I have been driving for 45 years - in that time I have only broken down and recovered 3 times, fixed at the side of the road 3 times.
Major repairs - Gearbox 2 x both under warranty, Head gasket x 1, Clutch x 1, rear axle x1.
Batteries x 2 ( 1 under warranty), electrical faults x 3/4........................really the rest is brakes, tyres, and servicing.
Mileage would probably average 20-25,000 mls/year.
Makes - mostly Ford, Vauxhall, some BL, odd MB, last 14 years Honda, Mazda, Nissan.
Most unreliable car MB C Class, Most reliable cars Honda & Mazda
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45 years of driving, and you can fit all the problems you've had in 2 lines? That's got to be pretty good going by any measure! :-)
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Cars are much better these days, and I've not called out the RAC for over 20 years. The last was for a Vauxhall when the accelerator/auto cold start jammed open and the engine screamed away until the key was pulled out.
Now when I was student, I recall replacing leaf springs on a Hillman, a clutch in VW Beetle, an engine mounting in Fiat and an radiator in a Mini, all in lay-bys or outside the dealers. Not to mention various ignition problems, fauly wipers, sloppy ball joints, wonky wheel bearings, broken exhausts, petrol leaks, &c. &c.
Least reliable: various Fords, 60s and 70s Minis, VW Beetle.
Most reliable: Citroën - never had a day of the road except for servicing, tyres and brakes.
Edited by BigJohnD on 18/01/2010 at 12:19
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In 30 years driving I've never had a road-side breakdown (not including running out of petrol in a new-to-me Mini Metro on the M25 - how was I to know that the fuel guage didn't work?). I have only called the emergency services twice:
1. Locked myself out of the camper at a campsite.
2. Loose front wheel following some Plymouth scroat's aborted attempt at wheel theft, which I didn't notice until the wheel started to rattle as it was coming loose.
I am now forced to drive only cars with wooden dashboards, so that I always have wood close to touch!
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I went through a series of cambelts breaking on Vx Cavalier's, in late 80's I guess. Being stuck in Lane 3 of the M62 doesn't half put you off a car!
More recently, although not me driving it, I'm dismayed that daughter's SEAT Ibiza has broken down 4 times due to coil pack failures.
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Hmmm, 24 years and one breakdown. Rad on a MkIV Cortina that got regularly thrashed from Essex to Lancaster. Fixed at the services by the AA.
Boxsterboy - it's 'scrote', short for scrotum!!
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>>> Boxsterboy - it's 'scrote', <<<
No Sir! it is scroat ... but it means the same fing.
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It does appear to be 'scroat'. A quick Google turned up some interesting descriptions:
"Due to their social habits and needs scroats are often founds in groups or packs. They have complex interwoven family / community structures which are fiercely territorial. When not in their own social housing area the males can be found looking for anything of value not bolted down."
and
"Often of little intelligence or poorly educated, but unaware of their limitations."
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Most reliable: Citroën - never had a day of the road except for servicing tyres and brakes.
I nominate BigJohnD as being the luckiest man alive - totally reliability driving Citroëns? Now that's a feat! Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Citroën fan, behind Jaguar that's the marque of car I've owned most of - but reliability? :-)
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FB, you've reminded me that I've now owned a car (most of the time) for exactly 40 years. I've run out of petrol once or twice, but only been properly stranded twice, both times by my 'reliable' VW Scirocco. The Lancia and Alfa that preceded it were much better, as were the Citroen and Peugeot that followed. I did have to replace the engine in my Wartburg once - it didn't fail, but the main (roller) bearings were rattling a bit. On the upside, the little 2-stroke block was so compact that I was able to hand-carry its replacement!
To return to your question, you may have been slightly lucky, but I suspect you have enough mechanical sympathy to know when your car needs attention before it quits completely. Have you still got the Xedos?
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Have you still got the Xedos?
>>
Xedos has been in the garage for the 4 weeks of snow. It has been started a couple of times and the 11 yr old battery started it 1st time!
Tomorrow will be its first outing since December 17th - the snow has gone!
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Fiesta in 1989 on new M65 - loose accelerator cable I think.
Escort - Dundee 1991 - twice and then got rid.
Xsara M1 near Nottingham with snapped belt. was misaligned, but new one fitted also misaligned which snapped after just a few miles. third was fine after garage checked alignment. Car ran fine, but no charge to battery meant lights faded and I had to call it a day at Wetherby.
Misfueled once and theft of car once.
I feel lucky!!
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Last breakdowns? Hmmm
Mid 90s Peugeot 605 TD headgasket.
Early 90s Citroën BX 16v. driveshaft, throttle cable, ignition module.
late 80s Golf Mk1 GTI clutch (literally exploded!!), gearbox linkage came adfift.
Late 80s Range Rover Vogue Efi, not breakdowns as such constant stalling in traffic.
Late 80s, Citroen CX Turbo 2 GTI. Various electrical probs - Lost count of breakdowns! (still loved the car.)
Late 80s Citroën GSA, ignition failure (twice), blocked carb.
one I forgot, late 80s, BMW 735i electrics would just die and the car would stop, turn it off and on again all would be fine for another few months - weird.
older than that the cars were generally bangers in my youth it's not fair mentioning breakdowns of cars that were already knackered when I bought them!
Edited by SteveLee on 18/01/2010 at 20:30
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FB:- You have certainly covered some miles. Gained a lot of experience and must have some wonderful memories, and your still here to enjoy more. Well done and lets look forward to the next 45 yrs.
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Yes lucky, but older cars were easier to fix. I learned from my father and have never been stopped for long until recently when my Audi A4 died, and had to get the AA which he fixed in about 10 mins but I had no idea.
I once rebuilt, with help, a Ford alternator in a garage on the A9 in the very early hours, just after I had patched a burst hose and had to stop to fill up the radiator from a stream nearby, luckily.
I could go on but I think thats enough.
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Dear Falkirk Bairn,
You have now tempted fate a little too often. Look forward to my revenge soon.
The Devil.
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Last major problem I had was a few years ago with a Nissan Prairie. Stopped on a store car park one Saturday afternoon and it wouldn't start again. As I had 80 miles to go before getting home decided to join the AA and see if they could help. So off to a store which sold membership, bought basic package, back to the car and phoned them (I don't know if you can still get instant membership). Anyway they came out, diagnosed fuel pump problem and did a temporary repair so I could get home.
That was on the Saturday afternoon. On Monday the AA announced that they were selling the company and all members (who owned the AA) would receive a cheque for their share of it. Cheque for substantially more than I paid for membership duly arrived.
Now that's what I call lucky!!!!!!
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I've only broken down three times in nearly 20 yrs of motoring.
First time in 1993 in my Y-reg mk1 Sierra (ignition coil failure)
Second time in 2000-ish in my T reg Peugeot 306 XSi (revving itself to 5000 RPM, then refusing to start at all)
Third time last year in our 54 reg Renault Grand Scenic (sudden, total failure of the clutch slave cylinder).
Both French cars were sub 60,000 milers. The Ford had about 130,000 on it.
I have run out of fuel twice (Mondeo and Kawasaki ZX7R), but I can't blame the vehicles for that. In my defence the bike didn't have a fuel gauge.
Edited by DP on 21/01/2010 at 21:45
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broke down big time this week
cant really talk about it in case the fines are in the post
all i can say is it surprising what you can fix with mole grips a bit of knicker elastic and bits robbed of the rest of the truck
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There was a fourth which I'd forgotten about, as it happened literally 100yds from my house and didn't really cause me a problem.
mk2 Cavalier SRi - fuel pump relay failure.
Edited by DP on 21/01/2010 at 21:48
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