How did your car die?

[onion]

Originally Posted By: calvin1

1988 Celebrity - rear trailing arm rusted in two, very exciting


That reminds me of one that I forgot to mention. I had a 1976 Buick Skyhawk at one point. Basically a Chevy Monza with different chrome and an early T-5 transmission. Ran pretty good and got 28mpg with that silly odd-fire 3.8L V6. I got rid of it when a rear control arm mount rusted and broke loose from the unibody.

The car still drove kinda ok... handled a little funny at times, but I actually drove it for a couple weeks before I noticed the control arm hanging down. I might have kept it except that I didn't know how to weld at the time.

 

[LS2JSTS]

Originally Posted By: M1Accord
Originally Posted By: FL-400S
1985 dodge lancer...piston separated from crankshaft...so said mechanic

this was around 1993~70k miles on car
old lady driven for first 60k and dealer maintained

not sure what would cause that, but no more dodges


The problem is not that it's Dodge but it was a dealership's maintained vehicle. Do you think the dealership wants it to be on the road or you back in the showroom.


The problem is it was driven by an old lady for 60k, then somebody got in it and worked it a little...and it blew up. See it happen all the time with grandparent hand me downs, they just dont last when driven hard at all imo.

 

[gfh77665]

Originally Posted By: Anies
Death by C4C. Liquid glass pushed through my beloved 94 Jeep Wrangler. Was my brothers, then mine, and my brothers again. Parents C4C'd it for the 10 Camry they bought.

Wish I was there for the last moments

One of the terrible things thats gone on lately in the US..

 

[SuperFast]

Originally Posted By: Anies
Death by C4C. Liquid glass pushed through my beloved 94 Jeep Wrangler. Was my brothers, then mine, and my brothers again. Parents C4C'd it for the 10 Camry they bought.

Wish I was there for the last moments

sorry, is that that "Seal up" stuff that you are NOT supposed to put in the radiator when antifreeze is there ?

How did it end up killing car and why os that stuff bad ?

 

[Rooy]

Originally Posted By: SuperFast
Originally Posted By: Anies
Death by C4C. Liquid glass pushed through my beloved 94 Jeep Wrangler. Was my brothers, then mine, and my brothers again. Parents C4C'd it for the 10 Camry they bought.

Wish I was there for the last moments

sorry, is that that "Seal up" stuff that you are NOT supposed to put in the radiator when antifreeze is there ?

How did it end up killing car and why os that stuff bad ?


C4C = Cash for Clunkers, which destroyed the engines by use of sodium silicate.

Oh, and my car had to be taken out back and shot. That's how it died.

 

[calvin1]

Originally Posted By: onion
Originally Posted By: calvin1

1988 Celebrity - rear trailing arm rusted in two, very exciting


That reminds me of one that I forgot to mention. I had a 1976 Buick Skyhawk at one point. Basically a Chevy Monza with different chrome and an early T-5 transmission. Ran pretty good and got 28mpg with that silly odd-fire 3.8L V6. I got rid of it when a rear control arm mount rusted and broke loose from the unibody.

The car still drove kinda ok... handled a little funny at times, but I actually drove it for a couple weeks before I noticed the control arm hanging down. I might have kept it except that I didn't know how to weld at the time.
When the arm failed on the Celebrity there was nothing to locate the rear axle on that side and suddenly my trunk was trying to pass me. I got it home but it wasn't pretty, crabbing about 15* for about 5 miles, steering wheel cranked 90*.

 

[antonmnster]

Not to veer off-topic, but I don't get the hatred for C4C. It's not like the government went around and stole cars from people and destroyed them. People CHOSE to trade their cars in and got a lot of money for it.

How is it different from the government offering incentives (bribes, whatever) to businesses by offering defered taxes, reduced taxes, tax-increment financing, or direct subsides to spur business spending? The government provides all kinds of economic incentives to businesses to stimulate the economy. Why is that morally acceptable but doing the same for citizens not?

 

[Benzadmiral]

How about fiery self-immolation?

My '75 Volvo 164 sedan, bought used, had had a number of niggling problems. (Yeah, I had it checked before I bought it -- but not by my regular mechanic. I suspect the seller bought the mechanic off.) Then one night, my then-wife and I were driving back from dinner, when something milky began to splash on the windshield, and I smelled smoke.

She told me later that flames were licking under the dash. A fuel line had broken -- an infamous problem with that model of Volvo, I found later.

Anyway, I wrestled the car to the side of the road. We leaped out and jogged to a safe distance in time to watch it burn from end to end. Some patrons of a nearby dance club wandered out to watch the bonfire. One said to me, "Is that your car?" I said, grimly, "It was. . . ."

I got a few dollars for it from the wrecking yard who carted it away, and a few bucks from the insurance company. Very few, as its value was low.

 

[Scienceman]

Ive never had a car die on me, but I have had a school bus!

 

[Cutehumor]

Originally Posted By: M1Accord
Originally Posted By: Anies
Death by C4C. Liquid glass pushed through my beloved 94 Jeep Wrangler. Was my brothers, then mine, and my brothers again. Parents C4C'd it for the 10 Camry they bought.

