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Sept 13, 2004 18:14:47 GMT
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Anyone else find it funny when they come to the rescue of a modern car driver when driving a so called 'unreliable old banger'?  I came home today, (with the Imp on one of it's rare good behaviour streaks that last until I need to go somewhere urgently! ;D) to find another member of my family near my house with a nearly new Vauxhall 1600 Zafira (clever but dull and underpowered MPV with fold down seats, quite handy as it can either be a van, an estate car or a people carrier and changes using the mere pull of some levers) parked up at the side of the road with smoke billowing out of the engine bay. Having got out and done the whole ametuer diagnostic routine I found that the clutch had well and truly cooked, which should have been obvious from the outset from the overpowering smell of ex-clutch but I decided to look over everything else since I wasn't familiar with the vent near the sump which was pouring out white smoke at a fair rate. Anyway, it's ok now and there wasn't a great deal of damage (I couldn't have fixed much if there was anyway as it's a motability car and you scrub the warranty if you fix those!) but I just felt it was unusual and funny (and so, it seems, did people driving past!) that a weird Hillman Imp driving kind of guy came to the rescue of the 'married with 2.4 kids mobile' and its driver, as opposed to the other way round and me phoning for help when the Imp has a hissy fit (which is happening less these days!  |
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"He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!"
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Sept 13, 2004 18:38:54 GMT
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I dare say the AA guys must get curse word off with "nothing" call outs... You know, travelling miles to change a fuse or a tyre!
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Sept 13, 2004 18:42:26 GMT
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Those are the days I live for ;D call me mean but when another new dead VW/Audi turns up on the back of a breakdown truck at work I always feel really smug driving home in my "old banger" I couldn't start to list all the things that these supposed reliable new cars have wrong with them but if I owned one I'd keep a good book in the glove box for when not if it broke down.
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Sept 13, 2004 18:50:05 GMT
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You're right there, in the end it never needed RAC attention, the clutch is well and truly on the way out very soon but after we left the Vauxhall to cool down for a while we got it home on it's own steam, with me close by in the Imp in case things got bad although we may be popping into Arnold Clarks' some time in the next week for a clutch before the car sees any regular road use.
Don't you think it's ignorant of people to not even consider changing a tyre though? I've spoke to people who wouldn't even know where to find their car's trolley jack, let alone put the spare wheel on, I mean, it's like a hoax 999 call, every AA van that goes out to save some ignorant yuppie with dirty spark plugs is keeping people with blown engines and collapsed springs waiting at the roadside in the cold all night!
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"He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!"
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Sept 13, 2004 19:07:32 GMT
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That may be a good thing that some people don't touch bits on thier own cars, some of the things I've seen owners do include...filling the engine up with oil (and yes I do mean filled to the top), stereo wired in so bad the dash caught allight!!, cleaning the paintwork with a brillo pad!! surely you'd stop after the first inch, and the worst has to be putting really thick furry seat covers on a brand new car................ doesn't sound too bad untill you realise the car in question was fitted with side airbags in the seat which are designed to break out through the thin fabric towards the door and up in the event of a side impact. and if covered will still explode but may fire towards the occupant and injure/kill!!
On the other hand you really should know how to change a wheel.
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Sept 13, 2004 19:13:54 GMT
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That may be a good thing that some people don't touch bits on thier own cars, some of the things I've seen owners do include...filling the engine up with oil (and yes I do mean filled to the top), stereo wired in so bad the dash caught allight!!, cleaning the paintwork with a brillo pad!! surely you'd stop after the first inch, and the worst has to be putting really thick furry seat covers on a brand new car................ doesn't sound too bad untill you realise the car in question was fitted with side airbags in the seat which are designed to break out through the thin fabric towards the door and up in the event of a side impact. and if covered will still explode but may fire towards the occupant and injure/kill!! On the other hand you really should know how to change a wheel. I wish you were kidding but unfortunately we all know you're not! People really can be that thick, I've seen them! Although yes there is no excuse for not being capable of basic maintenance (putting in the correct amount of oil, water, being able to change a wheel yourself), not doing it should be punishable by death (or points on your licence if you aren't insane like me! ;D) |
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"He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!"
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SkoCan
Posted a lot
Quando omni flunkus, mortati
Posts: 1,916
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Sept 13, 2004 19:41:29 GMT
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if you aren't insane like me! ;D) Really? Hadn't noticed.  The other side is, some learn because the cars we love force us to. Personally, the basics should be required as part of the drivers licence. At least in parts of the world where the likely hood of driving a vehicle is high. Here, you won't make it without one. |
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Sept 13, 2004 20:38:21 GMT
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Definitely - Tyre changes / basic maintenance ought to be part of the driving test. The AA ought to charge people for calling them out to change a wheel. As you said REV, the truck gets called out to change a tyre for some suit, meanwhile a lone female driver is sitting by the roadside...  |
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Sept 13, 2004 22:55:10 GMT
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The only reason modern cars are considered more reliable is because they are nearly ALL booked in for a regular annual service....no DIY.
Logic says that something more complex, has more to go wrong, and with penny pinching orginisations of today, design and over engineering isnt allowed to get rid of these probs.
I have regularly helped people at the side of the road (someones got to!) and it does feel really good when people say its a gas guzzler...and i look at their car and reply, that to me looks like a parts guzzler!
The £ signs in their head take over!
its great! LMAO.
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Owning a trans am is a sin, according to the pope.
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Sept 14, 2004 9:17:37 GMT
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Anyone else find it funny when they come to the rescue of a modern car driver when driving a so called 'unreliable old banger'? Used to have this quite often when I was at uni - the amount of times that I had to jump start various friends' modern cars (including a Volvo 760) with the (very scruffy and multicoloured) Morris Minor that I owned at the time, was highly amusing! Passersby would just assume that it was my car being jump started until they saw me start it up first ;D Of course, having a battery rated for a Reliant Scimitar (same size as the correct one for a Moggie) helped, especially as it meant that on a cold morning, it had no choice but to start... |
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Sept 14, 2004 15:00:46 GMT
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Strange to see a broken down Volvo, but they do guzzle batteries with all the electrical extras, and the four cylinder Volvo engine was always more reliable.
I see a lot of people agree with me though, anyone who can't perform basic maintenance on a vehicle shouldn't be allowed to operate one. It's common sense.
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"He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!"
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I came home today, (with the Imp on one of it's rare good behaviour streaks that last until I need to go somewhere urgently! ;D) to find another member of my family near my house with a nearly new Vauxhall 1600 Zafira (clever but dull and underpowered MPV with fold down seats, quite handy as it can either be a van, an estate car or a people carrier and changes using the mere pull of some levers) parked up at the side of the road with smoke billowing out of the engine bay. Having got out and done the whole ametuer diagnostic routine I found that the clutch had well and truly cooked, which should have been obvious from the outset from the overpowering smell of ex-clutch but I decided to look over everything else since I wasn't familiar with the vent near the sump which was pouring out white smoke at a fair rate. Anyway, it's ok now and there wasn't a great deal of damage (I couldn't have fixed much if there was anyway as it's a motability car and you scrub the warranty if you fix those!) but I just felt it was unusual and funny (and so, it seems, did people driving past!) that a weird Hillman Imp driving kind of guy came to the rescue of the 'married with 2.4 kids mobile' and its driver, as opposed to the other way round and me phoning for help when the Imp has a hissy fit (which is happening less these days! 
