Worst sudden car expenses...

S

Spike

Posts: 2,122   +0
I''m trying to make myself feel better here.

I have a Peugeot 205, and up untill yesterday I had nothing to worry about. Last night I was on the motorway when a god-awful grinding started, and an occationaly sensation of sudden braking. Today I've had it diagnosed as the frond drivers side hub bearing shot, and the passenger side back wheel locking up.

Now, just when I don't have it, I'm looking at a cost of around £270 to have it fixed :(

What's the worst thing you've had suddenly and expensively go wrong with your car?
 
Sorry to hear that mate.

I was once going down the M65 on a Kawasaki kh 250cc motorcycle. suddenly I heard this almighty crunching noise, and a total loss of power.

It turned out two of the three pistons had shattered, causing untold damage to the engine.

I scrapped the bike, and bought a new one several weeks later.

Regards Howard :)
 
I blew the converter in my Mustang, all of a sudden I had no transmission.
It cost $2400 to fix the car.
 
I lost the tourque converter on my 1981 Labarron. Cost me a ton and I was in collage w/ only a weekend job. :dead:

JMMD said:
I blew the converter in my Mustang, all of a sudden I had no transmission.
It cost $2400 to fix the car.
Click to expand...
 
I hit a deer in my 1983 Ranger at abotu 65mph, actually 2 deer at the same time (seriously), and it made the front bumper into a V and broke the grill, headlights, dented the hood, one of the deer's heads swung around and hit the driver side front fender and dented it in and some other crap I'm forgetting. Left the fender damage, fixed the other crap buying parts on JC Whitney, so it wasn't all that much.

I hit a deer in my 96 Ranger at about 55mph, not too much damage compared to the 83, but a hell of a lot more expensive. Insurance covered that though.

Other than those cases nothing unexpected has suddenly came up. So far...
 
Not the most expensive but my favorite.

I was at a stoplight in my 86 Honda CRX, hit the gas, the car lurched forward and then lost all power. The engine still rev'd, but the stick was yanked out of my hand straight down to sit flush with the center cosole. I also noted 2 bearings rolling down the street infront of my car.
I got out and pushed the car across the intersection and popped open the hood. Inside the entire engine was tilted about 30 degrees down on the passenger side. Under the car you could clearly see the CV joint ripped apart and the axel dangling.
What happend: Just the week before I had taken the car to the shop to have the clutch replaced. The mechanic, in all his wisdom, used only 1 out of 3 bolts to mount the transmission in place. Basically the torque on the trasmission when I came off the line sheered the bolt off and dropped most of the weight from the engine and transmission onto the axel which promptly buckled and spit the CV bearings out.

I called the shop where I had the repairs and they had fired the mechanic that week for shoddy work. They paid for all the repairs and the tow.
 
Thanks guys. Makes it feel a whole lot better to be able to put my mere $450 expenses into some sort of perspective :)

To be honest, I think what's annoyed me about this experience is that this is a car I've only had for about 6 weeks. Previously, I was driving a 1.7 volvo 340 GL, but the timing belt snapped while I was driving it. It was my fault entirely on account of my buying the thing second hand but not getting the timing belt chaged - the first thing to do when buying a used car really. None the less, it snapped, and turned it from a car to scrap metal pretty quickly.

This 205, well, it's newer, I prefer it, and it's a 1.8 diesel on a nice light body. I have to say though, this happening so suddenly is pretty bad luck, but at least it's nothing as expensive as anything you guys have mentioned so far!
 
Unconventional

SNGX1275 said:
I hit a deer in my 1983 Ranger at abotu 65mph, actually 2 deer at the same time (seriously), and it made the front bumper into a V and broke the grill, headlights, dented the hood, one of the deer's heads swung around and hit the driver side front fender and dented it in and some other crap I'm forgetting. Left the fender damage, fixed the other crap buying parts on JC Whitney, so it wasn't all that much.

