Does your car break down in convenient places?

I went on a road trip to Northern California. When I there I noticed a wheels wiggle. I checked it out and the tires were hosed. I also noticed the fuel pump leaking and the power steering return hose had failed.

I found it convenient to fix at my friends. I have had cars in the past that seem make it home for repairs.:banana:

 

hmmm

Sometimes yes, sometimes no... Have had cars, parked in front of the house, just not start. Have had cars that started to break down, short distances from home, make it home and others not. Have had cars break down(usually the tranny)miles from anywhere convenient. On one road trip, popped two tires within eight hours. Had only one spare. Have considered Downtown LA a "Bermuda Triangle" for cars, for a long while now, as many of my breakdowns happened while in that area while going/coming to/from work there. :banghead3: including the driveshaft falling out of the differential on my Dodge Aspenwagon.

 

Had a 93 Chrysler Concorde that was infamous for stranding me in the middle of nowhere. The tranny blew once in Cuba, New Mexico and once outside of Mountain Home, Idaho. I drove this car into the ground with 255,000 miles on the clock and still got $500.00 out of it. Almost made up for 3 transmissions...almost. The Shwag only stranded me once, about 3 blocks from home, God I love that car, literally pushed it around the corner and coasted down the hill to my house.

 

if you read my power tour thread you will see the answer is yes

 

Well, speaking of HOSED tires?????????? I have never actually hosed a tire except when washing the car! Our faithful 55 wagon with a mere 14 to 15 years on new looking tires got a knot on left rear 8 miles from home and made it home at a slow speed.
Yes, I recalulated that I've had the wagon back at least 13 years and the guy I had sold it to put those on and went to Michigan from Florida and back on the Powertour maybe a few years before that. Ya could say those tires outlived their time.
I had a 1954 Ford mastercylinder go out as I drove down my driveway. We lived at the end of a cul-de-sac. Used emergency to stop.
I broke a fan belt on a 53 Buick in front of an old timey gas station with a 1000 belts hanging on the walls.
Broke a fan belt on the 55 Chevy on a 140 mile trip almost to Orlando. Continued 25+ miles to Discount Auto and the other guys in the car club changed it and wouldn't let me help. Was okay while moving.
And more. Always at home or near help. This is what clean honest living will get ya boys and girls!:2_thumbs_up_-_anima

 

It appears that you people don't believe in preventative maintenance...

 

Glad you said it. I was beginning to wonder if they ever even looked under the hood.

 

I do have a "Master Mechanic" tool set in the back. Hey now, what's a couple hundred extra pounds.

 

Rode hard, put away wet. Thank god we don't have horses.

 

Old horses all ways make it back to the barn before they die...



I've yet to be totally stranded but I have to say it's because ....... when ever we went on a trip since 1999 when I bout Deb/us the first new ride, her Mini van....... we learned fast to take the old cars instead and that's why I got her a new Ford instead of a GM this time around but that's another story

 

My first 79 Thunderbird was a VERY polite car. When something would start to go wrong, I'd feel a tap on the shoulder, and Daphne would whisper "Excuse me, but when you have the chance, I could use some attention, please." Loved that car! My second 79 was very nearly as polite. Neither of the 78s was as helpful! They would just say "I quit", and then I'd be coasting to the shoulder of the road. The 89 Marquis just never broke! Even after being hit, and totaled, it drove me around for another 2 weeks, frame bent and torn, and all! I REALLY miss that car!

 

I've had new belts break too! Preventative maintenance has nothing to do with the innards of a master cylinder or a radiator that decides it wants to start leaking.
Or the outters of a master cylinder for that matter. :confused: This may have been my fault. I made a mistake a few times.........Maybe once! Overfilled new master cylinder. Only 10 miles from home going camping it burped brake fluid onto spark plugs and exhaust manifold below master cylinder. Hot brake fluid will burn spark plug wires. Still, I had done my preventative maintenance Mr junk! Sloppy but done. I coasted into a gas station and got a ride to get new wires. See convenient.
Nearly forgot the 1954 Ford oil pump or something that went out 100 miles from home on a Model A parts run. Just kept stopping and adding heavy weight oil until I got it home. Had good oil pressure for awhile.
The fix was simple. Next day while engine was cold drove one mile to Rambler dealer and traded on a 1957 Beetle.
Never heard anymore about the 1954 Ford. Actually I loved that car. Lots of memories in the back seat at the drive-in movie. Yes, usually used preventative maintanence.

 

On one occasion, Yes. It wasn't in front of a garage, But on May 20th or 21st 2012 if I remember right we had a 1997 Plymouth Voyager and I ran over a bungee cord strap in it, Which punctured a tire. So, I drove in to Sheetz to change the tire and after parking on a slope and the tire jack breaking by being bent after it went through the rusted car frame/body/etc and much tension between my Father and I, WOOSH - A car mechanic stopped by who just happened to have a jack in his trunk that went far enough under the car to lift it and he helped us change the tire while asking no cost, Though we gave him a soda and $10 anyway. Another thing is, He didn't even go to that gas station very often because it was usually out of his road. Yes, I do believe in miracles.

On other occasions, No. But on the seven other occasions I recall, We only had to get the vehicles towed twice and none of the times were with the 1985 Jaguar XJ6 which might be the most problematic car my Father ever had by certain standards (Maybe second to an early 80s Diesel Olds Cutlass, Which my Father may have sold before I was born,) Plus we had help for most of those other occasions. In the last two years of its running life, That Jaguar was difficult to get started and once we did get it on we usually left it on while we went shopping. And that thing was rated to get no better than 17 MPG Highway!

So yeah, We have some stories. Perhaps you had fun reading this, It helped me recall the good fortune we did have and that an uncle of mine helped us while we didn't have a car to drive.

 

101, your Jaguar story made me think of an episode of last season's Mad Men, set in 1966, where one of the characters, attempted suicide by rigging up his brand new E-Type with a garden hose in the exhaust and settling in for his looong nap, only to have the bloody thing not start! D'oh!

David

 

Back in '92, I was living in LA, and preparing to move back home to Dallas. There was a 1964 Thunderbird that I had seen sitting derelict in a church parking lot in Hollywood, untouched since at least 1988. The owner had gone to church, died, and no one ever moved his car. It sat right where he parked it. I knew I couldn't leave town without finding out about this car, so I contacted the church, they contacted the man's 85 year old mother, and she said she wanted $400 for it. Deal! I got it running that afternoon, and when I put a belt on the compressor, the air blew ice cold.
Caspian Blue Metallic with a medium blue metallic vinyl interior.
I limped it to a mechanic's shop and had the brakes checked, hoses, belts and fluids changed, and set out for Texas on 10.

That wonderful old T-Bird drove well, and I was feeling pretty good. I made it all the way to Texas before I realized my totally stupid, boneheaded mistake...I never got around to putting new tires on it! D'oh! What an idiot! :banghead3:

The first blowout was at about 2am. I had to unload my full trunk on the side of 20 to get the spare out. Not easy in the dim glow of the trunk light. Changed the tire, and got back on the road. As the sun was rising, I had yet another blowout. Uh-oh! Turns out, the front LH tire had a huge bulge the size of a cantaloupe! Whew! I slowly limped it into the little town of Sweetwater, where the local diner was the only activity this early on a Sunday morning. I went in and asked if there was a tire repair shop in town, and a nice old man got up from his breakfast and went across the street, opened his little shop and sold me a good used tire for $10. I was so amazed by this man's willingness to help me, and everyone's kindness in this little town. I made it on into Dallas without any other issues.

Wish I still had that wonderful car.

David