The Worst Place You've Had Your Car Stuck/Broken Down
Discussion
About 25 years ago I was late from work in London and didn’t get to my car at Woking station until around 11pm.
Drove my BMW 318iS back to my house near Bagshot and lost the back end in thick snow about a mile short of my destination.
Car travelled across the road backwards and down a grass embankment and right into the middle of a small forest. All in all about 100 ft from the road.
Had to call a local farmer out (next morning iirc) who dragged the car out.
Amazingly, I missed every tree and there was not a single mark on the car.
Drove my BMW 318iS back to my house near Bagshot and lost the back end in thick snow about a mile short of my destination.
Car travelled across the road backwards and down a grass embankment and right into the middle of a small forest. All in all about 100 ft from the road.
Had to call a local farmer out (next morning iirc) who dragged the car out.
Amazingly, I missed every tree and there was not a single mark on the car.
serotonin said:
A little light-hearted one here... what's the worst place place you've ever broken down in/had your car stuck in?
This is a bit of a long one so sit tight. Honestly, you couldn't make this up
For me I'd have to say it was only back in February when I was dropping an old love interest off at her house after the second time I'd met her. She lived on a farm so the drive up the yard to get to her house was long and twisty, and this was back in February when the snow was AWFUL. I'm pretty sure this was the worst snow day we've had in years.
So basically, after a long night of fun and staying up a bit too late for a work night, my car gets stuck in snow about half way up the yard. It was about 11:30pm on a work night. As soon as the car stopped my heart dropped! I had to borrow a shovel from her farm to try and dig my car out but absolutely nothing was working, so I told her to just go in and get some rest and that I'd sort things out. I ended up digging for about 30-40 minutes with no luck, so had to call my parents to come and help. How embarrassing! While waiting I ended up falling asleep in my car until about 1am when my parents arrived and not even the three of us could dig it out each with our own shovels! So we decided to wake up as early as possible to try and move it the next morning.
We were conscious of the fact they'd need to get in and out of the yard with their vehicles etc, so I got virtually no sleep at all (got to bed at around 2am maybe? Had to wake up at 6am to try to move my car again hopefully before anyone woke up or needed to use the yard. On a work night.)
Anyway the story ends the next morning when we got there and were greeted by some farmers who were already very awake and very irritated. Ended up taking about 6 of us pushing and digging away at the thing to free it!
I'm lucky I ended up being told not to come into work that day because the snow was so bad... Let's just say it wasn't much of a productive work-from-home day after that whole catastrophe.
If you're going to come up with a complete fantasy, at least make it interesting! This is a bit of a long one so sit tight. Honestly, you couldn't make this up
For me I'd have to say it was only back in February when I was dropping an old love interest off at her house after the second time I'd met her. She lived on a farm so the drive up the yard to get to her house was long and twisty, and this was back in February when the snow was AWFUL. I'm pretty sure this was the worst snow day we've had in years.
So basically, after a long night of fun and staying up a bit too late for a work night, my car gets stuck in snow about half way up the yard. It was about 11:30pm on a work night. As soon as the car stopped my heart dropped! I had to borrow a shovel from her farm to try and dig my car out but absolutely nothing was working, so I told her to just go in and get some rest and that I'd sort things out. I ended up digging for about 30-40 minutes with no luck, so had to call my parents to come and help. How embarrassing! While waiting I ended up falling asleep in my car until about 1am when my parents arrived and not even the three of us could dig it out each with our own shovels! So we decided to wake up as early as possible to try and move it the next morning.
We were conscious of the fact they'd need to get in and out of the yard with their vehicles etc, so I got virtually no sleep at all (got to bed at around 2am maybe? Had to wake up at 6am to try to move my car again hopefully before anyone woke up or needed to use the yard. On a work night.)
Anyway the story ends the next morning when we got there and were greeted by some farmers who were already very awake and very irritated. Ended up taking about 6 of us pushing and digging away at the thing to free it!
