Ice bowl 67 Posted June 4, 2018 Posted June 4, 2018 What was the worst car issue you guys have ever had in all the years of driving?
Dr Krentist Posted June 4, 2018 Posted June 4, 2018 I had to get a new engine. Smoke started coming out from under my hood and so I took it to the nearest shop. They told me my engine was shot and to replace it with a refurbished one was going to cost $3,000. I couldn't think at the time and felt I needed a car, so I went ahead and did it. My fault. Years of neglect. They initially found oil in the pan and said they would need to keep the car all day to find out the problem. I kept pushing it back and that's what happened. Had to learn the hard way.
FappyTheClown Posted June 4, 2018 Posted June 4, 2018 Last week I hit a left turn a little too hard and heard a bad noise. 5 seconds later my car started swerving. There was a service garage 10 feet ahead of me so I pulled it in. They put it in the air and one of the tires fell right to the floor. If I had driven it 10 more feet and that wheel fell I'm pretty sure my whole whip would have been totaled as even more stuff would have broke. Was I ever lucky that shop was right there. 1
BuffaloBill Posted June 4, 2018 Posted June 4, 2018 My biggest car problem is that I want one of these and can’t afford it: https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/jaguar/f-type-convertible 1 2
Augie Posted June 4, 2018 Posted June 4, 2018 Not the worst, but most annoying - My AC stopped working in my (one and only) Taurus MANY years ago. I took it to a mechanic client next door who told me the good new is it’s only a $35 part. The bad news was it was $800-900 in labor because you can’t get to it. He refused to fix it because he didn’t want his banker mad at him. I took it to the dealer, and he was exactly right. When I told him he was right he said “I know, Ford has been making it that way for years but they refuse to fix it”. That $900 was a really big deal to us way back then.....to replace a $35 part. A kid in my son’s HS put sugar in his gas tank. Just as he was pulling onto I-75 the car just died. He could have been killed. The insurance company replaced the engine and every single part that gets anywhere near gas. Then we traded it in. We could just never feel good about it.
Fadingpain Posted June 4, 2018 Posted June 4, 2018 28 minutes ago, FappyTheClown said: Last week I hit a left turn a little too hard and heard a bad noise. 5 seconds later my car started swerving. There was a service garage 10 feet ahead of me so I pulled it in. They put it in the air and one of the tires fell right to the floor. If I had driven it 10 more feet and that wheel fell I'm pretty sure my whole whip would have been totaled as even more stuff would have broke. Was I ever lucky that shop was right there. I'm trying to understand what actually happened in mechanical terms. When you say "the tire" fell to the floor, I assume you mean the wheel, with the tire still on it. Was there anything else attached to the wheel when it fell? Like are you suggesting all 5 lug nuts snapped simultaneously so nothing was holding the wheel onto the hub? How old was the car and what percentage of it was composed of rust?
plenzmd1 Posted June 4, 2018 Posted June 4, 2018 (edited) ^^^^ I bought a first model year VW Toureg..oh boy what a mistake. The airbag warning light continually came on...no amount of trips to the dealership could get it fixed .permanent. Again you prolly knew it was just a faulty warning light..but my kids and wife rode in that passenger seat..how could you take the chance? Finally had enough when i needed a new headlight..and essentially the whole front end had to come off to get to it. Edited June 4, 2018 by plenzmd1
RochesterRob Posted June 4, 2018 Posted June 4, 2018 4 minutes ago, Augie said: Not the worst, but most annoying - My AC stopped working in my (one and only) Taurus MANY years ago. I took it to a mechanic client next door who told me the good new is it’s only a $35 part. The bad news was it was $800-900 in labor because you can’t get to it. He refused to fix it because he didn’t want his banker mad at him. I took it to the dealer, and he was exactly right. When I told him he was right he said “I know, Ford has been making it that way for years but they refuse to fix it”. That $900 was a really big deal to us way back then.....to replace a $35 part. A kid in my son’s HS put sugar in his gas tank. Just as he was pulling onto I-75 the car just died. He could have been killed. The insurance company replaced the engine and every single part that gets anywhere near gas. Then we traded it in. We could just never feel good about it. I put a locking fuel cap on both a GM pickup and car while working at one place of employment. The place employed a fair number of bitter souls about their lot in life so they were not above keying or other forms of car vandalism. The car was a 2000 Malibu which was a low mile student driver car when I bought it. Somebody did break a key off into the lock of the pickup, however. The worst breakdown was a timing belt going on an '86 Chevy Nova (Toyota Corolla) while on the way home from a friend's house during the winter. Had I not made for a long good bye I would have gotten home before it broke which still aggravates me to this day.