I hit a deer in my 96 Ranger at about 55mph, not too much damage compared to the 83, but a hell of a lot more expensive. Insurance covered that though.

Other than those cases nothing unexpected has suddenly came up. So far...
Click to expand...

Most guys get 'em a rifle and trudge through the brush. Guess you don't have to carry 'em far with your method, though. They're already mounted on the fender for the ride home!!! :D
 
Back in the good old days, I was stationed at Ft. Sill in Oklahoma. I was driving my '64 Mustang in a state park (don't remember the name) with a date at night. While I was otherwise occupied and cruising along at about 40 mpg, I hit 2 buffalo. Luckily, it was a glancing blow, but the damage was still up in 1000's. I went back the next day to see if I had hurt them, but couldn't find them. I guess they thought I was a flea!
 
Nice jshields13,

and heywbo, those 2 deer I hit bounced off the truck, and I never saw them again. I'm sure they died from internal injuries, but they didn't die on the side of the road. That other deer I hit in the 96, he didn't die either at least not right away. I didn't watch him run off cause I was concerned abotu staying on the road and then checking the damage to my truck, but none of the 3 were killed right away.
 
I was driving my 1990 Saab 9000 turbo, in year 2001 on a back country road. Came to a stop sign and I noticed whitish smoke. As I pulled away it let out a lot of white smoke, I managed to get her, my daughter and me home ( about an hour drive) by stopping and refilling the radiator every 10 miles.

I had blown a head gasket. My mechanic said it had been coming for months and 1 of the 4 cyclinders was pretty much toast. Cheapest fix was to swap in a used engine. Cost $2800.00 Cnd.
 
Spike said:
It was my fault entirely on account of my buying the thing second hand but not getting the timing belt chaged - the first thing to do when buying a used car really.
Click to expand...

In California, the first thing you do is get it Smog'd. If you buy a vehicle registered as operating and it doesn't pass smog, you can take it to a mechanic for all necessary adjustments and charge the previous owner for the bill.

Anyhow, for my expensive story...
I've got a 2003 Honda Civic EX, while my wife was driving it one morning on the 605 fwy doing about 65-70mph, the rear passenger tire went flat but she didn't realize this until the tread seperated and began to fishtail the car. She promptly hit the brakes and spun the vehicle into the cement center divider of the freeway. The impact was on the passengerside with the main concentration of damage in the rear quarterpanel. Here's a pic.
16861739_l.JPG

Total cost of repairs $6,400USD
 
Auto repair is a hobby of mine so my situation is a little different. I repair and maintain about 18 or so vehicles for various family members and friends. I have perhaps $60,000 - $75,000 (USD) tied up in mechanics tools and equipment. I have lots of toys.... I mean tools. BTW, that's why tooless PC cases have no appeal to me. No tools needed? What's the point? :)

Fortunately, I have never had any catastrophic failures. But the most time consuming repair I've done was probably a head gasket replacement on my wife's 87 Toyota Supra. It wasn't technically difficult but the labor was. It took me about 3 weekends of work plus several days in between all told. Most things like axles, struts, brakes, A/C compressors, timing belts, rack and pinion and the like take a day or less. Clutches take two or three days. Anyway, I never want to do that job again.
 
Ive only been driving for about 6months

Already had my heater core crack, leaking a cloud of anti freeze out of my vents. (car REEKS)

ANd i work at a grocery store....and i was walking out to my car on a windy day, and crash, cart hits the front of the car, pivots, and scrapes all down the side of my card. Tried to run and stop it but i was too late. Very painful to watch.

So nothing too too bad, but i hate to see what the next 6 months brings
 
Worst & best sudden car expenses...

Went for a drive to get computer parts for a customer,
using my roomates honda crv.
Can't carry too much on the bike.

Went along for a few miles and started hearing odd noises from all over the car.
They weren't too loud and didn't sound pressing. Now hondas have
a curious dash board to start with, when suddenly all the little warrning
lights started dancing to the odd little noises, kinda harmonious duet.

