bloody car trouble on road trips

Subject: bloody car trouble on road trips
From: hilda fish
Date: 17 Jan 05 - 06:07 AM

Have spent years pushing, waiting, hauling crappy cars that cost no money and really, didn't go nowhere. I've spent lots of money on good cars that are reliable so that the nightmare of waiting in the rain by the side of the road for help never happens. Oh well. This time, good car, checked at garage in preparation. First of all, new battery required at Dondingalong (Kempsey New South Wales for non ozzies) then flat tyre. Oh well, I handled it and its normal. Then another flat tyre, then vibration as spare wheel slightly buckled. New wheel. Then bent steering arm. On it went. I'm back now and lots poorer. It was/is a good car. "Gotta expect these things" says the NRMA. "Gotta expect these things" says my mechanic. "Gotta expect these things" says my mate Maria's spouse who is an excellent builder, bush mechanic and general know it all. Who has been on a road trip (we did 3000 km) and didn't have car trouble? Is it possible?

Subject: RE: bloody car trouble on road trips
From: hilda fish
Date: 17 Jan 05 - 06:10 AM

Oh, sorry. And what would the songs be do you think?

Subject: RE: bloody car trouble on road trips
From: GUEST,Raggytash
Date: 17 Jan 05 - 06:15 AM

That's less than 2000 miles, I often do over a 1000 a week and don't have any of this sort of problem, flat tyres excepted, you can get those anytime. Sounds like you were sold a dog ..... take it back, park it outside with a big poster listing all the problems you've had and see if the garage will give you your money back. They may do so in order to get rid of you

Good Luck

Subject: RE: bloody car trouble on road trips
From: alanabit
Date: 17 Jan 05 - 07:20 AM

Or they may issue a writ...

Subject: RE: bloody car trouble on road trips
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Jan 05 - 08:06 AM

name the garage

Subject: RE: bloody car trouble on road trips
From: Bassic
Date: 17 Jan 05 - 08:09 AM

Flat tyres, buckled wheels, bent steering arms........if you were in the UK it would indicate a certain lack of care being used when parking!! (all those symptoms are typical results of a "kerbing" incident.......I know, I have done it myself! ((hides head in shame!!!)).

However, they can also occur when using a vehicle designed for use on normal, well surfaced roads, on poorly surfaced, pot holed or un surfaced roads, even at quite low speeds. I Brazil, I am told that cars often travel with several spare tyres because of this. Could this be the reason for your problem?

If frequent travel on poor roads is a requirement for you, then a 4X4 may be a better choice. Its larger wheels and beafy suspension can cope much better with uneven surfaces. Otherwise its a case of accepting regular damage I am afraid, if you stray from well surfaced roads.

Subject: RE: bloody car trouble on road trips
From: GUEST,Mrr
Date: 17 Jan 05 - 10:27 AM

I actually went across the USA for 5 weeks, going up one side of the Great Divide (the mountains, for you furriners) and down the other, and the only kind of trouble we ran into that was related to the car was when the guy I was with got altitude sickness and while he was lying on the ground next to the car while I tried to get him to breathe into a paper bag to stop him hyperventilating, two assumed-to-be-local guys walked over to us, saw our license plate which said Maryland, and one looks at the other and sneers - "Maryland - hah! Sea level!" And they walked away without offering to help!

Subject: RE: bloody car trouble on road trips
From: Manitas_at_home
Date: 17 Jan 05 - 10:44 AM

Speed humps also cause these problems.

Subject: RE: bloody car trouble on road trips
From: Alaska Mike
Date: 17 Jan 05 - 10:44 AM

The first time we drove the Alaska Highway my wife drove our old Chevy van and I drove the older Ford pickup pulling an ancient livestock trailer which carried all our worldly goods. Our 5 children were 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 at the time. Our trip was nearly 4,000 miles and we crossed the Rocky Mountains 3 times.

We had no flat tires, but the engine coil did break down on the pickup and we had to have it towed into the nearest town and wait around for a couple days for a new one to be shipped in. Lots of good memories lookiing back on it now, and I even wrote a pretty good song about the experience. There's nothing like a good road trip to bring a family closer together.

Mike

Subject: RE: bloody car trouble on road trips
From: GUEST,Raggytash
Date: 17 Jan 05 - 11:07 AM

Alanabit, provided the info you put on a poster is accurate there is not a lawyer in the world would go near a writ. You do not need to accuse the garage of anything, your presence outside is sufficient

Subject: RE: bloody car trouble on road trips
From: hilda fish
Date: 17 Jan 05 - 06:13 PM

What I really need are (humourous or misery laden) songs. I searched my mind while seeing the humour as a way of avoiding the depression of yet another bloody car thingy. They come and they goes, as they say, but I really needed a song or two - or three..........

Subject: RE: bloody car trouble on road trips
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 17 Jan 05 - 06:48 PM

Bassic

- apparently you are not aware of the state of many Australian roads - from what you say, they would require almost every Aussie to have a 4WD... :-)

So bring on the Songs!

Robin

Subject: RE: bloody car trouble on road trips
From: Bassic
Date: 17 Jan 05 - 07:19 PM

On the contrary, it was because I DO have an idea of the state of Australian roads that my sugestion remains valid I would have thought, .......do Australians who habitualy drive outside the big cities not often have vehicles with larger wheels and beefed up suspension systems then? I would have thought your average European or Japanese family car would soon be a mess without some additional modification for the conditions?

Anyway, songs

Rocky Mountain Way?
The long and winding road?
3 wheels on my wagon?
O`Raffertys Motor Car?

Subject: RE: bloody car trouble on road trips
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 17 Jan 05 - 07:42 PM

A thousand dollar car
Ain't worth nuthin
A thousand dollar car ain't worth shit
Might as well take yer thousand dollars
And set fire to it.......................

A thousand dollar car
Ain't worth a dime
Loose yer thousand dollars every time
Oh, why did I buy a thousand dollar car?.............