Augie Posted June 4, 2018 Posted June 4, 2018 (edited) 16 hours ago, RochesterRob said: I put a locking fuel cap on both a GM pickup and car while working at one place of employment. The place employed a fair number of bitter souls about their lot in life so they were not above keying or other forms of car vandalism. The car was a 2000 Malibu which was a low mile student driver car when I bought it. Somebody did break a key off into the lock of the pickup, however. The worst breakdown was a timing belt going on an '86 Chevy Nova (Toyota Corolla) while on the way home from a friend's house during the winter. Had I not made for a long good bye I would have gotten home before it broke which still aggravates me to this day. His Highlander did “lock” the gas cap I believe, but it had been pried open. He knew who did it, but the schools new parking lot cameras were pointed away from the parking lot. Duh... His “educators” were a bunch of clowns. Edited June 5, 2018 by Augie
ExiledInIllinois Posted June 4, 2018 Posted June 4, 2018 (edited) My 2017 Toyota Tacoma blower "Squirrel Cage" just broke this weekend in BFLo... No fan blower. West Herr was supposed to fix, but said part they had sent is broken too. Could have one by tomorrow... But I have to be back in Illinois. I will get it fixed @ my dealer. Only 12k miles... In Erie now, on way home... @ Syrian place eating... Going old school, windows open. Probably worse? Dropping transmission on Jeep @ 96k heading to work. Rolled right thru ghetto miraculously on the South Side... To friendly confines of work... Edited June 4, 2018 by ExiledInIllinois
SlimShady'sSpaceForce Posted June 4, 2018 Posted June 4, 2018 Broken camshaft and transmission work on my 4 X 4. (Who doesn’t have transmission issues with home?) beyond that starters / alternators
FappyTheClown Posted June 4, 2018 Posted June 4, 2018 (edited) 24 minutes ago, Fadingpain said: I'm trying to understand what actually happened in mechanical terms. When you say "the tire" fell to the floor, I assume you mean the wheel, with the tire still on it. Was there anything else attached to the wheel when it fell? Like are you suggesting all 5 lug nuts snapped simultaneously so nothing was holding the wheel onto the hub? How old was the car and what percentage of it was composed of rust? The control arm broke. And yes, the wheel, so correction on that. But, yea, I should have junked the thing a long time ago. I get sentimental with my cars. I like my Black Bomber. Edited June 4, 2018 by FappyTheClown
Gray Beard Posted June 4, 2018 Posted June 4, 2018 Several cars, several issues. So far none were too bad... Loose lugnuts, got home just before they came off. My fault. Flat tire 150 miles from home. Stopped every 25 miles to put air in. Made it. Broken belt (alternator, a/c) two blocks from home. Whew. Many dead battery stories with my first car, when I was too poor/cheap to buy a new battery. Check engine light and occasional bucking in a 1993 Taurus with the whole family on a vacation 1000 miles from home. Made it home but nerve racking. Rental car oil filter fell off on a freeway near LA. Business trip by myself. Oil gushed out and car stalled. I missed my flight but no big deal in the grand scheme of things. Several fender benders, especially in a 1980 Mazda. Terrible car. Rear wheel drive. Had good tires. Didn’t matter. 1988 Chevy Nova (actually a rebadged Corolla) was a gutless wonder. Knocking and complaining all the time. A few other assorted check engine light stories.
RochesterRob Posted June 4, 2018 Posted June 4, 2018 5 minutes ago, Gray Beard said: Several cars, several issues. So far none were too bad... Loose lugnuts, got home just before they came off. My fault. Flat tire 150 miles from home. Stopped every 25 miles to put air in. Made it. Broken belt (alternator, a/c) two blocks from home. Whew. Many dead battery stories with my first car, when I was too poor/cheap to buy a new battery. Check engine light and occasional bucking in a 1993 Taurus with the whole family on a vacation 1000 miles from home. Made it home but nerve racking. Rental car oil filter fell off on a freeway near LA. Business trip by myself. Oil gushed out and car stalled. I missed my flight but no big deal in the grand scheme of things. Several fender benders, especially in a 1980 Mazda. Terrible car. Rear wheel drive. Had good tires. Didn’t matter. 1988 Chevy Nova (actually a rebadged Corolla) was a gutless wonder. Knocking and complaining all the time. A few other assorted check engine light stories. Actually, I had little quarrel with the Nova's power. The wife managed to knock 3rd gear out of the 5 speed manual transmission (don't know how that happened but was the last time I tried teaching her a manual transmission) and thereafter until it died I shifted from 2nd to 4th with no issue. I drove the Thruway and 490 for a few years that way.
