Todays list of broken down cars

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The Sun is out and I saw a familiar sight earlier, a broken down TVR, been there and done that, I felt bad for the guy.
 
Invalid scooter near Trent bridge with flat battery . The guy jumped off and started pushing it . He didn't look like an invalid to me , just way to fat to walk .
 
Surely to be meaningful there has to be some reflection of the numbers of a particular model on the road and the mileage driven . You don't see many Ferrari broken down a) because there aren't that many about for starters --- and b) the ones that do exist are in some detailing shop getting polished rather than being driven on the road?
Just saying. :dk:

Vauxhall Insignia registered 2012 = 125,406---- 1% failure rate----1,254 broken down

All Ferrai registered from year 2000= 3,916 --------------------1% failure rate -- 39 broken down
 
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And in addition to grover's post... certain cars have simple underpinning making them more likely to be kept on as old bangers (Ford, Vauxhall, Peugeot) and therefore more likely to be seen broken down on the hard shoulder - compared to cars with complicated mechanics and electrics who will be whisked away to the next life at the slightest sign of the first expensive repair and therefore will never grow old to become old bangers.
 
Don't want to put a damper on this thread by any manner of means because it could be very interesting. Always interesting to hear from breakdown/recovery guys like Tiff who have a unique insight to these things. Would be interesting to hear for example what causes all these Vauxhalls to breakdown - a common factor or variety of problems? Perhaps more pertinent to this forum what causes any Mercs to be stranded at the roadside. When you hear that the majority of AA/RAC etc callouts are related to flat batteries flat tyres or key/alarm problems does this really say as much about the car as its owner?
 
It's always a combination of things, isn't it... breaking down due to neglect is seen as owner issue rather than car issue, yet some cars will take abuse well while others require careful regular servicing...

e.g., I suspect that many of the breakdowns will be due to cambelts that were not replaced on time as per manufacturers' schedule, however you could argue that chain driven cams are a better design (from the reliability point of view anyway - there other drawbacks to chains).
 
When you hear that the majority of AA/RAC etc callouts are related to flat batteries flat tyres or key/alarm problems does this really say as much about the car as its owner?

I imagine mis-fueling is quite common too.

I saw an almost new Audi A4 being loaded onto a recovery truck at a BP station near me last week - most likely that had been filled up with the wrong fuel.
 
I understand what you are saying re number of cars from say Vauxhall on the road in comparison to say Subaru, but its kind of meant to be a light hearted view and not highly scientific.....its just something to do whilst on a long journey.

So, my results for yesterday, on a hot M4 were surprisingly low, just a Rover 25 with steam belching out (no surprise there then! Another K Series with a blown head gasket)

2002 BMW 5 Series with bonnet up
 
Not today but I have seen 2 Audi q7s on fire and my mate has also seen 1 on fire ! Is there something we are not being told !! ???

We had a company Audi 80 which went on fire at a place I used to work ; also an A4 went on fire outside my house - lucky I was on hand with an extinguisher and tools to disconnect the battery when it happened .

In both cases it was due to the battery positive terminal shorting out against the bulkhead !
 
Don't want to put a damper on this thread by any manner of means because it could be very interesting. Always interesting to hear from breakdown/recovery guys like Tiff who have a unique insight to these things. Would be interesting to hear for example what causes all these Vauxhalls to breakdown - a common factor or variety of problems? Perhaps more pertinent to this forum what causes any Mercs to be stranded at the roadside. When you hear that the majority of AA/RAC etc callouts are related to flat batteries flat tyres or key/alarm problems does this really say as much about the car as its owner?

My sum total of Merc breakdowns over the last 30 years or so have been

failure of electronic ignition module in W114 280E

distributor cap failure on W124 300TE (M103) - replaced at roadside after I got my sister to bring a spare one I had at home

breather pipe coming off bottom of inlet manifold , killing vacuum , on same car - fixed at roadside by AA man after half an hour's diagnosis and 'phone a friend' option by him .

ASD diff failure on same car .

The first and last breakdowns required recovery ( the 280E to the dealer where the fault was diagnosed and fixed ; the W124 to home where I determined the car was not economic to fix and sold it for parts ) .

All my other Mercs have been pretty reliable with only minor faults which i have always been able to fix myself .
 
So, my results for yesterday, on a hot M4 were surprisingly low, just a Rover 25 with steam belching out (no surprise there then! Another K Series with a blown head gasket)

There's one straight away where most of the issues are down to owners neglect.. A K series head gasket is a "fuse"- the problem lies elsewhere which causes the "fuse" to blow.

Vauxhalls tend to be sensor issues, which is unavoidable. Timing chains which usually is. Snapped camshafts, gearbox failures, immobilsers and random electrical issues... Vauxhall are the new Renault IMO.

Seeing more and more issues in very late cars, usually electronic/key/sensor related, many "cured" by disconnecting the battery for a minute or 2. Fords are common, and today a top of the range "60" plate SAAB 95 4x4 have brain freeze and think they are running when they are not,so will not allow you to start. Quick reeboot and they are fine, until next time or software upgrade... Automotive equivalent of a blue screen.

I reckon new cars should have CTRL/ALT/DELETE where the hazard warning light switch used to be.

Surprisingly, up here at least,misfuelling isn't that common, and for some reason all the ones I get tend to be Sainsbury's!

Batteries are always an issue, more so nowadays. they just tend to die overnight. Used to be you'd get bit of warning when you needed a battery but now... fine 1 minute, dead the next... and you can just pop in a new one anymore... oh no. :doh: The car has to be told to accept it..

Gimmie a TVR or old Jag anyday.
 
Gimmie a TVR or old Jag anyday.

Unless you need to change the battery in a TVR, requires wheel removal, I can just picture them designing it and the battery being an afterthought.
 
And in addition to grover's post... certain cars have simple underpinning making them more likely to be kept on as old bangers (Ford, Vauxhall, Peugeot) and therefore more likely to be seen broken down on the hard shoulder - compared to cars with complicated mechanics and electrics who will be whisked away to the next life at the slightest sign of the first expensive repair and therefore will never grow old to become old bangers.

Would be interesting to hear for example what causes all these Vauxhalls to breakdown - a common factor or variety of problems?

It's always a combination of things, isn't it... breaking down due to neglect is seen as owner issue rather than car issue, yet some cars will take abuse well while others require careful regular servicing...

e.g., I suspect that many of the breakdowns will be due to cambelts that were not replaced on time as per manufacturers' schedule, however you could argue that chain driven cams are a better design (from the reliability point of view anyway - there other drawbacks to chains).
Our New Vauxhalls break down with regular failures.

Failure to start for either no reason, or apparent flat battery is very common. (The batteries are then found to be fine)
There are other issues, but mainly the one above.
 

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