Car Breakdown Stories

[Fandango 1,440]

Satisfaction's thread about his/her tire got me thinking about something that happened not too long ago for me. Luckily, I just c&p part of an email I sent in Dec...

On the way getting back to the main highway (I95), we were on this little poxy two lane highway – again, the weather was complete ###### & it was pouring. Not England pouring, but monsoon pouring! Well, long story short, my windshield wiper broke off the car! I couldn’t see a thing, but David navigated me over to the side of the road, thank God. So I called the road service (AAA) and told them I needed a tow to a dealership, which was like 80 miles away! They said cos we were on the side of a highway, that we were priority & they’d be out in 45mins or less. Well, the first tow truck didn’t show…the second one broke down on the way to us…and at this point it’s almost 3 hours & I’m fuming. So I tell David ‘you do realize that people carry guns here, and we’re a sitting target on the side of a shitty little road & now it’s getting dark?’ He was like ‘really?’ and I’m like ‘I’m calling triple A’ So I call them & yell my head off at them for making me wait so long…..they tell me they’re dispatching a policeman to wait with us.

Cop gets there 5mins AFTER the tow truck pulls up. So I go over to talk to the cop. This big assed Southern boy with the throwback attitude from like 1950…reminded me of Boss Hogg from Dukes of Hazard.

Me: Thanks for coming out officer, I’m sorry to have wasted your time, but since the tow truck’s here, I guess we don’t need you now.

Him: So why did you have me called out here anyways?

Me: Well, I’m from South Florida, and over there you have to be worried when you’re stuck on the side of a road in a nice car. You can get shot, mugged…anything can happen really. I’m not saying your town isn’t nice, but I was a bit scared for us to sit out here in the dark.

He looks, and sees David: Who’s that guy?

Me: My fiancé

Him: You’re traveling with a MAN, and you’re scared?????

Me, astonished: Well, officer, the last time I checked, his ####### doesn’t deflect bullets, sorry…

Needless to say, it wasn’t appreciated, and I actually thought he was going to like arrest me or something…but he left with his mouth gaping open. It was REALLY FUNNY.

Anyone else got any funny stories?

[Welshcookie 17]

Me, astonished: Well, officer, the last time I checked, his ####### doesn’t deflect bullets, sorry…

Needless to say, it wasn’t appreciated, and I actually thought he was going to like arrest me or something…but he left with his mouth gaping open. It was REALLY FUNNY.[/i]

[de_sjiem 0]

My car started overheating on me when i was on my way to meet my now husband for the first time! I looked down and all of the sudden my temp gauge needle was way over the "High" mark.. so i got off the highway as quick as i could and pulled into some sort of parking lot, in the middle of nowhere of course (this was Canada.. there are a lot of "in the middle of nowhere's".. I pop the hood, look in, and my car is all hot and steaming and generally unhappy.. A little bit later a very nice gentleman pulls in.. If i recall correctly he used to be a mechanic (very helpful) and his son was still a mechanic.. He looks and notices i have just about no coolant in in my radiator.. uh oh not good.. so he goes home, gets some coolant and brings it back.. puts it in.. we wait a little bit for my car to cool down.. eventually we realized that the belt to my water pump had broken.. (I found it in there somewhere.. there's not much extra room in that car..) So he very nicely goes to his car and calls CAA for me on an ancient car phone and gets them to bring a tow truck (Very thankful for my CAA card that's for sure!) And i get towed to Canadian tire where my car gets fixed.. Bleah.. Of course i was very late meeting Mikey but he was impressed that i still came.. (I was halfway at least..) Thankfully it turned out to just be the belt and nothing else.. was an old belt i guess.. great fun... like 2 other ppl stopped to see if i needed help while the guy was there.. Was a pretty good knowing ppl will stop to help you.. That's the end

[Saddle Bronc 124]

How about a slightly embaressing one?

In 1988 (Calgary), I had parked my car in front of my home (on street; normally, it would be in driveway or garage) for a few hours to go shopping later (during which we would fill it up). When I got in, the car would not start (though it attempted to crank).

Called a tow-truck to take it to a service station (which happened to be less than 2 km away). Can you guess what the problem turned out to be? It was OUT OF GAS!

