Has a car you were in, ever broken down?

It has not often happened to me however the funniest (well it was NOT funny at the time) was when I was driving my husband's Mercedes down south in WA

Was approaching a lovely town called Margaret River (Wine region) and on the street leading to the main street, it broke down. It was fairly new....I was with a girlfriend and we walked into the town and first place was a garage and when they asked what car it was, they started visibly sniggering at us! It was quite ridiculous as it was such an expensive, fairly new car.

That is the only memorable break down I can remember though think I have once had to be towed away perhaps 40 years ago as there was a major problem.


Oh, and once when I was in Sydney visiting my mother and we had just drive to Rookwood cemetery to visit my father and the car broke down and they towed us and we had to sit in the tow truck as we were many miles from home.

by Finy

Does the day have 24 hours?

Yes my car's have broken down with me in the car...and also at times when driving.
Yep it happened close to home, and I did what I
do well!
Called these guys.......winning :)

by jonaja

Wow, this question is timely. I just sent a complaint to the Advertising Standards Board about those hideous and irresponsible Ultra Tune ads, one of which involves a breakdown. Those backward sexist folk won't be getting my business.

Now to the question, yes. This happened to me once. It was a busy road and the limit was 80km/hr. Luckily, I moved into the breakdown lane, gave the car a minute, and all was well. It started back up and I was on my way.

by Vee

Twice in my driving life. 2 different cars. Once in a friends driveway. The block had cracked but luckily the engine had not seized. Towed away and repaired. Once at 3pm at a stop sign right outside the school. Cam belt snapped. Had to do a fantastic manoeuvre to reverse the lifeless vehicle around into the school parking lot. Just had enough impetus to manage it. It would have been an almighty traffic jam if I hadn't.

by Rice

I would have felt embarrassed Rice!

I was, Finy, I really was. The fact that the others motorists then admired my ability to get the car out of the way really took the sting out . . . I was as red as a beetroot.

you have to laugh AFTER the event -why do we get embarrassed!

I know what you mean Finy . . . it is very hard to quell embarrassment and yet some people never seem to feel it. I think perhaps the more strictly brought up amongst us feel it more keenly for some reason.

thankfully this has not happened to me

by AJ

Yes. We used to have a Renault with a dodgy starter motor. Hubby used to hit it with a hammer to restart it when it stalled. This only worked for so long before it needed to be replaced.

by Jennifer Muirhead

Yeah, several times, & most involved car being towed!
Right P/i/A as causes embarrassment, frustration, time wasted, & just plain over it! Fed up!

Normally have a 90 minute wait time, which gives me the s@&$-!

Oh to win Lotto, & be able to afford a brand NEW car! I live in hope!

by donjo

Once many years ago I was driving to pick up my husband from work around 6.00 a.m. so was in nightie and dressing gown. How awful it was to have to step out of the car and have the chap in the following car push me around the corner onto the main road to get me going again. Cured me. Never again have I left the house unless fully dressed.

by helga

Yes. Several times. It used to happen quite a lot on my way to university in my first car, especially when my altenator wasn't working, but just about everything needed replacing after a while in those early cars I had.

by Lluxi

I don't drive at all,but I have been in vehicles when they have decided that they do not wish to take their humans anywhere! In the pre=Mobile Phone days it was a much bigger problem,as you would have to somehow find a phone-box (yes!! I was in Brownies and taught to ALWAYS carry a sixpence in need of a phone !!!),or hopefully some nice person would give you a lift to the nearest one! These days with so many more people and cars about,it is much easier yo get help when needed,and the trusty mobile phone allows us to call a break- down service very easily! I cannot even remember where these events took place,it was so long ago. I guess if it had been in my own car,I would recall,as I'd feel like such a darned nuisance for getting in other people's way! To quote Effie from Acropolis Now: 'how embarrassment!!!'

by Jules

Naaaa, I drive a Lexus.

by shalo

Oh! What a feeling!
But, it too, will have a breakdown as it ages'!

I had a car that broke down so often that I just parked it. I sold it for what I could get around $300.

by dwatk

Years ago a friend had a very old VW. Parts of it were falling off as we drove. We had to stop, go back and collect the parts and take it to a mechanic. Good old days....

by svest

Out of the 8 cars i have owned so far only one has never had a ride on a tow truck.

by redph

Yes, ours! We have a 23 year old Holden or Ford. 1 late night coming home from Melbourne to Sydney, it broke down outside Mittagong I think it was. No houses around, just a service station about a 15 minute walk back! My husband took our eldest daughter with him, while I sat in the car with our other daughter, being on the side of a highway, I was terrified we were going to get hit by a semi! I've forgotten how 'we' got the car to the service station, but we rang my m/i/l to come & pick us up. She was really scared because she didn't usually drive at night, but she made the 1 &1/2hr drive, in the middle of the night! My husband drove us all home again in her car, leaving ours at the service station. Weeks later my f/i/l drove my husband back there to collect the car. (He was a truck driver at the time, & was away for days at a time, so he wasn't home the evening we had the breakdown.) Another time we broke down on the Captain Cook Bridge, NSW. The NRMA aren't allowed to do repairs on bridges, as it's to dangerous, but they did manage to get the car off the bridge & fix the problem, but then the car broke down again about 5k's from our house, at a set of traffic lights. We were sitting there wondering what we were going to do next, when a lovely Samaritan came along & fixed the problem. He was walking home in the rain with his umbrella, after having dinner at a restaurant close by.

by Miro