When did you last brake down, or how often do you?

mikey72

Now you've reminded me, I had the throttle go on my SD1.
I drove that with a piece of string though the window, and under the bonnet.

Had a mate whose gearbox actually came unbolted from the engine, lost all the gears, we crawled under, put a couple of bolts still hanging in back in hand tight, and drove home with just second and fourth as it had knackered most of the bearings when it came out.

But you did say ones that stopped you.

pendulum

2009 - Robin Rialto GLS on the way to its MoT after being off-road for a year.

Had issues with other cars (throttle cable in 306, coolant leak in Citroen ZX, immobiliser issue in Renault Clio) but they have been fixable at the roadside i.e. able to get me home without a tow.

cyclonebri1

mikey72 wrote: »

Now you've reminded me, I had the throttle go on my SD1.
I drove that with a piece of string though the window, and under the bonnet.

Had a mate whose gearbox actually came unbolted from the engine, lost all the gears, we crawled under, put a couple of bolts still hanging in back in hand tight, and drove home with just second and fourth as it had knackered most of the bearings when it came out.

But you did say ones that stopped you.

Exactly, and you reminded me of the time in a mates car we were coming back from a fishing trip, total darkness but we had a torch.
Dragged the exhaust off down a muddy farm lane. Drove home 30 miles with the exhaust held of the deck by 2 wire pike fishing traces and a series of treble hooks.

The word resourcefull is a real saver;)

petrolhead69

My 2009 insignia company car has left me on the hard shoulder 16 times in the last 6 weeks, its been into the garage 7 times over that period and had a boost sensor, water pump, inlet manifold and different bits of pipework replaced. Its still stuttering like it has been since this fault started but the car is sitting unused as I'm on paternity leave at the minute and I'm glad of the opportunity not to have drive the pile of crap for a few weeks. previous to that its had 2 leaking waterpumps once they were on backorder for 7 weeks, a central locking actuator, an egr cooler (6 weeks backorder) an airbag, 2 faulty rear calipers and compared to a new one I had on hire sounds like a tractor, parking sensors have been replaced, radio reflashed several times due to faults. Up until this car the most unreliable car I ever had was a rover 214 gsi but at least I actually enjoyed driving that one and it was cheap, neglected and abused, this one gets driven responsibly and serviced on the dot.

Last breakdown we had that wasn't the company car was my wife was driving my bmw 728 sport and the radiator hose split. despite the chimes, flashing lights and STOP! Coolant level low! coming up on the dash she assumed the chime was a blown bulb like last time and carried on. you could see the gap between the head and the block it was that warped. I still miss that car.

mikey72

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Exactly, and you reminded me of the time in a mates car we were coming back from a fishing trip, total darkness but we had a torch.
Dragged the exhaust off down a muddy farm lane. Drove home 30 miles with the exhaust held of the deck by 2 wire pike fishing traces and a series of treble hooks.

The word resourcefull is a real saver;)

Back box rotted off one of mine, and rather than have it drag on the floor as the back was still attached, we opened the back doors, threw a rope under the car, pulled it tight, slammed the doors and drove home.

Petrol tank rotted through, so I had a moped tank fastened down in the boot on one. (I found it in a council flat garage - just the tank)
I had to remember fill up every 60 miles, and carried a petrol can for when I forgot.

I can afford to actually repair them now, so it doesn't happen as much.

gord115

Used to buy Citreons and Rovers 'cus they were a lot of car for the money,including a brand new xsara vts.
Although they never left me at the side of the road they always had something wrong with them,The Xsara went back under warranty 26 times in 2 1/2 years.

Then my last 3 cars have been Skodas,went out to my Octavia last week and battery had died,first let down in 8 years of Skoda ownership.

cyclonebri1

petrolhead69 wrote: »

My 2009 insignia company car has left me on the hard shoulder 16 times in the last 6 weeks, its been into the garage 7 times over that period and had a boost sensor, water pump, inlet manifold and different bits of pipework replaced. Its still stuttering like it has been since this fault started but the car is sitting unused as I'm on paternity leave at the minute and I'm glad of the opportunity not to have drive the pile of crap for a few weeks. previous to that its had 2 leaking waterpumps once they were on backorder for 7 weeks, a central locking actuator, an egr cooler (6 weeks backorder) an airbag, 2 faulty rear calipers and compared to a new one I had on hire sounds like a tractor, parking sensors have been replaced, radio reflashed several times due to faults. Up until this car the most unreliable car I ever had was a rover 214 gsi but at least I actually enjoyed driving that one and it was cheap, neglected and abused, this one gets driven responsibly and serviced on the dot.