I pulled over with the engine still running, popped the hood latch to get a look
at the motor. As I got out of the car, I happened to look at the rear of vehicle,
just in time to see a very blue (blew) puff of smoke from tail pipe. With it
came a pathetic groan and weazzing sound the car gave off a shudder and the engine shut down.

Oddly enuff the head lights and running lights are flashing, the dash light are still
jumping around without a sound and now there is a very strange odor in
the air, kinda stinky foot aroma mixed with boiling epoxy. :eek:

All my things are still in the car, I'm standing there trying to wrap my head
around the scene un-folding in front of me.

I start to hear a distant crackling sound and the odorous bouquet gets a
little richer and more prominant.
If you were to google "burned crv" you'll get a better idea of what is
happening to my roomates car. Of course I don't know these things yet.

With a simple :hotbounce "poof" :hotouch:, as if a button was pushed,
well I think you get the idea by now.

Being that the car is now fully ingulfed I stand back quite a distance, calling
the locals to bring some water, when all of the sudden from out of no where,
there is this drunk driver at high rate of speed heading right for my inferno.

Yep!, you guessed it! BLAM! CRASH! BANG! ,
he hit it so hard he nearly put out the fire! A cop showed up
moments later and with an "exstingusher" he put out the remain flames.

Funny thing is who this lunch drinking drunk was!
A city council man a pollaticky guy!

well to get to the 'Best of the wurst' my roomate got a brand new no cost
CRV!


oh yeah! I got to live and watch it!
 
SOcRatEs, that was a cool story. My turn.
It was probably 1982 and my girlfriend and I were driving back home along a country road (yes another one) coming back from a day of shopping in Mennonite (sp?) country around the Kitchener-Waterloo area of Ontario. Up ahead we see a large car in the ditch, (a deep country style ditch).

A Mennonite farmer was hooking one (1)Clydesdale horse up to the front of this WHALE size Buick. Now I thought I'd stop and see if I could lend a hand and basically have a good laugh as this poor horse tries to move this massive car which half buried itself in the opposite side of the ditch bank.

The farmer gives the horse a light tap on it's rump with a his crop and the horse steps forward and the raines just go taunt, but the car doesn't budge. The farmer gives the horse another slightly hard tap with the crop, this time the car shook a little and my smile was getting bigger. :stickout:

Finally the farmer gives the horse a third tap, more of a light whack and the horse drives forward and the whole car started being dragged sideways down the ditch. Eventually the car grabbed an edge and straighten out so the wheels were rolling not being dragged and the horse changed direction and the car easily rolled up and out of the ditch onto the shoulder of the road.

My mouth was no longer a smile but a gapping gasp like expression. :O
I couldn't believe the power of that 1 Clydesdale horse,that magnificent beast! :eek:

OK it's not as cool as SOcRatEs but hopefully a good read.
 
Clydesdales are awesome horses. A friend of mine raises horses and he's got a couple clydes, they are huge. Make's my parents Appalosa look like a dog rather than a horse.
 
burn out

Hi people.
This was my unexpected vehicular experence. it happened a month ago while I was returning a friends runabout back to Perth Western Australia. 150 ks from anywhere, outback country. not a hope of saving it. lucky for the bush I was on the windward side of the road. Being hot and dry if that had caught there would have been some very busy fire fighters around. Car was insured the previous day by my friends so I could drive it back, but they are understandably being reticent with the owners about paying out their claim. Much fun,,, not.
 

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I had just acquired a used 2002 Honda Accord EX in pristine condition. The evening of the day I brought it home, a drunk neighbor backed their hulking SUV into it. I was parked 50 feet from their driveway. They actually backed 50 feet down the road after exiting their driveway!

It ended up being about $3,000 of cosmetic damage, including a replacement of the rear bumper cover, left tail light, and trunk lid. Fortunately, their insurance covered all repairs.
 
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