Your first time getting recovery
Discussion
First time was 1982 , I had a Fiesta just out of warranty and any dampness in the air , it played up.
So one night in the works car park at 5pm, it would start.
Called breakdown (National Breakdown now Green Flag).
Guy comes out in a van after about an hour wait.Tries for half an hour and gives up and says I’ll have to be recovered. Wait another hour , breakdown truck comes, loads us on and away we go. ( home is 40 miles away).
At the Dartford tunnel approach, the lorry has a blow out but the driver controls it well but we stop hard up against the kerb . This damaged the wheel and we can’t move or get a jack in. Call lorry true fitter. Takes another hour plus to arrive and another hour changing the wheel.
Finally got home at 11 pm for a journey that normally took an hour
So one night in the works car park at 5pm, it would start.
Called breakdown (National Breakdown now Green Flag).
Guy comes out in a van after about an hour wait.Tries for half an hour and gives up and says I’ll have to be recovered. Wait another hour , breakdown truck comes, loads us on and away we go. ( home is 40 miles away).
At the Dartford tunnel approach, the lorry has a blow out but the driver controls it well but we stop hard up against the kerb . This damaged the wheel and we can’t move or get a jack in. Call lorry true fitter. Takes another hour plus to arrive and another hour changing the wheel.
Finally got home at 11 pm for a journey that normally took an hour
Driving about 7 years often with tuned up french stuff. Broke down often but always managed to get myself sorted without assistance. 30th of December 2020 I managed this clusterf
k...
Lessons have been learned. It was rather pokey running a big turbo making 270bhp on waste gate pressure (waiting for a built engine)
Was on winter wheels and tyres were cold. Made rather a mess of it, worse than it looks. Only panel not damaged was the drivers door. Bent the frame. I cut my losses and sold it, very pleased to say the new owner is close to having it back on the road much to my surprise.
k... Lessons have been learned. It was rather pokey running a big turbo making 270bhp on waste gate pressure (waiting for a built engine)
Was on winter wheels and tyres were cold. Made rather a mess of it, worse than it looks. Only panel not damaged was the drivers door. Bent the frame. I cut my losses and sold it, very pleased to say the new owner is close to having it back on the road much to my surprise.
Recovered four times in 25+ years, three in the same car. BMW 550i: First time was the time I learned that foot-wide rear tyres can wear very differently on the insides compared to the bits you can see. Puncture in the fast lane of a busy dark and rainy M6 on the way to Heathrow. Very grateful for the runflats, got to the services and BMW emergency did the rest. Second and third were all part of a failing to supply petrol to the engine saga. BMW emergency again, all pretty straightforward.
Fourth time was driving a newly bought E46 330ci home, conked out on the M62. Turned over but wouldn't start. Phoned the RAC, guy turned up, diagnosed cam sensors, towed me off the motorway then put me in a taxi and towed the car the rest of the way home. Bit financially painful, especially after replacing the cam sensors didn't fix it, and having tested a bunch of "why won't my car start?" things it turned out it only needed some petrol. Fuel gauge wouldn't go above half or below a quarter. Funnier now than at the time, and I did learn quite a lot about diagnosing stuff.
Fourth time was driving a newly bought E46 330ci home, conked out on the M62. Turned over but wouldn't start. Phoned the RAC, guy turned up, diagnosed cam sensors, towed me off the motorway then put me in a taxi and towed the car the rest of the way home. Bit financially painful, especially after replacing the cam sensors didn't fix it, and having tested a bunch of "why won't my car start?" things it turned out it only needed some petrol. Fuel gauge wouldn't go above half or below a quarter. Funnier now than at the time, and I did learn quite a lot about diagnosing stuff.
Peugeot 309GTI for me the first time. With a snapped cambelt.
Which surprised me at the time, as it was supposed to have been fitted with a new one, when the 16V engine was dropped by a specialist 10k miles previously.
Since then, I have had a Renault 5 Turbo blow a headgasket, an MX5 sideswiped whilst parked and an Evo with an electrical failure driving home from an ECU swap at another specialist.
Not bad considering the other cars I have owned.
mcflurry said:
Similar happened to my Yaris and exhaust.
Fortunately I was 2 streets away from home, so nursed it there, got a coathanger and rehung the exhaust until I could get it fixed
Otherwise been on an AA trailer when my smart key wouldn't unlock the car (twas a software fault, fixed under warranty)
Must be one of the newer yaris, to have smart key. My 2004 doesn't have it even as an option. Would've done similar but I doubt itd hold up on a 10 mile drive!Fortunately I was 2 streets away from home, so nursed it there, got a coathanger and rehung the exhaust until I could get it fixed
Otherwise been on an AA trailer when my smart key wouldn't unlock the car (twas a software fault, fixed under warranty)
Think it was the first time, early 1980s, northbound on the M1 approaching Junction 11 (Luton). In a Triumph Dolomite Sprint.
