Has your car broken down in the last 2 years?
Poll: Has your car broken down in the last 2 years?
Total Members Polled: 212
Discussion
I'm just curious to see how reliable cars are these days, and if it's really worth letting perceived reliability of certain makes or of newer cars influence buying decisions. For 'car' read 'any of your cars'. For 'broken down' read 'requires mechanical knowledge and or equipment to fix'.
there is some sort of crank sensor on the underneath of my xjr. apparently its on the lowest part of the car. must have gone over a few too many speed bumps. the plug on the sensor was making partial contact. the car was turning over fine but would not start. the aa chap got the car stared with touching this but then proceeded to investigate and repaired the fault. so no parts needed but expertise certainly was. i thought it was something more serious
In the Dax, I had a small piece of plastic in my 20+ year old gear stick linkage disintegrate while driving through Italy. A lot of dismantling later, a few cable ties made a fine replacement, and on my merry way I went.
My Mk1 MX5's clutch slave cylinder gave up just before I had to leave for the airport. "Struggled" from Dorset to Luton and back again a few days later with no more than a top up of brake fluid. New slave cylinder fitted shortly afterwards. Now that was a b
h of a job...
Conclusion:- Well tested old stuff seems pretty reliable.
My Mk1 MX5's clutch slave cylinder gave up just before I had to leave for the airport. "Struggled" from Dorset to Luton and back again a few days later with no more than a top up of brake fluid. New slave cylinder fitted shortly afterwards. Now that was a b
h of a job...Conclusion:- Well tested old stuff seems pretty reliable.
Edited by Rothgo Wooft on Friday 2nd April 11:36
Edited by Rothgo Wooft on Friday 2nd April 11:40
Yep my Clio just started to clunk out....no explanation.
The garage tried all the usual things, but it kept happening. The thing was, it would be fine for weeks/months and then bang the engine wouldn't start!
Always managed to get home though, even after a hospital appointment 30 miles outside Dundee, thanks to a mate
Sorted now though....touch wood
The garage tried all the usual things, but it kept happening. The thing was, it would be fine for weeks/months and then bang the engine wouldn't start!
Always managed to get home though, even after a hospital appointment 30 miles outside Dundee, thanks to a mate
Sorted now though....touch wood
I ticked the "struggled to get home or garage" box. But as it was a failing gearbox on a 23 year old car I guess that might not really count!
So to give an honest breakdown (sorry) the C reg BMW 5 series, ate the shaft for 1st 3rd and 5th, so a new/second hand gearbox was acquired but at that age its pretty forgiveable.
My cheap diesel Citreon which is a youngster at only 15 years old, hasn't suffered any physical breakdowns* since I bought it back in July 2009 and has covered about 9000 miles in that time.
So to give an honest breakdown (sorry) the C reg BMW 5 series, ate the shaft for 1st 3rd and 5th, so a new/second hand gearbox was acquired but at that age its pretty forgiveable.
My cheap diesel Citreon which is a youngster at only 15 years old, hasn't suffered any physical breakdowns* since I bought it back in July 2009 and has covered about 9000 miles in that time.
- Being French and having French electrics, I did have to trace and fix a burnt wire which was causing the fuse for the N/S/R tail light to blow. To be honest I could like a lot of muppets you see on the road simply have ignored the problem and just continued with less lighting until the MOT expired but I'm not that kind of person.
Edited by interloper on Friday 2nd April 12:41
Toyota Caldina arrived at work and switch off music only to hear a loud grating/banging/squeeling noise coming from engine.
After brief look over engine and dropping off cam cover quickly identify the waterpump bearing has failed(pully moving in all directions)
as engine is non interference I decided to very gently drive the car home with a mate following should it die...made it home and went on to fix it and do cambelt at same time
After brief look over engine and dropping off cam cover quickly identify the waterpump bearing has failed(pully moving in all directions)
as engine is non interference I decided to very gently drive the car home with a mate following should it die...made it home and went on to fix it and do cambelt at same time
My previous car, a Ford Fusion, had an issue with the wheel that meant that the wheel nearly fell off miles from anywhere in the middle of the Lake District last summer. A few months after that, the clutch failed when I'd just left the house. I attemtped to stagger back home, but didn't quite manage. My current car, a Ford Ka, hasn't had any problems, but I've had it less than a month, so I wouldn't expect any.
My Megane had a couple of issues:
- Electric windows opened themselves & wouldn't close. So I was unable to leave the car anywhere. AA sorted temporary until I got it to the dealer.
- ECU died & left me unable to move the car. Had to be towed to the dealer.
VXR8 - only issue I've had was a dead battery, happened several times during the cold weather. New battery under warranty & VX software update has now sorted this.
- Electric windows opened themselves & wouldn't close. So I was unable to leave the car anywhere. AA sorted temporary until I got it to the dealer.
- ECU died & left me unable to move the car. Had to be towed to the dealer.
VXR8 - only issue I've had was a dead battery, happened several times during the cold weather. New battery under warranty & VX software update has now sorted this.
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