Last breakdown we had that wasn't the company car was my wife was driving my bmw 728 sport and the radiator hose split. despite the chimes, flashing lights and STOP! Coolant level low! coming up on the dash she assumed the chime was a blown bulb like last time and carried on. you could see the gap between the head and the block it was that warped. I still miss that car.

Sorry chap, but that just smacks of mechanic melt down. That simply should not happen, but then again if they programmed the tech to think rather than follow instructions, well,

Wig

Whenever I have problems it has so far always been local and I just tow the car home myself when I can get round to it, with one exception the Fiat Brava miles from home but luckily at that time the car was covered by my Bro's breakdown assist.

The most recent one
Not sure if this counts or not, was this summer, the 53 Corsa 1.2 petrol, in the works carpark I think I was under the bonnet checking the oil level at lunch time when I noticed the remains of a lot of coolant spray on the underside of the bonnet, I checked to see if I could see where it had come from, the coolant level was low so I topped it with some water about a litre did the trick.

I then decided to take it for a spin, warm it up and lift the bonnet to see if I could see the leak. This I did, and when I lifted the lid again I could hear some hissing from one of the top coolant pipes on the crank pulley side of the engine. I poked the pipe with my finger and it came away completely, I put it back in place but I knew it was broken. I had about 2 or 3 tenths of a mile to get back to the work carpark, decided, I would just drive it back and deal with it after work has finished.

After work what I did was to use two self tapping screws which fitted exactly into this pipe and the broken part where the pipe had fitted, thus sealing the leak and able to get me home. The pipe was not really critical, it was only a breather pipe.

This temporary fix was sufficient for the next few days of driving to/from work until the weekend when I could fix it properly with a new bit from vauxhalls, the morning of the same day I was leaving to drive to France that afternoon. Luckily the repair held out and is still good to this day.

The one before that around 2008
This was a Fiat Brava diesel, S reg I think. I had just taken delivery of it from my Bro somewhere around Penrith, Kendal, who had been having some problems with thermostats, loss of coolant and radiator blockages....but it was supposed to be ok now.
and I had to take it back to South Wales.

It was doing ok and then I stopped off in Cannock for a break, when I came back to car I drove off again (engine had cooled) within 5 miles I had a high water temp, I stopped and let the steam off, and then crawled my way back to the M6, where I met a nice Polish lorry driver who gave me loads of water and he was bleeding the system as he filled it and it was bubbling away and I was thinking it should not be doing that, and he was saying it's fine it's what it's supposed to do but he could never stop it from bubbling and he sealed the vent and I went on my way after taking yet more water from him in his own 5 litre bottle, nice chap! Coincidently at the same time another car pulled into the same layby with the same problem and he also got help and water from the lorry driver. I drove off and it heated up again and I limped it into the next services where I was able to use the breakdown assist cover that the car had and got flatbedded home to S.Wales. Of course all that bubbling was a sure indicator of a blown head gasket. Which was fixed by myself at about £100 even though there was a lot of side wall erosion on the coolant runs in the head, too much erosion to be sure of a fix, sure enough after fixing it blew again and the car was scrapped.

The one before that around 2005
VW polo 1993 model, can't remember what happened to it but I had to go and tow it home with my other car.

The one before that around 2003
Was a taxi Vauxhall Carlton probably a 1994 model burst a top hose, got a tow to safety from a friend on the CB radio.

The one before that was around 2003
My VW Polo 1.3 1987 model alternator gone, and dead battery. Left it there and went back to tow it home later.

The one before that was around 1994
Morris Marina something happened maybe just a exhaust fell off, anyway I had to go and tow it home

Shoshannah

October 2011 - cut out just leaving Knutsford Services - was a bit of dirt in the carb - dislodged and back to normal within five minutes.
2008 - seized brake caliper.

Those are the only two times over the three cars I have owned since I started driving in 2003 - all Ford Sierras (current two are 20 and 24 years old now). Bangers to some but all three have been very reliable and I have only had two failures to start in the morning too - both dead batteries.

Billy-no-Money

2008 - Wife's Kia Rio, one week old - gear linkage came apart. Fixed under warranty, no problems since (now 40,000 miles)
2007 - Honda Pan European, clutch would stop working in traffic. Not really a breakdown as once cooled it was OK again (needed a new slave cylinder - old fluid, water had got into it)
1997 - Citroen XM - 'flat battery'. Actually turned out to be a loose battery lead, so I can't really blame the car.
1995 - Renault 17 - Auto Gearbox failed, only had reverse (but 120,000 miles)
1995 - Renault 17 - Blown radiator
1993 - Rover 214Si - Spark plug blew out, taking thread out of cylinder head - almost certainly poor servicing (had to use the dealership as it was a fleet car)

What really stands out for me though is that there haven't been any 'bodge' opportunities since the eighties. Other cars and bikes have had faults but they've been picked up early and dealt with.