Do some people have faulty cars?

[ingenieur]

Do you know anyone (I think I know a couple) whose cars are faulty even when they're not. And then they will go around telling everybody not to buy (for instance) BMWs because they had one and it never stops going wrong.

It's as if even if they had a perfect car they would still find something wrong with it. Book it in to the garage and then complain that the garage hasn't fixed it to their satisfaction... (because there is no fault in reality).

[NFT]

Knew one, there an odd sort, bit weird for me to want to even be around, can never tell if they're trying to get attention, remind you of there tie to owning the brand of car they have, want to make friends or need the attention and trips to garage as they lack a social life.

I find the opposite interesting too, each year there mot advisory list gains items that never got seen to, and when they fail, they wine having had years to take action.

[Ussrcossack]

I knew a neighbour who critasised his car because he always got punctures.

Even sold it because of that

[Chuffedmonkey]

Ussrcossack said:

I knew a neighbour who critasised his car because he always got punctures.

Even sold it because of that

Has he had any punctures since?

[Dracoro]

The wheel design/size/tyre-profile/etc. can be more susceptible to punctures than others.
My Dad’s Merc CLS often (relatively over the years) has punctures and damaged wheels (replaced or refurb), when I had my Lexus GS it never has so much as a low pressure warning. In isolation, comparing the two and one would get less punctures than the other….

If the tyres/wheels aren’t more prone than others and just a case of bad luck, then yes, daft thinking changing car will change anything

[Phil Dicky]

Dracoro said:

The wheel design/size/tyre-profile/etc. can be more susceptible to punctures than others.
My Dad’s Merc CLS often (relatively over the years) has punctures and damaged wheels (replaced or refurb), when I had my Lexus GS it never has so much as a low pressure warning. In isolation, comparing the two and one would get less punctures than the other….

If the tyres/wheels aren’t more prone than others and just a case of bad luck, then yes, daft thinking changing car will change anything

Just replaced 4 21" 30 profile tyres on my car. The reason each very inside edge had split. Alignment guy explained its caused by straddling speed bumps. Applies the cars weight to the inner edge. Not an issue on high profile tyres, big issue on low profiles.

[NFT]

Chuffedmonkey said:

Has he had any punctures since?

No, not if its another car, surely.

lol

[MitchT]

Ussrcossack said:

I knew a neighbour who critasised his car because he always got punctures.

Even sold it because of that

Funnily enough, my OH once had a Ford KA which she says used to pick up punctures all the time. None of her other cars have been prone to them.

[donkmeister]

Phil Dicky said:

Just replaced 4 21" 30 profile tyres on my car. The reason each very inside edge had split. Alignment guy explained its caused by straddling speed bumps. Applies the cars weight to the inner edge. Not an issue on high profile tyres, big issue on low profiles.

Surely the answer is either a much wider (or a much narrower) car?

Just keep fitting spacers until the bumps aren't bumps anymore

[NFT]

donkmeister said:

Surely the answer is either a much wider (or a much narrower) car?

Just keep fitting spacers until the bumps aren't bumps anymore

Haha, wide as a fire engine and you have no issues,

I adopted the straddling method of taking both sides of the road up to climb over speed bump squares in some areas when i had a low car, both sidewalls on each tyre found equal loads at the peak of each bump that way and the horrendous scraping of the bottom was sorted. Pre common use of air lift of course.

[Blakewater]

I had a neighbour who was like this, not just with cars, but with everything. If he had builders do a job on his house, he would have them back and tell everyone on the street not to employ them. Everything he bought had to go back to the shop or dealer at least once. I remember him buying a lawnmower from B&Q, mowing his lawn immediately after a heavy rain shower, probably with the blade on the lowest setting, and after ploughing his lawn he took the mower back to B&Q caked in mud and got a replacement.

[NFT]

Also know people that break nearly everything, leave them in the kitchen a tap/peg gets broke, in the car they manage to break the louvers adjusting the air or USB ports, do gardening and any tool will end up broken, let them use the handbrake and a cable magically snaps or electric handbrake develops a fault, let them do the dishes and amazingly on putting plates away the cupboard door drops at an angle or the rail on the draw somehow jams, let them lock up the door handle will come off or never be the same again... If you let them take the car for mot, having a completely clean history and no complaints, it will fail on numerous items that seemed absolutely spot on when pre checked.

You literally daren't let them drive in case the lug nuts unscrew themselves & wheels suddenly fall off.

I don't know how they do it, there not that stupid or aggressive with things yet everyone picks up on it and keep them away from everything and they develop a need to touch & have a look at things to convince you its not going to break just because they touch it, only to end up breaking whatever it is in some way.

Edited by NFT on Friday 17th June 00:46

[kylos27]

Any automobile can have teething problems , but that is no excuse to stay in the ECHR and sacrifice our sovereignty on the alter of federalism.

[AlexRS2782]

kylos27 said:

Any automobile can have teething problems , but that is no excuse to stay in the ECHR and sacrifice our sovereignty on the alter of federalism.

Well that's certainly a leap Who knew having a car with problems was directly linked to the European Court of Human Rights

I guess this is what happens now the low post accounts have been locked out of NP&E.

