Car related calamitites?

[Olivia85]

Ever had a nightmare day related to cars?

I'm just about to start resoring a classic car, and we needed to move if from my house to a friends house (so I could use his tools) It's still taxed and MOT'd, and it DID run, so we decided to try and get it there under it's own steam.

Took the battery off and put it on charge for 24 hours beforehand.

When we put the battery back in, and connected it up, turned the key and ....nothing....no lights, no noise, nothing!


Eventually realised to check the battery - and it was totally flat (cue swearing)

We tried to start it from the charger - Nothing - tested it, it was broke

So we tried to jump start it from my other car - Put the jump leads on and tried again - nothing - Tested the jump leads - they were broke and we didn't have any other leads long enough (the battery is under the back seat, rather than the bonnet)

Eventually thought "soddit" and decided to get a tow rope and drag it round (Only round the corner)

Sort of funny, and a little bit fortean, now - but not very nice whilst we were trying to get it started.

Does anyone have any other (better) stories for us to laugh at? Maybe put this one into perspective?

[VW 1949]

I've had a few!

Stripping down everything from the B posts forward right down to bare metal, using a flap wheel and a rechargeable drill
Then spraying on 6 layers of paint perfectly, then applying a final top coat perfectly... and returning 5 minutes later to find a fat bird S*** in the middle of the wet paint

An MG i had ( i was naive in those days!), one of the front brake pipes had worn a hole through where it was rubbing, came to replace it and thought `i know, it`ll be much easier to snip through it with the bolt cutters` managed to cut though it, nearly breaking my thumb in the process, then couldn`t get it loose. i`d only cut through the rear pipe which stretches the whole length of the car so had to install 2 new brake pipes - doh!

kneeling down in the back of my bug, angle grinding a bit out of that hump over the gearbox, with pieces of white-hot swarf flying between my legs and imbedding themselves in the window behind me scary stuff! I later discovered that you can turn the saftey guard round on the grinder to prevent things like this from happening.

[chuffed2bits]

Hi there, I have been really lucky and after having owned many cars in my time I until now I have never been broken down and in a jam, no pun intended. However sometime last year I agreed to take a friend to a hospital appointment about six miles away.

I got into my car which was parked in the garage, put the key in ignition but nothing happened, the battery had lost it's charge. No problem I said to my friend we will go in your car but first I tried to bump start my car and then run it down a steep hill. As you have guessed the car did not start. We got into my friend's car and went to the local high street to get some things for my friend's hospital stay. Remember we are one car down and down at the bottom of a steep hill. Having got the required items we went back to the car which was parked in a limited parking stay. Again we set off but you have already got there, the car would not start. For the sake of getting a parking ticket I walked to the local police station to inform that the car was broken down and please not to put a parking ticket on it. I walked back to the car only find the recovery lorry taking the car away. I told him about my car so he kindly took me to where was and we got that one going again. So in one day having never broken down before I was now in a position that I have broken down in two different cars on on the same day. I did get my friend to the hospital but she have never asked me again.