row_33 Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 Not a catastrophe but a friend complained paint was peeling on his new car. Turned out it was coming off in license- plate sized chunks on four locations.
WhoTom Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 Summer 2016, we were vacationing in the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) of Michigan. On the drive home, the transmission on our 2004 Saturn Vue died. Got towed 20 miles to the nearest town - Escanaba, Michigan - which has the only GM dealership within a 100 mile radius. They didn't know how long it would take to repair it, or even to give us an estimate, so we asked about a car rental agency so we could drive home. There's one about 20 miles away, but they had no cars available and didn't know when they would have one. The guy at the dealership makes a phone call and tells us, "I have someone who's willing to drive you home." (We live in northern Illinois - a good five hour drive from Escanaba.) Turns out, the guy is a retired school bus driver who drives a truck for the dealership, moving cars to and from Escanaba to places all over the Midwest and the south. I know this is going to cost us a lot, but we don't have much choice, so we move our gear from the Vue to the dealership's car, the guy drives us home, and then turns around and goes back to the U.P. the same night. I know the dealership was paying the driver, but I gave him a tip for doing it on short notice. A few days later I contact the dealership and ask how much I owe for the drive - he says, "Nothing. Don't worry about it." A couple of days after that, he sends me an estimate, which is way more than the car is worth. Also, it would take several weeks to get the parts and do the job. Now, transmissions are a specialty, and I'm thinking that a dealership in the middle of nowhere probably isn't going to have someone with that kind of experience. Besides the fact that we're going to need a car sooner than that, and the prospect of having to go back up there to get the thing after the repair just doesn't add up. The car has under 100k miles (original) and the engine and body are in good shape, so I start looking around to see how much the engine is worth. Most places show a value between $400 and $800. So I contact the dealership and ask if I can just send them the title of the car in exchange for the drive and the estimate - they can sell the engine and whatever parts are salvageable. They agree. Meanwhile, my wife is online, looking for cars that better fit our travel needs. She finds a "program car" - one that was leased for a year by a business, has hardly any miles on it, and sells for $6k less than a new model. So we bought it and we're happy with it.
Augie Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 I hit a GIANT submerged pothole near Buff State that knocked out my rear speakers. If I had had airbags back then.....
row_33 Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 before cell phone days, my car broke down on the 401, 90 degree heat, about 3 miles from the closest offramp, in business casual clothes. after a mile walking a van pulled over and a woman driver, with 2 kids in the back, said "hop in" she drove me to a phone off the next exit ramp and then drove me back to my car, offering to stay until AAA arrived. i said that was fine and thanked her for her kindness and have tried to do the same to others in bad situations like this as well. pass it on...
seregil42 Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 Was in an accident that totaled the car. It was an older car, though, so wasn't a huge deal. As for general wear and tear issues, had muffler and carburetor fall off of a Ford Focus. Car was 12 years old, I think. That was about a month after some electrical wiring in the car disintegrated and left the car unable to start. (Car actually shut off on me as I was driving it into the parking space of the mechanics). Was starting to get transmission issues on it when I traded it in. All in all, I've been rather lucky with my cars.
Marv's Neighbor Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 I had a heater core fail, that flooded the floor on the passenger side. That prompted me to change from GM to Nissan. Made the change in '83, and never looked back at Mr. Goodwrench!
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 Once fell asleep behind the wheel trying to drive home while on leave in the Army. There's nothing scarier than waking to the sound of rumble strips as you careen into the concrete barrier in the middle of a highway.
PastaJoe Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 Had a 1972 Buick Skylark back in mid 80’s. Going to work in the morning up an inclined bridge that had a stop light on the other side. Light turned green, gave it gas, and the car wouldn’t go forward. Turned out that the transmission wasn’t working in forward, only reverse worked. So I had to go backwards as far right as I could on bridge, wait for traffic to pass, and drive backwards down bridge until I got to level ground and could park it. Then had to walk about 10 miles on shoulder in dress clothes in summer (pre cell phones) to get back where I could call someone for assistance. Another time the tie rods on a van give out just as I turned into my driveway, causing the wheel to collapse into the wheel well.
707BillsFan Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 My 66 Mustang's heater core rusted out (back in 90?). Being a poor college student, I couldn't afford to fix it. No defrost, no heat. Winters and cool mornings were fun. Same car, all lights on the dash went out (beyond fuse replacement issue). So not only was I cold, had a frosty windshield...I had no idea how fast / slow I was going while driving at night. It looked good though!!
MILFHUNTER#518 Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 17 hours ago, Limeaid said: 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. Vehicle Service Contracts are an awesome thing to have for the right price, however you must always ask if they are a "Dealer Re-insured" product. If you get a service contract that is not, and widely accepted anywhere, then you will never have an issue with getting a claim paid out. The service contract you had on that vehicle was a dealer re-insured product, hence the hassle.