Wish I was there for the last moments

How is a 1994 Wrangler a clunker? It may be one of the best Wrangler year out there. You could put a Chevy V8 in it to get more power and better fuel economy. Anyone junking their good vehicles in the name of greed shall be banned from car ownership or have their new car break down on them. Hopefully, the Camry is a lemon so the Wrangler can get its revenged for being abandoned after serving your family faithfully for so many years.


love thy neighbor bro

 

[97f150]

I have only ever had 1 of my cars die, and it wasnt on me. It was a 1990 Geo Prizm. I had bought a replacement car and was letting a friend use it. He called one day and wanted to know if I could look at the car, because it wouldnt start. Went to check it out, turned key, car had serious knock going on just by cranking the starter over. It never did start and the second time I turned the key it was locked up. Never did lift the hood, towed the car to my house and took all of his junk out of it, then towed it to the scrap yard.

My first truck was a 1980 Toyota pick up. This is before Toyota started giving their trucks last names apparently. The engine ran like a top but the body was falling off the frame. I used it for a while and sold it to a friend of mine, who proceeded to finish tearing it up. When the brake lines rusted through, he figured he had gotten his fun out of it and sold the motor and junked the body. Motor is still running in a different truck as of my last verification 2 years ago.

I had a 1985 Cutlass Ciera that I was rear ended by a semi in. Motor ran good, car was missing its back half. To the junkyard that one went.

The majority of my cars have been sold or traded though.

 

[Chris142]

I had a 1986 Mitsubishi pickup that my dad bought brand new for me graduating HS. It needed a valve job @ 35k. The crankshaft broke @ 44k which destroyed the engine. I put a good used engine in it from a junkyard.

I traded it back to my dad and he drove it 4k then double gasketed the oil filter which burned up engine #2.

It went to pic a part after that.

 

[eljefino]

^ I know someone with a Dodge D50 (same thing) and it burned a quart of oil every 200 miles new off the lot.

 

[saberz]

Originally Posted By: M1Accord
Originally Posted By: Anies
Death by C4C. Liquid glass pushed through my beloved 94 Jeep Wrangler. Was my brothers, then mine, and my brothers again. Parents C4C'd it for the 10 Camry they bought.

Wish I was there for the last moments

How is a 1994 Wrangler a clunker? It may be one of the best Wrangler year out there. You could put a Chevy V8 in it to get more power and better fuel economy. Anyone junking their good vehicles in the name of greed shall be banned from car ownership or have their new car break down on them. Hopefully, the Camry is a lemon so the Wrangler can get its revenged for being abandoned after serving your family faithfully for so many years.



It was a clunker because when it was given back to my brother he basically drove it with little care/maintenance. 225k/14 years it needed a lot of work, ran very well but it was rusted to ****. The floor pan under the drivers seat was rusting and the seat mounts were rusted/broken. Rear seat was folded up to support the backing of the driver seat. The hood vent rusted through and would let large amounts of water into the cabin. It sat from 07 to 09/10. Cranked but the weather took its toll. 6 banger 4.0L reliable, to the big car lot in the sky.

 

[saberz]

Further more, since it had been sitting there and having rust holes getting bigger and worse it wasn't necessarily "safe". Trust me, I wanted it but I couldn't afford to fix it up. My father at the time owned a 91 Lumina that was having Upper and Lower gasket failure and other issues. Our family typically drives vehicles till its no longer worth repairing or fixing them. The Lumina was bought for 800 bucks in 2001. Got her up to 200+ if not 300+k miles and it was junked and the Jeep was used to get my father his very first new car in his 74 years of being "alive". So yeah I think the Jeep was used in a good manner.

I miss it greatly, especially the howl in the cold winters when you first started her up.

 

[Hollow]

My 1996 Subaru Outback was totaled in a fender bender. Front end collision snapped the timing belt. Broke timing belt on an interference engine meant I had a nice boat anchor under the hood.

The body was repairable, but the added cost of a new engine made the repair bill almost twice what the car was worth.

 

[Silver_civic]

Not my car, but friend I was in the NAVY with had a old, clapped out p.o. ([censored] for lack of a better word). He ran autozone brand 15w40 oil in that old 91 or 92 chevy full size pick up. Had more leaks than the exxon valdez had. He double gasketed the filter one time in late 04' and thats all she wrote for that truck. Think truck had like 156k on it.

 

[mrsilv04]

'87 Monte Carlo - 305 V8.

When I sold it at 252,000 miles in 2006, the frame behind the rear axle was crumbling away. The spots where the trunk mounted to the frame were gone, and the rear bumper mounts were starting to go.

I can only assume that the frame did the car in.

 

[lifeson2112]

1971 Mercury Cyclone GT 351C Police Interceptor. Dual alternators, 2 batteries, hood pins, baby moons, flat black hood-roof-trunk and spoiler. Bucket seats with column shifter. Shotgun/rifle mount,radio mounts. 160MPH Speedometer.
Me:17 years old. Me smoke tires, do burnouts..... C-6 transmission go bye bye. Sold it to an Air Force guy out here at Dyess AFB for $100.

 

[addyguy]

1986 Honda Civic - totalled by a guy in a Ford Taurus that ran a stop sign.

1993 Mazada 323 - kept it going 'on the cheap' until the oil pan rusted out, and it had to be towed out of our condo complex. Ended up sitting in my wife's uncles yard for the next two years, until he towed it away. Everthing needed fixing on it, but it did still run.

Not mine, but my step-fathetr and mother had a 1975 Duster blow-up on them on the highway - oil pump quit, and engine scattered all over the highway. He also had a 1979 Old Cutlass wagon, with a 3.8 V-6 that died of engine failure - body was almost rust-free.

Father had a 1978 Malibu wagon with a 305 V-8 that was so badly worn out, it barely made it to the dealership to be traded in. It would have been junked for sure.....