I'm lucky I ended up being told not to come into work that day because the snow was so bad... Let's just say it wasn't much of a productive work-from-home day after that whole catastrophe.
I never struggled to pull cars out of 14 inches of snow a few years back when I had a 4x4 with all terrain tyres. A farmer with a tractor would've been able to haul the thing out of the way without breaking a sweat even if the car was still locked and abandoned!
The outside lane of the southbound M23, on the approach to Gatwick. about 16 years ago.
A catastrophic engine failure covered the road in shrapnel and fluids, caused tailbacks to the M25, a shout out on Radio 2 Sally Traffic, and resulted in a lot of people missing flights.
Not my proudest moment - but in my defence, the car was only about 200 miles old when the engine gave way.
A catastrophic engine failure covered the road in shrapnel and fluids, caused tailbacks to the M25, a shout out on Radio 2 Sally Traffic, and resulted in a lot of people missing flights.
Not my proudest moment - but in my defence, the car was only about 200 miles old when the engine gave way.
I had a back right puncture on the M25 once. Didn't fancy changing that on the hard shoulder so pulled up next to an emergency phone thinking it'd be a lot safer to let the RAC do it with a bright orange van parked behind my car.
After about 10 minutes of the phone ringing and nobody answering I pulled the car forward a bit to a step in the barrier so I could get it a bit further from the carriageway, and changed it myself with lorries thundering past a few feet away. Scary.
After about 10 minutes of the phone ringing and nobody answering I pulled the car forward a bit to a step in the barrier so I could get it a bit further from the carriageway, and changed it myself with lorries thundering past a few feet away. Scary.
Just started climbing the hill on the A38 where the slip road out of Plymouth joins it, 2 lanes either side & the pipe blew off the turbo on our motorhome leaving us effectively stranded smack bang in the middle of 4 lanes 
Managed to bodge it back on with traffic racing past at 70-80mph either side of us & make it to a layby at the top of the hill where a slightly better bodge was effected!
Managed to bodge it back on with traffic racing past at 70-80mph either side of us & make it to a layby at the top of the hill where a slightly better bodge was effected!
Not me (I was only about 11) but my parents on our caravanning holiday. My dad's Pug 504 Family Estate - snapped the gear linkage on a boiling hot day in the worst traffic jam in Christendom (we'd been stuck for hours) smack bang in the middle of the Tamar suspension bridge. The caravan was unhitched and pushed to the side as was the car while we waited about five hours for the nearest Peugeot mechanic to come out from St Austell with a spare linkage he'd took off a forecourt car.
I recall all these irate people stuck in this traffic jam as we were all sat in the caravan drinking tea, playing scrabble etc (whatever you do in caravans) in the middle of this bridge. I'm pretty sure we were on the pavement but I can't see that on Google earth now, but it was 40 years ago.
I recall all these irate people stuck in this traffic jam as we were all sat in the caravan drinking tea, playing scrabble etc (whatever you do in caravans) in the middle of this bridge. I'm pretty sure we were on the pavement but I can't see that on Google earth now, but it was 40 years ago.
Good story OP.
Mine is embarrassing as hell! I was a wee 21 year old, at my then girlfriend's for a big family dinner. We had a quiet bust up in the kitchen that resulted in me breaking up with her then and there. I then awkwardly said goodbye to her whole extended family pre dessert and walked outside to my Seat Ibiza FR (if anyone's interested). Unfortunately, the alternator had recently let go and it would not start, and with no signal at her place I had to awkwardly ring the doorbell to her family consoling her, and ask to use their phone to call a lift.
I took a taxi home and the following day came and had my car picked up.
Great times.
Mine is embarrassing as hell! I was a wee 21 year old, at my then girlfriend's for a big family dinner. We had a quiet bust up in the kitchen that resulted in me breaking up with her then and there. I then awkwardly said goodbye to her whole extended family pre dessert and walked outside to my Seat Ibiza FR (if anyone's interested). Unfortunately, the alternator had recently let go and it would not start, and with no signal at her place I had to awkwardly ring the doorbell to her family consoling her, and ask to use their phone to call a lift.