HOUSE Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 I haven't had any real problems, small stuff but I never keep a car beyond the warranty period. 35,000 and its time for a new one
WhoTom Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 38 minutes ago, 707BillsFan said: My 66 Mustang's heater core rusted out (back in 90?). Being a poor college student, I couldn't afford to fix it. No defrost, no heat. Winters and cool mornings were fun. Same car, all lights on the dash went out (beyond fuse replacement issue). So not only was I cold, had a frosty windshield...I had no idea how fast / slow I was going while driving at night. It looked good though!! About 15 years ago, my wife saw a "for sale" sign on a metallic blue '65 Mustang coup, my favorite color, vintage, and model. I called the guy and set up a time to check it out. It was beautiful. I took it for a test drive and when I got to a stop light, the engine started running rough. The owner (in the passenger seat) reached for the shifter, put it into neutral, and told me to rev it up. "It's the only way to keep it running while idling," he said. Then he told me that he'd brought it to four different mechanics and nobody could figure out what was wrong with it. It was a damn fine-looking car, but I passed on it. I'm glad I did - it would have been a money pit.
SinceThe70s Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 Brake line went as I was leaving a restaurant. Not a good feeling pressing the brake pedal to the floor and nothing happens. Restaurant exit was uphill and I was driving a stick so it was manageable after the initial scare.
DC Tom Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 1 hour ago, WhoTom said: About 15 years ago, my wife saw a "for sale" sign on a metallic blue '65 Mustang coup, my favorite color, vintage, and model. I called the guy and set up a time to check it out. It was beautiful. I took it for a test drive and when I got to a stop light, the engine started running rough. The owner (in the passenger seat) reached for the shifter, put it into neutral, and told me to rev it up. "It's the only way to keep it running while idling," he said. Then he told me that he'd brought it to four different mechanics and nobody could figure out what was wrong with it. It was a damn fine-looking car, but I passed on it. I'm glad I did - it would have been a money pit. But it was a lunch-pail type car? With fluid hips?
Buffalo716 Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 A few years ago my mother took her car to the local car shop for a tuneup... the douche mechanic PURPOSELY CRACKED her engine block with a hammer or something 10 days later my moms car died in the middle of the road, could’ve killed her
WhoTom Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 1 hour ago, DC Tom said: But it was a lunch-pail type car? With fluid hips? Yeah, but that wasn't enough to make my buy it. Now, if it been holding a fish ...
The Real Buffalo Joe Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 Top This: A few years ago, I went camping in Texas Hill Country with my cousin and uncle. We were on this gigantic ranch. After my uncle went to bed, My cousin and I decided to drive around the property. We found a lake, and drove right up to the lake. The ground we drove on, was really dry... until about 6 inches deep. The truck got stuck in what was essentially quicksand. My uncle left his phone in his truck to charge, so he didn't hear our calls. We spent the night in the car, and he finally called us back the next morning. My tried pulling us out with a rope, nothing. We decided to try jacking the truck up to make it easier to pull, nothing. So we decided to go back to camp, get some food and water in us, then go back and try, or call a tow truck at least. We all jump up in the truck, and drive off. A mile down the road, just as luck would have it, we run over a sharp rock and get a flat tire. No biggie, we'll just put the spare on. Except the fact that the only jack we had, was in the only other vehicle we had, two miles back at the lake. About 20 oz of luke warm water between the three of us. So we had to hike two and a half miles each way, through giant hills, in the Texas heat. Got the jack, just to find out the last time my uncle had the tires rotated, the people at the dealership put the lugnuts on too tight that none of us could get them off with a regular lug wrench. Including my offensive lineman cousin. So we drove back on unpaved roads to camp, and had to get a two for one special from the tow truck driver. Ended up just staying an extra night.
frostbitmic Posted June 5, 2018 Posted June 5, 2018 4 hours ago, Marv's Neighbor said: I had a heater core fail, that flooded the floor on the passenger side. That prompted me to change from GM to Nissan. Made the change in '83, and never looked back at Mr. Goodwrench! I had that happen in my first car, a 1970 Ford Maverick. If anyone had been sitting in the passenger seat they would've had severe burns. Why any manufacturer would put something like that inside the firewall under the dash is beyond me. In another scary instance about a dozen or so years ago, I picked my daughters up from a week of summer camp. It was about 45 miles in each direction and mostly highway. I was doing about 70 mph both ways and when we got near home they told me they were hungry so we stopped into a fast food burger joint. After eating we got in the car and backed up, the front right side of the car dropped ... The ball joint snapped. If that happened at 70 we would've been toast.
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