This is a long, rambling post and you are under no obligation to read it in its entirety unless you are the luckless moderator who is on duty today.
9:15 Friday morning and elder son is on the phone saying his car has no power and is making a "crazy noise". He has had his mirror full of HGV lights and much blowing of horns and rude gestures from other motorists as he made his way to the hard shoulder of the A1 just south of Scotch Corner, so he is too rattled to tell me what might be wrong. I tell him to stay out of the car and wait 10 minutes for me. My money is on the 12-year old exhaust falling off. I throw some tools, jack, axle-stands, coat hangers, gaffer tape and tow rope in the car and stick the amber beacon on the roof. There's the Citroen AX, hazards blinking, just north of the services, so I light up the beacon and my hazards and pull in behind him. Son is looking extremely forlorn as though it might be his fault. A paternal arm round the shoulder and some reassurance about all cars breaking down eventually is called for. The weld holding the collar on the front down pipe has rusted away and the exhaust's front end is resting on the ground. It only takes 2 minutes to drive the car up on a stone, tunnel underneath and coat-hanger the exhaust to an engine mounting. I am keen not to tow because son has only been driving a year and his experience of towing on a rope is nil. A Highways Agency Discovery clocks us from the other carriageway. We plan the best route home for a small convoy and son asks what would happen if he were stopped by the law, given that he has an illegal exhaust. I tell him that a policeman would have to be very, very grumpy indeed to penalise him and I would be behind him for moral support anyway.
2:30 Sunday and one of the ladies I have been on a course with appears at the house saying that her Astra won't start. It's been left round the corner with the lights on for 6 hours and there's just enough juice to make the dash lights glow until the key is turned. I press the newly-exhausted AX into service for a jump start. It takes only a minute to realise that the jump leads that have been sitting in the AX boot for over a year are useless, dangerous even. The plastic insulation of one clip bubbles, melts on to the battery and then smokes vigorously. I return home for the jump leads from my car. While the AX is running at a brisk tickover, I look in the battery cells. The plates are scarcely damp. Even the manufacturer's sticker from 2004 is covering two of the cells so I doubt they have ever been topped up. My delightful colleague is determined to justify leaving the lights on by claiming that there was no warning beep when she opened the door. That would be because the interior light switch on the driver's door doesn't work. After a few minutes charging, the Astra starts and runs sweetly. I recommended a new battery as the concept of having the car serviced reliably seems alien to her. She gushes thanks and leaves.
Comments welcome.
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Most people have no interest or inclination to learn what goes on under the bonnet and expect a car to work like a fridge or a microwave,ie just work without maintenace or service.
As for towing,when will a new driver learn how its done?
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Comment for T. Lucas - My wife, a Ukrainian lady, decided before we married that she should learn to drive, so enrolled with the local driving school in her home town. Being totally non-technical, she was horrified to find that she had to learn the intricacies of the mechanical beasts as well as how to point them at the next corner.To her own surprise, and that of her tutor, she passed { without buckshee }. On my next visit, I went to the driving school for a look, and there on benches around the room were all the bits in cutaway form, engines, gearboxes, axles, brake systems, etc. I persuaded her that she was now a member of a rather select group who have some inkling of what actually goes on under the bonnet.
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I learnt once, at age 20, when my Fiat Uno completely failed to start in Gloucester. RAC showed up, diagnosed a failed ECU and drove away, me only having purchased the "fix it at the side of the road" cover. Telephoned Dad who came out (from near Birmingham) and towed me home. I felt bad as it was 1am by the time he arrived, so didn't want to risk smashing into the back of his car to add insult to injury. I concentrated very hard...
Only one mishap - when he forgot he was towing and floored it away from a junction - ping went the rope, and some lightflashing/horn action alerted him!
As for jump leads - I had to jump start a friend's car the other week, due to it not being used for months. Took the 5 year old unused leads out of their case, and realised that one of the clips was terminally (excuse the pun) broken. Fortunately, he had another set.
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How often have you had to use the jump leads on your own car?
Both mine and SWMBO cars have a set of jump leads in them, but only once out of about 8 uses have they been used for our car - even then it was down to my stupidity in leaving the blower going whilst listening to the radio and using a laptop for over 2 hours without the engine running!!!!!!!
The other times have been for neighbors and family who have got stuck and don't even own a set of leads let alone have them in the car!!!!!!
Just makes me think that those of us who look after our cars are the most likely to carry such things, but the least likely to actually need them (for our own use).
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I have treated this as a rite of parenthood for the last few years since my kids got, one by one to driving age. With no mechanical understanding of cars (despite no 1 having a degree in Aerospace systems) it has been fairly basic, wet electrics after puddles, misfire because the dizzie cap was loose etc., even if they don't need rescued they still tend to call for advice.
We have had family AA membership for them since they got their own cars so they have a real recovery service if they are far from home.
17 year old daughter is mechanically minded and has already got involved doing bits of Commer maintenance, we'll see what happens when she has passed her test and starts off on her own.
Edited by Webmaster on 13/02/2008 at 00:41
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My kids treated me as a car recovery service whilst @ home / University.
They all now drive newer, more expensive and bigger cars than I and they are covered by various Manufacturer's schemes under warranty.
However the Mum & Dad recovery service still survives - no longer tow homes / jump starts, spare key.............. It is now advice on clearing up problems with energy suppliers/broadband, bridging loans whilst moving home, best way to ?????
That said my DiL hit a pothole on Saturday ruined the tyre (wheel OK but there is no spare wheel)- Mini recovery took 3 hours to turn up with the spare wheel. 3 hours ? In the old days I would have got a roasting for being longer than 30 minutes.
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That reminds me, I really should get a set of Jump Leads. Heh.
That said, I do have a small and very cheap compressor in the boot for topping up the tyres occasionally... The amount of times I've ended up helping people on our works carpark because they have a slow puncture and can't get to the local tyre place is unbelievable... The best one being a fella who then went on to ask 'is that ok to drive on for good now?'... Err, that'll get you to Kwik Fit, get it replaced you loon! He'd driven it for I don't know how long on a flat. Didn't even notice.
Very interested in doing my own repairs but even with a Nissan Micra it's often a bit daunting to lift the bonnet and start tinkering. In fact, my limit so far has been the headlamp bulbs.
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