That niggling feeling....
Discussion
Has anyone ever had this. My beloved but ultimately worthless Mini was recently bumped in a relatively low speed accident whilst parked. This resulted in damage to drivers side corner, all suspension and steering related but the person who bumped it was a garage owner, left a note for me, picked the car up with a recovery vehicle and returned it a few days later with new parts fitted, four wheel alignment done, the whole lot. He has an MOT centre also and subsequent 'investigations' suggest a decent spud he is; I think his honorable actions after the bump, from which he could just have driven off from, give that description some weight...
...but I now have that niggling feeling of doubt about my wee car and I know I have no reason for it. It drives and stops straight, maybe tighter than ever after new arms, shock absorber and bushes, and I know logically nothing else was damaged. But I now have doubt in a wee car I've owned for about 8 years and added over 100k miles too, a car I'd have jumped in and driven anywhere despite its 150k miles previous to this misfortune. A car I have an inexplicable fondness for and had hoped to simply keep till it goes bang.
Has anyone else had this kind of feeling, one that is illogical but changes the dynamic you have with your beloved inanimate lump of metal and plastic....
I'm sure I'll get over it....poor wee car
...but I now have that niggling feeling of doubt about my wee car and I know I have no reason for it. It drives and stops straight, maybe tighter than ever after new arms, shock absorber and bushes, and I know logically nothing else was damaged. But I now have doubt in a wee car I've owned for about 8 years and added over 100k miles too, a car I'd have jumped in and driven anywhere despite its 150k miles previous to this misfortune. A car I have an inexplicable fondness for and had hoped to simply keep till it goes bang.
Has anyone else had this kind of feeling, one that is illogical but changes the dynamic you have with your beloved inanimate lump of metal and plastic....
I'm sure I'll get over it....poor wee car
Its weird isn't it and somewhat inexplicable.
I get it with certain cars but more about TADTS issues. So, I felt my R55 Mini Clubman S was getting timing chain issues. So I got rid before I thought there was impending doom. Not MOTed after that. Same with my E92 330i BMW and injector doom. Not MOTed the year after......
I get it with certain cars but more about TADTS issues. So, I felt my R55 Mini Clubman S was getting timing chain issues. So I got rid before I thought there was impending doom. Not MOTed after that. Same with my E92 330i BMW and injector doom. Not MOTed the year after......
It’s understandable, both from the point of view that it may not be quite right, but also just from the thought that it’s been damaged, so is not “original.”
I wonder if it’s the same psychological effect as people suddenly deciding they don’t want to wear a second-hand jumper if they find out that the previous owner was a criminal.
I wonder if it’s the same psychological effect as people suddenly deciding they don’t want to wear a second-hand jumper if they find out that the previous owner was a criminal.
I know the feeling well
I've got a classic I use regularly and it's been totally reliable - until a few weeks ago it cut out when driving and then wouldn't restart
I wasn't able to fix at the roadside (mostly due to it being "parked" in a not particularly safe place) so waited for the RAC who put some cones out and fixed it within minutes
I've made the fix a permanent one (it was a lose electrical connection) and all is good - apart from the fact that every time I've driven it since I have a nagging doubt that it's going to do it again and I'll be stranded if I can't coast to a safe place.
I've got a classic I use regularly and it's been totally reliable - until a few weeks ago it cut out when driving and then wouldn't restart
I wasn't able to fix at the roadside (mostly due to it being "parked" in a not particularly safe place) so waited for the RAC who put some cones out and fixed it within minutes
I've made the fix a permanent one (it was a lose electrical connection) and all is good - apart from the fact that every time I've driven it since I have a nagging doubt that it's going to do it again and I'll be stranded if I can't coast to a safe place.
Yeah, I definitely get that paranoia about stuff on occasion, but ultimately there's only so much you can do other than keep on top of maintenance etc.
It is an irritant when you try to look after your car, and it decides to thank you by throwing a mechanical wobbly, yet cars whose owners barely remember to get them MOT'd, and treat that as "being serviced" when they do, seem to just keep trucking along.