I took a taxi home and the following day came and had my car picked up.
Great times.
serotonin said:
Anyway the story ends the next morning when we got there and were greeted by some farmers who were already very awake and very irritated. Ended up taking about 6 of us pushing and digging away at the thing to free it!
I'm lucky I ended up being told not to come into work that day because the snow was so bad... Let's just say it wasn't much of a productive work-from-home day after that whole catastrophe.
This farm you speak of didn't have a thing called a tractor did it?I'm lucky I ended up being told not to come into work that day because the snow was so bad... Let's just say it wasn't much of a productive work-from-home day after that whole catastrophe.
Back in my contracting days, circa 2008, I'd given up a life of company cars from my previous job and needed a cheap motor. So I bought a 1994 Mk3 Golf 1.4 for £350 which I ran into the ground. I commuted from Bristol to Cheltenham and back every Monday-Friday.
It never missed a beat in 18 months, until one Friday afternoon whereby I noticed it was idling very erratically, thinking nothing of it I took on the 50 mile commute, drove down the M5, headed onto the M4, then onto the M32 slip road, came to a gentle stop as the traffic lights were red. Car cut out. At 5PM. On Friday.
Unable to restart the car and with the traffic lights turning green, I try the hazard lights but they wouldn't come on so I couldn't warn other people I'd broken down, they must have all thought I'd stalled! I was met with many an angry motorist who took it upon themselves to gesticulate, swear and honk their horns as they navigated from lane 3 to lane 2 to get around me. All I could do was get out and push it as far right as I could next to the barrier and call the Police.
Only one other car stopped in the 50 minutes of ongoing abuse from the other motorists, and offered me help as he thought I'd ran out of fuel, I thanked him but explained it wasn't that which was causing traffic chaos on the M4/M32.
Eventually a traffic officer turns up who was very helpful, she had to stop all 3 lanes of the M32 slip road into Bristol whilst she reversed up to my car, hooked up the tow rope and then towed me around the roundabout onto the M32 and then onto the nearest hard shoulder.
I've never felt so hated on the roads. I managed to get the car recovered back and diagnosed that the starter motor had a short. Replaced that and away it went for another 10k miles until the tin worm terminally killed it.
It never missed a beat in 18 months, until one Friday afternoon whereby I noticed it was idling very erratically, thinking nothing of it I took on the 50 mile commute, drove down the M5, headed onto the M4, then onto the M32 slip road, came to a gentle stop as the traffic lights were red. Car cut out. At 5PM. On Friday.
Unable to restart the car and with the traffic lights turning green, I try the hazard lights but they wouldn't come on so I couldn't warn other people I'd broken down, they must have all thought I'd stalled! I was met with many an angry motorist who took it upon themselves to gesticulate, swear and honk their horns as they navigated from lane 3 to lane 2 to get around me. All I could do was get out and push it as far right as I could next to the barrier and call the Police.
Only one other car stopped in the 50 minutes of ongoing abuse from the other motorists, and offered me help as he thought I'd ran out of fuel, I thanked him but explained it wasn't that which was causing traffic chaos on the M4/M32.
Eventually a traffic officer turns up who was very helpful, she had to stop all 3 lanes of the M32 slip road into Bristol whilst she reversed up to my car, hooked up the tow rope and then towed me around the roundabout onto the M32 and then onto the nearest hard shoulder.
I've never felt so hated on the roads. I managed to get the car recovered back and diagnosed that the starter motor had a short. Replaced that and away it went for another 10k miles until the tin worm terminally killed it.
petrol station, had to push it myself, and there was a slope. Stupid bint saw it and didn't make my life easier by moving right away.
I pushed as far as i could, about 2 metres from kerb, yet people still queued behind me even though i was clearly not moving,hazards on. Tesco pump staff were nice though.