US Egg Posted June 4, 2018 Posted June 4, 2018 Buying my 1st car at 18 from my Mom's boyfriends "buddy's" used car lot. Halfway home the oil light came on, it overheated and the engine ceased.
Saxum Posted June 4, 2018 Posted June 4, 2018 Bought a guaranteed used car from a local dealer. Three times I had engine issues and each time the dealer told me it was not something covered. Computer or other issue. After third time I took it to another dealer and was told that is was a cracked cylinder in engineer and from build up it was at least 6 months old. Cylinder was fixed and it was covered by warranty. Cylinder was cracked when I bought car. Then I found out that as part of a dealer issuing a warranty on a used car the dealer is partially responsible for any repairs paid out on a warranty. The dealer basicly stuck me with non-warranty issues getting more dollars in order to not have to pay into warranty fund.
Gray Beard Posted June 4, 2018 Posted June 4, 2018 11 minutes ago, RochesterRob said: Actually, I had little quarrel with the Nova's power. The wife managed to knock 3rd gear out of the 5 speed manual transmission (don't know how that happened but was the last time I tried teaching her a manual transmission) and thereafter until it died I shifted from 2nd to 4th with no issue. I drove the Thruway and 490 for a few years that way. It seemed like it didn’t age well. When it was new it seemed pretty good. I had it for nine years, and the knocking was getting pretty bad near the end. I would put high octane gas in it to cut down on the knocking. I also had the five speed manual. I would let the rpms get pretty high before shifting to keep it from knocking. Maybe it just needed a tuneup. I don’t really remember all the details, since it’s been over twenty years.
DC Tom Posted June 4, 2018 Posted June 4, 2018 When I moved down do DC, I got a VA driver's license. Then I traded in the car I had to buy a new one. Then a few months later, I get a letter from New York State: "Your insurance has lapsed on your old car." Told them I didn't have it any more, they told me "Fine, just send us the bill of sale." I send them the trade-in agreement. "No, that's not sufficient, we need the bill of sale." But I didn't sell it, I traded it in. "But you no longer have the car? How did you dispose of it without a bill of sale?" I traded it in. "Okay, then we need the bill of sale." I don't have that, I have a trade-in agreement. "That's not sufficient, we need the bill of sale." After two months of that nonsense, I get a letter: "Because your car is uninsured, and you are delinquent on the fines for lack of insurance, we are suspending your NYS driver's license." I haven't had a NY driver's license for about six months. I forget exactly how I got that resolved; I do remember it required a letter to the Lt. Governor and a rather lengthy phone call to a county judge. Next year, I get an envelope in the mail from NYS Department of Taxation: "We notice you had a suspended driver's license for last year. This qualifies you as a resident of NY, therefore you owe us a full year's worth of income tax..." So that's my worst car problem: owing income tax in a state I didn't live, for having suspended a license I didn't have, for not having insurance on a car I didn't own. 5
Wacka Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 A girlfriend told me she was driving her brothers's Ford Falcon hen he car suddenly stopped running and there a tremendous noise. The motor mounts had rusted outing the motor and transmission had fallen out.
ExiledInIllinois Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 2 hours ago, Wacka said: A girlfriend told me she was driving her brothers's Ford Falcon hen he car suddenly stopped running and there a tremendous noise. The motor mounts had rusted outing the motor and transmission had fallen out. The engine cradle on my 2006 Chrysler Pacifica was doing that. Dumped that car @ 200k... Hope whoever got it had good luck. I filled it with oil and welded it up. No way I was sinking 2 grand into a used cradle doing same thing. Or 3-4 for a new one. Chyrsler only honored the extended warranty pasy 150k on the 2004/2005s. Mine was a 2006, built in 2005. Probably same part. Eff Chrysler.
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