(basic lesson: when you're below the 1/4 mark--or some actually recommend at 1/2, FILL UP ASAP).

[Mirorgate 0]

Many years ago when I was a kid, we were driving back home to NY from visiting my grandmother in NH, middle of the highway in VT during a real bad rainstorm at night, the car decides to get a flat tire. My father pulls over to change the tire. Of course its the ole crank jack style that doesnt fit just right... and after scrapping his knuckles on pavement as the lug wrench slips a few times getting the lugs off, then back on... we can hear him swear every now and then.. someone finally stops to see how and what we're doing. following is conversation

Stranger: Got a flat tire mister?

my dad (in a mood): Nope! I rotate my radial tires every 15k miles no matter where I am! [/sarcasm]

Stranger: Oh, well ok then. Good luck to ya!

my dad: ermmm.. yeah

and my father wonders where I get the sarcasm from

[Yodrak 7]

Well, there was the time I pulled off the highway onto the exit ramp, braked to slow down, and the splines on the knock-off wheel stripped. The hub stopped turning, the wheel un-screwed itself, and took the fender with it as it rolled off into the distance.

Wasn't funny, though.

Yodrak

Satisfaction's thread about his/her tire got me thinking about something that happened not too long ago for me. ...

Anyone else got any funny stories?

[m_and_m20 0]

I was about 10(?) and i was going to the bank with my mom. she pulls into the driveway, parks the car and we go inside. when we try to start the car again, it wont start. she tried and tried and tried and it wouldnt start. My mom starts freaking out cause we were parked in the parking garage and the garage was about to close for the night...so she calls my dad and he comes to try and start the car.........turns out, the car was in Drive the whole time!

i still havent let her live that one down!

[meddykomp 0]

I was about 10(?) and i was going to the bank with my mom. she pulls into the driveway, parks the car and we go inside. when we try to start the car again, it wont start. she tried and tried and tried and it wouldnt start. My mom starts freaking out cause we were parked in the parking garage and the garage was about to close for the night...so she calls my dad and he comes to try and start the car.........turns out, the car was in Drive the whole time!

i still havent let her live that one down!

Funny? No. Scary is more like it.

This morning I was taking the kids to school and the heading to work. I got on the expressway and all of the sudden the car is accelerating too rapidly. I realize that even breaking isn't doing much to slow my car down. Not fun at all! End up having to put the car into neutral in order to stop.

I started calling everyone in my family, but unfortunately my family generally wakes at noon so no one answers. Call my ex husband and he said he would come help. He gets there and I go to show him how when I start the car back up it instantly goes to 5000 RPM and of course the car acts completely normal leaving me to look crazy. Took the car to the shop and it turns out that some casing for my air filter is broke and they have to replace that because the throttle cable was getting caught on it.

[mikeize 0]

One time I was driving across the country in my old volvo. VA>GA>LA>TX>CO>WY>NV... So after all that, I'm on my way to visit my old friend in northern CA, and I decide to cut across NV. Specifically Pyramid Lake Reservation, which is basically a freakin desert. Well, I'm out on these dirt roads tearing along, just guessing at the intersections based on the direction towards CA... and I feel the car start to float. Sh!t. I stop and sure enough, I've got one shredded tire, and one RAPIDLY deflating tire. Both rear, and I only have one donut. Well even though they are both hopeless, I'm 50 miles from 10 miles from nowhere, and it's about 4pm... so I get my crappy jack out and make like to change the worst tire. The d@mn jack folds like a taco!!! Well, I've got a bicycle with me, but like I said, I'm not even sure where I'm going, so I decide to just stay in the car overnight if I have to. About a half hour later a BLM (bureau of land management) truck comes by, and they radio their dispatcher who calls a tow truck (covered by my insurance policy) who tows me 60 miles! from nevada to california, where I get two too-small tires stretched on my rims for 30 bucks, and I'm on my way!

On two other occasions I ran out of gas on the same stretch of highway in montana, not counting on several hundred miles of highway with no gas after 5pm.