I pushed as far as i could, about 2 metres from kerb, yet people still queued behind me even though i was clearly not moving,hazards on. Tesco pump staff were nice though.
One that sticks in my mind was as a 10 year old kid. We were in my Dads brand new Mk3 Escort driving through the New Forest when the cam belt snapped between stoney cross and Linwood. For anyone who doesn’t know this area, there is literally nothing for miles, except horses, and this was way before mobile phones were invented. My Dad trekked off looking for help, while I sat in the car with my Mum & Auntie Marjorie listening to them chatting about the “price of beef” for over 5 hours before help came. I’ll never forget that day!!! I twitch thinking about it.
anarki said:
Back in my contracting days, circa 2008, I'd given up a life of company cars from my previous job and needed a cheap motor. So I bought a 1994 Mk3 Golf 1.4 for £350 which I ran into the ground. I commuted from Bristol to Cheltenham and back every Monday-Friday.
It never missed a beat in 18 months, until one Friday afternoon whereby I noticed it was idling very erratically, thinking nothing of it I took on the 50 mile commute, drove down the M5, headed onto the M4, then onto the M32 slip road, came to a gentle stop as the traffic lights were red. Car cut out. At 5PM. On Friday.
Unable to restart the car and with the traffic lights turning green, I try the hazard lights but they wouldn't come on so I couldn't warn other people I'd broken down, they must have all thought I'd stalled! I was met with many an angry motorist who took it upon themselves to gesticulate, swear and honk their horns as they navigated from lane 3 to lane 2 to get around me. All I could do was get out and push it as far right as I could next to the barrier and call the Police.
Only one other car stopped in the 50 minutes of ongoing abuse from the other motorists, and offered me help as he thought I'd ran out of fuel, I thanked him but explained it wasn't that which was causing traffic chaos on the M4/M32.
Eventually a traffic officer turns up who was very helpful, she had to stop all 3 lanes of the M32 slip road into Bristol whilst she reversed up to my car, hooked up the tow rope and then towed me around the roundabout onto the M32 and then onto the nearest hard shoulder.
I've never felt so hated on the roads. I managed to get the car recovered back and diagnosed that the starter motor had a short. Replaced that and away it went for another 10k miles until the tin worm terminally killed it.
It's amazing how many people think you've broken down on purpose It never missed a beat in 18 months, until one Friday afternoon whereby I noticed it was idling very erratically, thinking nothing of it I took on the 50 mile commute, drove down the M5, headed onto the M4, then onto the M32 slip road, came to a gentle stop as the traffic lights were red. Car cut out. At 5PM. On Friday.
Unable to restart the car and with the traffic lights turning green, I try the hazard lights but they wouldn't come on so I couldn't warn other people I'd broken down, they must have all thought I'd stalled! I was met with many an angry motorist who took it upon themselves to gesticulate, swear and honk their horns as they navigated from lane 3 to lane 2 to get around me. All I could do was get out and push it as far right as I could next to the barrier and call the Police.
Only one other car stopped in the 50 minutes of ongoing abuse from the other motorists, and offered me help as he thought I'd ran out of fuel, I thanked him but explained it wasn't that which was causing traffic chaos on the M4/M32.
Eventually a traffic officer turns up who was very helpful, she had to stop all 3 lanes of the M32 slip road into Bristol whilst she reversed up to my car, hooked up the tow rope and then towed me around the roundabout onto the M32 and then onto the nearest hard shoulder.
I've never felt so hated on the roads. I managed to get the car recovered back and diagnosed that the starter motor had a short. Replaced that and away it went for another 10k miles until the tin worm terminally killed it.
Had something similar, clutch let go on our old Focus while waiting to join a busy roundabout (ironically within site of the local Ford garage), but as it was on a slight incline I couldn't push or roll it forwards and out the way. Despite hazards and me out of the car waving people into the other lane, it's amazing the number or morons who drive right up behind a stranded car and then get irate with you for not moving...
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