How often do you break down?

Lopéz

Lopéz

Lopéz

Man of Honour
Joined
17 Oct 2002
Posts
29,411
Location
Ottakring, Vienna.
Someone at work today was asking me how I cope with "such an old car" and asked why I wasn't worried about it breaking down all the time.

This got me thinking about how many times I have broken down over the years.

When I say broken down I mean - either stopped at the side of the road due to a fault which required outside assistance (from friends, relatives or RAC) or would not start in the morning and required outside assistance.

If it had a flat battery and you bumped it down the driveway to get it going for instance, that is not a full breakdown. Running out of petrol and punctures cannot really be considered full breakdown either.

Here is my list, I'm pretty sure this is accurate and is spread over 12 years of driving.

1986 Mk3 Escort. Would not start or bump. Problem turned out to be a split carburettor diaphragm.

1994 Ford Mondeo. Would not start one cold night. Could not bump as was blocked in by other cars. Problem was the 10 year old battery

1989 Rover 213. Left my lights on overnight. Flat battery. Jump started.

1989 Rover 213. Failed CV joint at roadside. Car undrivable. Changed said item at roadside.

1985 Golf Mk2. Jammed clutch release bearing, needed tow home.

I think that's it :eek: Not bad considering I've owned nothing but unreliable old sheds all my life.
 
Er

1995 220 GSI - Clutch cable snapped when I first got the car. Lesson learned, have a spare in the boot now.

1995 220 GSI Turbo - PAS pipe chaffed on the flange on the downpipe, cut through it and lost all the PAS fluid in a big cloud of smoke, was meeting AGW so had him bring some PAS fluid along, filled up and got home OK then fixed it that weekend.

Apart from that, nothing, ive managed to limp two cars home with knackered gearboxes and then leave them there till I fixed them!

No problems at all with the 1.8 k series! VVC Coupe i had. Not even one HGF and it had over 130k on the clock :p
 
I've had the battery go (like you, t'was 10years old and a cell failed inside it), but apart from that (*clutches every piece of wood in sight*), thats it.

Although i am expecting a driveshaft to go at some point.
 
2001 in a 1998 Skoda Felica 1.3L. Ignition broke, RAC called
2003 in a 1994 Citroen Xantia 1.9TD - Plastic clutch cable clip failed, Dads mate towed it home.
 
Once in my renault 5 the alternator belt snapped on the motorway, which blew the bleed valve off the radiator hose. Had to get someone out for that
 
My daily driver, a 2003 Ford Ranger, I bought brand new has left me stranded in need of a tow three times before 30k miles, all covered under warranty. All were electrical problems relating to the fuel system and the fuel pump automatic emergency shutoff.

My car, a 1967 Pontiac Catalina with ~85k miles has never left me in need of someone else except a few times where I needed a jump start due to leaving the headlights on.

Before I replaced the stock Rochester 2-Jet 2-bbl carburetor its floats would stick, flooding the engine. When that would happen I would have to park it on the side of the road and wait 20 minutes for the fuel to evaporate. This happened at the most inopportune of moments, let me tell you.
 
1992 Ford Fiesta Ghia - Broke down once in 3 years due to a clutch problem.

2001 Vauxhall Astra SRi - Broken down 3 times due to dodgy ECU. Intermittant fault causing the car to go into limp mode - bent over by Vauxhall for a new ECU.

Company Cars
2007 Mazda 6 Sport - Puncture
2008 Audi A3 - Tyre blow out

Not a bad history really *touches wood*
 
1991 Rover 214si - Alternator failed, car lost electricity driving home, recovered and car driven to garage the following morning for new alternator.

1991 Rover 214si - HGF failure, recovered, stripped and repaired

1992 Hyundai X2 - Battery died, car jumpstarted and on way to garage for new battery when car stalled and would not restart (it hadn't been run regularly for 4 years), recovered, tweaked and battery replaced

1998 Honda Civic VTi - Original battery didn't like the cold, had to be jump started, battery replaced

Ironically, the only car that's never let me down to the point where I couldn't get home or needed parts is a landrover :)
 
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Capri 2.8i - Had the water pump bearings go in the car park at work spilling coolant everywhere, managed to drive it home though but had to take a enough hot water with me to re-fill the cooling system every 4 miles (2 stops), don't know if this counts as i drove it home?

Peugeot 406 - Timing belt snapped, car was not going anywhere, towed it home 3 days later & spent 3 weekends rebuilding the engine. Runs really well now though :D
 
Erm Rover 416, the hose on the rad popped off causing loads of steam. Quick repair and it was ready to go again.
 
2001 Passat 1.8T Sport - 2007 Nurburgring

On one of my laps around the track the engine decided it didn't like oil anymore and decided to stop using it, coasted around 6 - 7 miles of the track got out into the overflow carpark phoned VW assist and found the closest garage, those who know the nurburging will know the location of the overflow carpark, i drove out of this onto the small roundabout and basicaly coasted all the way down the switchback hairpin road.

Turned out to be the Oil pickup in the sump had clogged up £300 later and two days and i'm on my way!
 
Never.. However I've had 2 very close instances with a vauxhall corsa (1995, b, 8v)

Such as the thermostat going causing the car to over heat.. The other time I nearly ran out of petrol to the point of the car juddering when i tapped the throttle too much or too quickly :D I made it home both times.. :p

Edit: Ohhh Also had the radiator pipe pop off.. But luckly I had a bottle of water in the car, so went to the dry cleaners to ask for some good water :p
 
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in 1999 - H Reg Citroen AX GT Radiator blew up - RAC pick up.

in 1999 1 week later - H Reg Citroen AX GT Alternator went - RAC pick up.
 
Today - 56' Saab 9.3 Estate, alternator has failed.

Nov 2007 - 56' VW Golf 1.9TDI, Engine, Turbo and Cat blown

Dec 2006 - 99' Rover 200 - Water pump and electric coil failed

Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, March, April, May, June, July, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov 2002-2003 - Aprilia RS125 SP, Clutch, Immobilisor, Power valve x 3/4, fuel system, immobilisor again, cab fault, cant remember the rest. but ALL the time
 
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1987 Escort - Alternator failed, battery went flat. Recovered.

Only thing in nearly 2 years of ownership. Not that bad really.
 
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