It is an irritant when you try to look after your car, and it decides to thank you by throwing a mechanical wobbly, yet cars whose owners barely remember to get them MOT'd, and treat that as "being serviced" when they do, seem to just keep trucking along.
Yep, I had a fiesta ST in 2015, when the body kits where getting stolen all over the shop
I went to the circus in a rough part of Cardiff and came back to no bumpers etc, got it repaired and never went back to Cardiff but even when parking in not rough places I had the nagging feeling it would happen again
Sold it not long after
I went to the circus in a rough part of Cardiff and came back to no bumpers etc, got it repaired and never went back to Cardiff but even when parking in not rough places I had the nagging feeling it would happen again
Sold it not long after
The Giulietta since early in my ownership.
Tailgate harnesses fixed but still a few electronic oddities from time to time.
Then 2 problem days with different faults but all symptoms pointing to a fault with the BCM. Spontaneously resolved and all checked over - no active or stored codes.
More recently an EML giving an ECM relay improbable value. Replaced and scanned with no codes and situation normal again.
Several months between problems but always the feeling that it's when and not if.
Tailgate harnesses fixed but still a few electronic oddities from time to time.
Then 2 problem days with different faults but all symptoms pointing to a fault with the BCM. Spontaneously resolved and all checked over - no active or stored codes.
More recently an EML giving an ECM relay improbable value. Replaced and scanned with no codes and situation normal again.
Several months between problems but always the feeling that it's when and not if.
biggbn said:
AC43 said:
Nope. Especially for stuff like suspension and steering, I'm happier in an older car with new parts than a newer car with old parts.
I feel like someone has resoled my comfy old brogues...they look the same but never walk the same again... 
If it failed the mot and needed new parts , I am sure new parts were needed in 100k, would you be over thinking it. ?
Doesitdrive said:
biggbn said:
AC43 said:
Nope. Especially for stuff like suspension and steering, I'm happier in an older car with new parts than a newer car with old parts.
I feel like someone has resoled my comfy old brogues...they look the same but never walk the same again... If it failed the mot and needed new parts , I am sure new parts were needed in 100k, would you be over thinking it. ?
Doesitdrive said:
Over thinking it, its a means of transport you liked driving before, needed fixing and got fixed.
If it failed the mot and needed new parts , I am sure new parts were needed in 100k, would you be over thinking it. ?
This ^^^ 100%.If it failed the mot and needed new parts , I am sure new parts were needed in 100k, would you be over thinking it. ?
Can't really relate to what the OP thinks/feels at all.
I would be regarding this as a win, or at the very worst, neutral.
Doesitdrive said:
Over thinking it, its a means of transport you liked driving before, needed fixing and got fixed.
If it failed the mot and needed new parts , I am sure new parts were needed in 100k, would you be over thinking it. ?
If cars were solely a mode of transport this site would not exist.If it failed the mot and needed new parts , I am sure new parts were needed in 100k, would you be over thinking it. ?
My previous artic tractor was reversed into hard by a presumably blind bod in another truck, not a nudge but under full power as if on a clear airfield, pushed the front anti run under bar back about a foot split the radiator plus the body/bumper damage.
Up unitil that moment it is was a cracking truck but never the same after it came back from repair, first morning out it chucked the coolant out before i'd gone 5 miles because the rad hoses hadn't been clipped into place properly, few months later a serious electrical short melted through the engine wiring loom and holed the rocker cover and would have taken the whole vehicle out if there wasn't for an external isolator switch fitted, numerous other issues over the remainng 3 years of its lease, you couldn't trust it any more.
I'd rather a vehicle of mine be written off after a hefty bump.
Up unitil that moment it is was a cracking truck but never the same after it came back from repair, first morning out it chucked the coolant out before i'd gone 5 miles because the rad hoses hadn't been clipped into place properly, few months later a serious electrical short melted through the engine wiring loom and holed the rocker cover and would have taken the whole vehicle out if there wasn't for an external isolator switch fitted, numerous other issues over the remainng 3 years of its lease, you couldn't trust it any more.
I'd rather a vehicle of mine be written off after a hefty bump.
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