As the motorway rounds the right hand bend I came across stationary traffic in lane 3, everything going down to 1 lane for road works. Heavy brake application from 70ish mph. Engine stalls and won't restart. So the car is in the third lane, out of sight round a corner. I made it to the hard shoulder on foot and was walking back towards the emergency phone when a patrol car pulls up. "Where's your car?" "Against the central reservation" "That central reservation (pointing)?" Attitude test passed by saying "Yes", rather than ""What other ones are there?" Car recovered home, I still remember the embarrassment as it was getting unloaded and the recovery truck's orange light was reflecting off all the surrounding houses. Next day the car started fine, whether it was fuel vapourisation, or something mechanical getting hot I don't know.
I've had a car recovered from the driveway once, maybe twice, with faults, and had breakdown services attend for a couple of things, but I think that's the only recovery of me and a car I was driving in just over 40 years.
As the motorway rounds the right hand bend I came across stationary traffic in lane 3, everything going down to 1 lane for road works. Heavy brake application from 70ish mph. Engine stalls and won't restart. So the car is in the third lane, out of sight round a corner. I made it to the hard shoulder on foot and was walking back towards the emergency phone when a patrol car pulls up. "Where's your car?" "Against the central reservation" "That central reservation (pointing)?" Attitude test passed by saying "Yes", rather than ""What other ones are there?" Car recovered home, I still remember the embarrassment as it was getting unloaded and the recovery truck's orange light was reflecting off all the surrounding houses. Next day the car started fine, whether it was fuel vapourisation, or something mechanical getting hot I don't know.
I've had a car recovered from the driveway once, maybe twice, with faults, and had breakdown services attend for a couple of things, but I think that's the only recovery of me and a car I was driving in just over 40 years.
Real recovery and not just towed home on a rope was a few years ago. Snapped the flex plate between autobox and engine so lost all ability to move 300 miles from home.
While towing a large trailer loaded up to 3.5 tons
Waiting at a light to cross a single lane bridge in a dip in the road so couldnt roll either direction
On the town high street
With a co op truck trying to park in the layby next to me to unload
With recovery taking over 2 hours after the first truck didnt get the message there was a trailer to move too so just went home
Police even turned up, saw the problem and just asked if recovery was coming then fked off to leave the carnage to continue.
While towing a large trailer loaded up to 3.5 tons
Waiting at a light to cross a single lane bridge in a dip in the road so couldnt roll either direction
On the town high street
With a co op truck trying to park in the layby next to me to unload
With recovery taking over 2 hours after the first truck didnt get the message there was a trailer to move too so just went home
Police even turned up, saw the problem and just asked if recovery was coming then f
ked off to leave the carnage to continue.First time - con rod punches a hole out the side of the block with bits of metal rattling around and under the car.
On the A74 at the time. In a contra flow on RHS with oncoming traffic between me and hard shoulder. With an artic up my tail.
Swerved across to hard shoulder and breakdown truck arrives to take me to nearest town.
As we were getting in to Larkhall the driver advised me to put a jacket on and zip it right up, and not to remove it.
Larkhall is known as the most Protestant , Glasgow Rangers supporting town in Scotland.
So bad that traffic lights were routinely vandalised for being green.
And Dave was about to get dropped off wearing a Celtic football top.
On the A74 at the time. In a contra flow on RHS with oncoming traffic between me and hard shoulder. With an artic up my tail.
Swerved across to hard shoulder and breakdown truck arrives to take me to nearest town.
As we were getting in to Larkhall the driver advised me to put a jacket on and zip it right up, and not to remove it.
Larkhall is known as the most Protestant , Glasgow Rangers supporting town in Scotland.
So bad that traffic lights were routinely vandalised for being green.
And Dave was about to get dropped off wearing a Celtic football top.
My first time was about 25 years ago heading up the M3 on the day before New Year's Eve when my Cavalier V6's heater matrix burst and deposited a fair amount of coolant all over my feet.
The only other occasions were when my Scorpio's starter motor failed and, most memorably, when Mrs D.R.'s Golf's radiator failed in a busy Southampton shopper's car park on a Saturday afternoon. What was particularly amusing was that the recovery company turned up in a low-loader that could have fitted at least three cars on its flat-bed, which caused some consternation in the aforementioned crowded car park!
The only other occasions were when my Scorpio's starter motor failed and, most memorably, when Mrs D.R.'s Golf's radiator failed in a busy Southampton shopper's car park on a Saturday afternoon. What was particularly amusing was that the recovery company turned up in a low-loader that could have fitted at least three cars on its flat-bed, which caused some consternation in the aforementioned crowded car park!
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