-mike

[moondancer627 0]

This past July on Canada day we were in Jasper National Park. Anton's old Toyota Tercel's alternator light came on the night before, he wasn't worried so we kept driving. Well we went up to the Hot Springs in Jasper and his car stalled out in the parking lot. We did our hot tubbing and decided it was time to leave so we jumped the car with the clutch... basically I pushed down hill and he popped the clutch. By the time we made Jasper townsite around 11 PM the engine was still running, but we had no headlights or turnsignals. We coasted into a Shell GasStation and everything died. What a place to spend the night, Canada Day, midnight was fireworks and the town was busy with activity all night. We slept in the car in the parking lot, the next day the mechanic said he could order a new alternator but, it would take 4 days to get. Well, I was flying home so we couldn't wait that long for the part. We had the mechanic charge the battery, spent another night camping behind a saw mill in Jasper townsite, hoping not to get a ticket, and took off for Calgary the next day. We stopped three or four times at Columbia Ice Fields and Lake Louise, the car started everytime since we popped the clutch. We made it back to Calgary in one piece.

How to live in your car in the Canadian Rockies is my new best seller I want to write someday.

I would do it again as it's the most beautiful place in the world.

Moondancer

[yogib37 3]

Many years ago when I was a kid, we were driving back home to NY from visiting my grandmother in NH, middle of the highway in VT during a real bad rainstorm at night, the car decides to get a flat tire. My father pulls over to change the tire. Of course its the ole crank jack style that doesnt fit just right... and after scrapping his knuckles on pavement as the lug wrench slips a few times getting the lugs off, then back on... we can hear him swear every now and then.. someone finally stops to see how and what we're doing. following is conversation

Stranger: Got a flat tire mister?

my dad (in a mood): Nope! I rotate my radial tires every 15k miles no matter where I am! [/sarcasm]

Stranger: Oh, well ok then. Good luck to ya!

my dad: ermmm.. yeah

and my father wonders where I get the sarcasm from

Your father forgot to give that stranger 'his stuipd sigh' here is your sign

this did not happen to me, and this is a hard to belive story..

Well one day my mother went to a fabic store or doing what ever . She parked her car in front of the store, and the parking lot block to stop your car, the tire was up agaist it, Well she got out of the car and closed the do. Ok so that is not big thing, The door was lock, she left the car is DRIVE and the engine still running. She call the police to help her out. Till this day my father does not know about that.

good thing for that parking block that prevented the car from going into the store

[Sinergy 3]

Dunno, It pissed me off at first but now that I look back on it its pretty funny.

I bought my car back in April of 2005, and its used a 2002. Anyway when I bought it the dealer told me that the gas gage is broken (which was the ONLY problem thank goodness), and that they filled the gas tank up for me.

Well i got home so everything was fine. I decided not to drive the car until I got the gage fixed so I let it alone for awhile.

Well when my son was 2 months old in July, he had a doctors appointment and i couldnt call and ask to borrow my moms car because she was at work, so I drove mine.

It drove wonderful until we got to about 5 miles down the road. At the RED LIGHT it died. I was freaking out. Had both my kids with me. The crappy part was i was in the middle lane at the busiest intersection in my town. So people were honking and being all rude (yes had emergancy flashers on), EVEN when i got out of the car and was waving people to the other lane to let them know my car wont move, people were still trying to move me out of the way. I was waiting for my dad at this point, had called him and he lives across town so i knew hed be a few minutes. After about 100 cars passing and NO ONE offering to help move my car (im sorry i just cant move a car by myself even in neutral) i got mad and sat in the car and decided to let people find out on their own i cant move.

Finally a nice guy pulls up beside me (did i mention i live in a college town where everyone is RUDE and could care less about a woman and 2 kids broke down in the middle of the road?) and offers to help me push the car off to the side of the road. By that time my dad pulled up.

The next day I was pissed and took it to the KIA dealer to have them look at the problem. THE PROBLEM WAS IT HAD NO GAS!!!!!!!! those darn f***erbutts lied to me when I bought the car! I was not only mad but soo soo soo embarassed. The gas gage was NOT and is NOT broken, they just didnt want to put the gas in so made up that story. Needless to say the dealer DID that day i brought the car in apologize for my problems, filled up my gas tank (i watched) and then gave me $20 as in "we are sorry heres the gas money we should have used to fill your car when you bought it, please dont tell your friends we SUCK"

My dad still wont let me live this ####### down