. Not pleasant. I buy Toyota now.

Elsewhere

I had a tire's radial wires start to push though a the tred. No, it was not worn out... the tred was still good but the wires still managed to push their way through.

I was in the middle of nowhere about 1000 miles from home and in the middle of the night on a Sunday morning.

I called my car club that I was paying $50 a year for and they said that all they could do was bring me gas, jump a battery or change my tire. I told her that I could put the spare on myself, but the problem was that I the closest place with a new tire was too far away to reach driving on a spare tire (the little donut type). I asked the rep on the phone to send a tow truck with a new tire on a rim but they could not because all of the shops that had one were closed at the time... and not only that they did not want to drive that far just to deliver a tire and and there was NO friggin way I was going to pay out the ass to be towed a hundred miles (the car club would only tow me about five miles).

I told the car club rep to "never mind" and I started driving down the road on my donut tire until I finally found a hotel. I went in and they were booked.

I ended up sleeping in my car in a gas station parking lot (and washed up in the bathroom). In the morning I started asking around for ANY place that might have ANY tires of ANY kind and I finally found a WalMart a few miles away...where I was able to get the tire replaced.

Oh, and if you are wondering... YES, I did cancel the car club.

the_classicist

I've seen a motorhome catch on fire and a 20-year old station wagon blow up. Cool!

Simon

The clutch packed in on my Vauxhall Viva and I was stuck in first gear right in the busiest junction (lights / roundabout) in the middle of Warrington with a floppy clutch pedal so couldn't change gear.

I was weaving like mad so I could keep going and not stall (eek, stuck there with the engine in gear!).

After managing to turn into a side street I let it stall and then went to work (what was I thinking?!). At lunchtime, I bought some axle stands and the parts I needed and then went back to fix things after work.

It was winter and started snowing but I fixed it and got home, tired and aching, at about midnight.

It feels great fixing things yourself and you learn a lot about how things work.

purplesofa

I was headed to some friends in New Orleans to take my daughter there for two week visit, then she was flying to Florida for a visit there.

We get almost where we are going and I pull to a gas station to get something and hit a curb and blew out my tire. Me and my daughter got out to assess......and within a few minutes two guys came and changed the tire.....we were back on the road in 5 minutes time.

The next day I leave, and get the tire fixed. and head on my way..but first I go to where my daughter is staying and give her my cash for her holiday.

Back on the freeway, I blow another tire. I was crying my eyes out, getting the spare and jack out of the back of the car.

A man stops and comes to the car and asks me what happened, I tell him and he says or kinda yells....What are you crying for? I said I just went through this yesterday.........then he asks me for a 100 bucks.......I said I dont have a hundred bucks.....and he says..Where ya going.......and on and on.....

I said, It's ok I can fix it myself........He said I was just checking you out to see if it was ok to help.

He took me to get the car fixed, and while they were wroking on it I went with him and his lovely family to lunch with them.....and cried all through lunch.........He said why are you still crying? I said just when you think there are not any nice people in the world ....you find out there are.........( I had just spent the weekend at JW convention, hearing about how bad worldly people are!

Well, the tire was supposed to be fixed for very little money, but it wound up needing to be replaced. I did not have the money to buy a new tire and my new friend thinking I was in good hands left.........So the guy says you can get used at this place.......down this road and then down this gravel road.........

OMG, you should have seen this place.........I drive up and see this guy working on a lawnmower, he comes to me and says .blahblahblah........I know this is long story.....He gets his boss to get tire for me.........While they are talking .......he lifts his shirt to show his nipple ring .........GULP!!!!

I got my cell phone and hooked up to civilization.........

So , the boss says he will take my ring for payment for a tire...........Cripes!!! anyway I searched through all my bags and car and found enough cash to get a new tire and be on my way. Scared half to death.

Travelling is so much fun alone!!!!!

purps

Sith

Over the years, I've been stuck in a car with zombies who drone on and on, mindlessly repeating things they have been programmed to repeat. We would drive for countless hours, to countless houses, in the attempt to create other zombies. Sheer hell.

Awkward car situations.

Share this