Edit - saying that most of the posts on the account above all have a certain feel to them, be it posting stuff as a wind up, trolling for a response, or just plain stupid one liners, such as "remove the rotor arm cap" posted more than once on threads about modern car theft, or even better, "put the rotor arm in a faraday pouch".

Edited by AlexRS2782 on Friday 17th June 02:02

[Roger Irrelevant]

My father-in-law regularly complains that his cars never get near the manufacturer's quoted fuel consumption and go through tyres, brakes, suspension bits etc far quicker than they should. This is of course due to the manufacturers being untrustworthy shysters turning out a substandard product, and nothing to do with terrible driving.

[Bobupndown]

"You'll have nothing but trouble with a green car" is my mother's wisdom. (She now has a nice reliable blue one you'll be glad to hear).

[thatdude]

Bobupndown said:

"You'll have nothing but trouble with a green car" is my mother's wisdom. (She now has a nice reliable blue one you'll be glad to hear).

Well that's because it is green, just without the yellow


My brother is always concerned about faults with his car. A rattle here, a slightly wonky trim there. It can be a bit exhausting keeping him rational and calm but I think it's displaced anxiety, he channels it through his cars.

[ingenieur]

Blakewater said:

I had a neighbour who was like this, not just with cars, but with everything. If he had builders do a job on his house, he would have them back and tell everyone on the street not to employ them. Everything he bought had to go back to the shop or dealer at least once. I remember him buying a lawnmower from B&Q, mowing his lawn immediately after a heavy rain shower, probably with the blade on the lowest setting, and after ploughing his lawn he took the mower back to B&Q caked in mud and got a replacement.

You're right, it isn't just the cars. My dad isn't in to cars so doesn't care if the car he's driving is hanging by a thread.... but Apple Macs... christ he's had them all. And every one he buys goes back to the Apple store at least once. He has a sort of acceptance period where the Mac first comes just comes to visit the house initially... to see if it's going to like living there. It stays in the box. Then goes back to the shop and this sort of thing carries on for months before it eventually becomes his preferred computer. He hasn't consciously heard the Mark Morrison song 'Return of the Mac[k]' except when I recite it to him (badly).

[ingenieur]

NFT said:

Also know people that break nearly everything, leave them in the kitchen a tap/peg gets broke, in the car they manage to break the louvers adjusting the air or USB ports, do gardening and any tool will end up broken, let them use the handbrake and a cable magically snaps or electric handbrake develops a fault, let them do the dishes and amazingly on putting plates away the cupboard door drops at an angle or the rail on the draw somehow jams, let them lock up the door handle will come off or never be the same again... If you let them take the car for mot, having a completely clean history and no complaints, it will fail on numerous items that seemed absolutely spot on when pre checked.

You literally daren't let them drive in case the lug nuts unscrew themselves & wheels suddenly fall off.

I don't know how they do it, there not that stupid or aggressive with things yet everyone picks up on it and keep them away from everything and they develop a need to touch & have a look at things to convince you its not going to break just because they touch it, only to end up breaking whatever it is in some way.

Edited by NFT on Friday 17th June 00:46

I know people who take the general approach that if something won't close, won't open, won't fold, ect, ect.. it must be due to 'some manufacturing fault' and the fix is to slam it, force it, hit it, ect, ect... Sometimes you can hear the crashing from another room. And then a little further down the line we're all wondering why said thing no longer does it's job or appears to be badly damaged.

Door on our Miele washing machine... case in point! Mullered to the point where the die-cast catch on the door latch snapped and the door would no longer stay closed... because if the door on the washing machine won't open it's nothing to do with the washing machine not having reached the end of the programme... it's because it's broken... well it is after you've wrenched the door out of the machine. New door would be £400 + VAT. I managed to open up the plastic frame and install x4 hard drive magnets behind the plastic. So now it stays shut despite the catch being broken.

Edited by ingenieur on Friday 17th June 09:46

[NFT]

ingenieur said:

I know people who take the general approach that if something won't close, won't open, won't fold, ect, ect.. it must be due to 'some manufacturing fault' and the fix is to slam it, force it, hit it, ect, ect... Sometimes you can hear the crashing from another room. And then a little further down the line we're all wondering why said thing no longer does it's job or appears to be badly damaged.

Door on our Miele washing machine... case in point! Mullered to the point where the die-cast catch on the door latch snapped and the door would no longer stay closed... because if the door on the washing machine won't open it's nothing to do with the washing machine not having reached the end of the programme... it's because it's broken... well it is after you've wrenched the door out of the machine. New door would be £400 + VAT. I managed to open up the plastic frame and install x4 hard drive magnets behind the plastic. So now it stays shut despite the catch being broken.

Edited by ingenieur on Friday 17th June 09:46

Horrendous, had glass door cracked & door latch done on one before. New one has a pause button that unlocks it nearly instantly if water is low incase you forget something, but it was forced as it only unlocks when water is low which it clearly was not when they popped round and wanted to see how it worked, resulting in force and then a flood... Not long after the fridge door started to be crooked lol