My luck with cars

[DrFaroohk]

I have shitty luck with cars. That and I'm stupid with cars.

Driving home last night, I lost a wheel. Not the tire, the entire wheel. Front passenger side. That was an experience. Thankfully, the car was making extremely funny noises and I knew something was wrong, just not what, but I was going slow and driving cautiously.

I'm kinda wondering if the garage that replaced the tires a few weeks ago might have had something to do with it...I've heard you're supposed to get the lugs retightened on aluminum rims but when my M-I-L got the tires changed they never said anything to her about that. Probably not responsible to or something gay like that.

[Andara Bledin]

Question: Did the wheel come off but the place where it attaches not, or did the entire assembly separate?

You'll know if your lug nuts are loose - your handling will be complete and utter shit with the car shimmying terribly. I speak from experience on this one.

However, if your ball joint fails, you won't necessarily get a lot of warning. Did your car make a bunch of crunch-like sounds when you turned? That's a sign of your CV boots being bad, and if you let them go for too long, it can, rarely, lead to loss of the entire wheel.

^-.-^

[blas87]

If it makes you feel better, I had this false sense of security when I bought my new car. I figure, I have a car from 09. It cannot just fall apart or have problems the way all my other older cars have.

Boom, 6 months into my ownership, the crank shaft valve is leaking oil. I guess oil leaks really aren't that much to freak over, but it seems no matter what I have, I always have problems. One right after another.

[Ginger Tea]

mine is bycicles, they hate me.
my first from moving was a 2nd hand PoS, that cost me a pittance, but everything needed fixing, treads worn in places that I was used to patching the tire once a week.
got a new bike ASAP and it was fine for 9+ months, then the gears gradually went on me and it would almost cost more to fix than I paid for it, so I got a new bike same size and cheaper than my last.
Over time that too started to show signs of dying on me, have to admit I don't exactly care for my bikes I just go to and from work on them.
Current bike a 2nd hand gears in the wheel not on the edge with derailer (which got bent out of shape on my previous bike). The chain being however old it was when I bought the bike over a year ago was starting to slack to the point where I would put it on almost daily.
Got a split link and shortened it, to find the link is for the wrong sized chain, now I had no bike for a bit, luckily a shop down the road had the right size and to an extent its working, but I am already eying up a £100ish bike to replace this one as I saw this as only a short term fix, the rear wheel is buckled but rideable (only if I take the breaks off) and as it's got the gears on the inside I would have to royally fuck around getting that on a new spokeless wheel with the correct sized spokes, a shop would charge me a fortune for that, a guy I know told me his friend had it done and it wasn't cheap.

[AdminAssistant]

I lovingly call my car the BP Valdez because it leaks so much oil. Just check the levels occasionally to make sure that there's enough oil in the car.

[blas87]

My Neon leaked oil from every possible place it could. Dad or brother or a boyfriend or the mechanic would fix it, then it would leak out of somewhere else right away. Almost like it was always just looking for places to leak. That car went through two radiators in two years, and also leaked transmission fluid from ultimately two different places, just like the oil, once was place was fixed, it leaked elsewhere.

My parents have the same kind of car I have (same year as well). They just had an oil change and found a coolant leak coming from the line that goes to the transmission.

At least for the next couple of years, I don't have to pay for any repairs. THANK GOD for warranties.

They repaved the parking lot here last summer, but you can still see damage from the Neon, not to mention every spring when it warms up and it starts to rain, this really nasty looking greenish yellow foamy stuff starts emerging and growing, I think it's from when it was leaking coolant and oil together. I have to try to cover it before the landlord sees it.

[Andara Bledin]

I lovingly call my car the BP Valdez because it leaks so much oil. Just check the levels occasionally to make sure that there's enough oil in the car.

My last car was leaking up to three quarts for a long enough trip. That's a lot of oil.

However, we kept it topped up regularly enough that when the person who bought it got it fixed, the engine was still in fine shape.

I have to try to cover it before the landlord sees it.

Cat sand is your friend. Get a clay based one (I think), and it'll suck stuff out of the paving/asphalt when it gets damp.

^-.-^

[protege]

Blas, you do realize that Dodge stands for "Drips Oil, Drops Grease Everywhere," right?

[blas87]

That's a good fix and should work, but for some reason, every spring, that shit comes back.

Actually, we had a "thaw" of sorts right before New Years, it got up to nearly 40 degrees and was raining, and I came home that Friday before it turned into ice and saw that shit once again. It's like....how in the hell after all the snow and all the rain can you keep popping up like that? And it's just the grossest looking thing...it's foamy and bubbly and just grows until you cover it with litter or baking soda and sweep it away.

And yes, Protege, I realize that now, lol. Good thing I'm rid of that detriment of a vehicle.

[Andara Bledin]

Blas, you do realize that Dodge stands for "Drips Oil, Drops Grease Everywhere," right?

And yet the best cars I've ever owned, aside from my current and my Volvo, were Dodges.

^-.-^

[Ginger Tea]

The closest I'll ever get to owning a car is a corgie, childhood memories of mulitiple lane pileups due to dogzilla passing through

[Ladeeda]

I got a total lemon from a family member. Spent over 2 grand in the last month on it, since I can't afford a decent vehicle.

The radiator is leaking now, and it's costing me $500 to fix it. That's more than a month of savings, and I'm trying to move! Namely, move someplace where I WON"T NEED A FREAKING CAR!