Whats the worst car problem you ever had

[DC Tom]

55 minutes ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

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.

 

Seriously?  Top that?

 

I once owned a Pinto.

 

Yours is a weak-ass story.

[The Real Buffalo Joe]

6 minutes ago, DC Tom said:

 

Seriously?  Top that?

 

I once owned a Pinto.

 

Yours is a weak-ass story.

Any comments about how we drove that close to a lake? Or left the jack there? Any sort of insult you'd like to hurl at me? Name you want to call me?

[DC Tom]

Just now, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

Any comments about how we drove that close to a lake? Or left the jack there? Any sort of insult you'd like to hurl at me? Name you want to call me?

 

That's not a car problem.  That's an operator problem.

[707BillsFan]

3 hours 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.

 

 

Mine was a Tahoe Turquoise 66 coupe.  I loved that car, but yes...it was a money pit. I took care of all the cosmetic work, new paint job, reupholstered the seats, new carpet. I just couldn't keep up w/ everything that kept breaking on the damned thing. I garaged it for a number of years before I sold it to some guy he was going to fix it up and give it to his 16yr old daughter for her birthday.  It wasn't fun for me anymore. I grew up. 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

3 minutes ago, DC Tom said:

 

That's not a car problem.  That's an operator problem.

Actually, 'loose nut behind the wheel' is the proper term I believe.

[Dante]

Rats ate all my engine wiring last year in my truck. That sucked.

[Marv's Neighbor]

37 minutes ago, frostbitmic said:

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.

As I recall, it was a 75 Buick, so same era as yours.

[Richmond_Bills]

5 hours ago, THE SLAMMER said:

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

you should lease

[HOUSE]

1 hour ago, Richmond_Bills said:

you should lease

 

I have a few times

[PromoTheRobot]

Bad transmission on a Dodge Caravan or a broken timing chain on an old Volvo while driving on the I-90.

 

27 minutes ago, Richmond_Bills said:

you should lease

 

I do the same thing that THE SLAMMER does. I trade my car in as soon as the loan balance equals the trade in value, about three years. Sure, I could lease, but then you have to worry about mileage and the car's condition, etc. or else you get hit with fees. When you trade in the dealer just takes your car. No B.S.

Edited June 5, 2018 by PromoTheRobot

[Steptide]

Worst mechanical issue was I had my transmission go as I was driving. 

 

Other worst problem was having my hood fly up and smash the windshield as I was going about 50mph. Myself and gf(at the time) had just left valvoline(no surprise there) and they didn't fully latch the hood. Definitely the most scary thing I've had happen  while driving 

[The Real Buffalo Joe]

I once had my breaks go out in traffic. Thankfully it was slow rush hour traffic so I just pulled onto the median. Also ran out of gas once because I didn't feel like stopping at a gas station. Made it home. Couldn't start it the next morning. Kept trying to start it anyway. Learned me a lesson to the tune of $800.

 

The best car problem I had was my alternator going out. I called my brother who's a mechanic and told him what was happening. He told me to pull into the closest parking lot, because I wasn't gonna make it home. Made it to a bar that had $2 wells that night. I didn't wannna drink. But I didn't want to be rude either, ya know. So I had a whiskey or four while waiting on the tow truck.

Edited June 5, 2018 by The Real Buffalo Joe

[Golden Goat]

It was stolen, then used in a crime.

[DrW]

Me and my son were on our way from Lubbock to some National Parks in Colorado and Utah for a week of vacation. About 15 miles after Santa Rosa, my Ford Windstar blew its transmission. AAA sent a tow truck that towed us back to Santa Rosa. The repair shop said it would at least take half a week to get all the parts and do the repair, which would have essentially killed our vacation plans. I called the tow truck again (as AAA would pay for 100 miles per incident) and asked him if he could tow us to Albuquerque; I would pay for the charge beyond 100 miles. Unfortunately, the tow truck had only 1 passenger seat. Thus, my son had to sit on the floor of the cabin for 100 or so miles; he survived.

 

In Albuquerque, we found a repair shop specializing on transmissions. However, even they would need a few days to fix it. What to do about our trip? Fortunately, close to our two-star motel was a four/five-star hotel with a car rental. The selection was not great, but we got a Kia Sportage with which we were able to do the trip we had planned. Returning to Albuquerque, the van was fixed for our trip home.

 

This was 7 years ago. The Windstar is still alive, now driven by my son. If he and his friends get together, he is the only one who does not drive a truck (after all, this is Texas).  Strangely enough, his friends appear to have accepted his choice. A year ago, when finishing high school, his classmates (I assume, some females were involved) decorated the van very elaborately and labeled it "Swagger Wagon".

[DC Tom]

1 hour ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

I once had my breaks go out in traffic. Thankfully it was slow rush hour traffic so I just pulled onto the median. Also ran out of gas once because I didn't feel like stopping at a gas station. Made it home. Couldn't start it the next morning. Kept trying to start it anyway. Learned me a lesson to the tune of $800.

 

Again, not car problem.  Operator problem.

[billsfanmiami(oh)]

Every once in a while the CUE system in my Caddy acts up. It will look like my Bluetooth is paired and all, but the music won’t play off my phone. I usually have to turn the car off and on to get it going again. Oh and also once in a while when I do the remote start in the winter, the heat doesn’t kick on. Pretty horrifying stuff, I know...

[SinceThe70s]

1 hour ago, DC Tom said:

 

Again, not car problem.  Operator problem.

 

Well if we're doing operator problem can we do operator/passenger problem?

 

Me and a friend planned on leaving Thursday after work to go skiing. As the day progressed the promising snow storm turned into a snow/ice storm and right before we were about to leave a state of emergency was declared for where we had to drive through.

 

My friend Einstein (not his real name) suggests we can bypass the worst of the storm by driving up to the east and then cut-over further north. We'll take it slow and who cares how long it takes. Not so deep down I know this is a bad idea, but fresh snow and an empty mountain await just north of the ice storm.

 

Did you ever see stories of hundreds of cars stranded overnight on a highway and think what a bunch of dumb-a$$es? Yeah, that was us.

[Seasons1992]

1 hour ago, DC Tom said:

 

Again, not car problem.  Operator problem.

 

Running out of gas is the single-biggest operator-error car repair ever.

PEOPLE! The fuel pump is never meant to cavitate and is cooled by the gasoline it sits in. Please don't run out of gas!

 

Back on topic......

 

I used to drive a lot, about 50k a year for work. 2001 Honda Civic. Had the 2nd timing belt service done at 200k and about 20k later, the belt came off and all the valves kissed the pistons. 

My mechanic who did the original work showed me that the tensioner spring (Honda genuine) snapped apart and that's the reason the belt came off.

He charged me $250 for shop supplies, fixed the head and everything else (without charging me the $2700 repair bill) and chased Honda for the money. 

That's the only issue I've had minus one A/C compressor grenading after 250k life, and normal brakes/tires/wear parts.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Toyota blows.  Finally got the HVAC blower motor assembly in.  How does the "Squirrel Cage" break after 12k miles.

 

I was tempted to ask for a loaner in Buffalo and put 1,100 miles on it... Or the should have pulled one out from a truck on the lot.

 

Ridiculous.  They are swapping it out first thing tomorrow.  Had to drive "Ghetto" all the way back to Illinois, which is the ghetto.  

 

 

[RaoulDuke79]

Slightly of off topic, but I just got my '88 Ford F-150 inspected for $73, and as an added bonus someone wants to buy it. I bought it for $400 9 years ago. Cant beat the 300 straight 6.