I am very lucky that I have not had any horrendous breakdown experiences, but the one that sticks in my memory is when our car broke down yards from home.
We didn’t have home cover, and the breakdown cover we did have stipulated you had to be a certain distance from your house before they would come and rescue you and take you to the nearest garage.
What did we do?
Pushed the car half way around our housing estate so they’d come and help us!!
If your car reaches a point when the major repair costs more than the actual value of the car, you need to sell it. Some major problems include a blown engine, leaky gasket head or transmission failure.
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I broke down on the way back to Lincolnshire from Oxford, the gearbox virtually fell out of the bottom of the car.
I have only broken down once – I had my one year old with me as well as all my shopping as I had just been to asda! All my frozen stuff was melting!
@ashlallan
My gearbox got stuck in 4th gear going 70 mph approaching a roundabout! A lorry driver moved my car onto the verve for me luckily and then a police car sat behind me as there was an accident on the other side of the roundabout!
I don’t drive, but I’ve been stuck in plenty of car breakdowns – the worst being in the middle of the night in the middle of the countryside with no mobile phone
I didn’t break down but my wipes stopped working when I hit torrential rain on a motorway! I couldn’t see anything all of a sudden and I was travelling at 60mph. I had to use my indicators to pull over gradually and then I stopped. It was the most frightening experience ever and I had to call the mechanics to come out.
That happened to us once too on the way to the Lake District and it was terrifying. They just stopped and the rain was so heavy, scary stuff!
my car had something wrong with it and broke down everywhere and always in the worst places but if you waited10mins it worked again
Having a girly shopping day out, we decided to go down the motorway
to Boundary Mill. I was in the middle lane, car started to lose power,
rather unpleasant smell quickly followed by plumes of smoke coming
from the engine. Managed to get over onto the hard shoulder and phone
the RAC who were brilliant I have to say when they realised three females
broken down on the motorway. The most scarey part was getting out of
the car to get up on the embankment, the speed of the cars whizzing past
nearly knocks you over! Oh and thank you so much to all the cars that beeped
as we sat on our tesco bags on the wet grass. RAC took us home, got another
car and went off shopping again so not a complete disaster.
I spun on the motorway with a broken wheel strut. I ended up facing the wrong way on a little triangle where the main carriage way is joined by a slip road. I was not able to get out the car as traffic from both sides of me! RAC were fabulous.
I had a high speed blowout on the m1 during rush hour but managed to steer into the hard shoulder
I broke down in the days before mobile phones in the middle of nowhere had to walk for 2 miles to find a house with a phone I could borrow
It happened on the M25 10years ago when we were on a tight schedule to get to Heathrow to catch our flight to France.The car overheated and we stopped on the hard shoulder to let it cool down.When I tried to restart it it would’nt go until eventually someone gave us a push.We missed our flight by 5 minutes.
On the M25,my boyfriend was trying to overtake someone and broke down in the middle of it all!Luckily we had a friend with us in the car&they both got out&pushed the car to the side..then it was AA to the rescue!
Worst for me was when I was learning to drive and started to panic because the chap behind kept flashing his lights. Turn out the car exhaust was hanging off and dragging along the road!
When the car suddenly decided to die right on the entrance to the motorway a very nice lorry driver blocked the road to stop an accident and some lovely people pushed the car to a safe place.
I was a newly qualified driver, aged 17, heading to college one morning. Approaching a T Junction, the car stalled and wouldn’t start. I waved out my window to tell the cars behind me to overtake me which was fine. Then a bus came up behind me and couldn’t get past. I got out my car to tell him I had broken down, forgetting that my door was faulty and didn’t open from the outside without the key. So there I was, broken down, blocking the road, unable to even get back in the car to push it out the way! This was back in the day when 17 year olds didn’t have mobile phones, so I had to run half a mile to police station and ask them to come and assist me. I changed car shortly after 😉
I broke down on the approach to a busy four way junction. My brother-in-law kindly came out with a tow rope but we only managed to travel a few yards before the rope snapped – right in the middle of the junction. Needless to say we were very embarrassed whilst we pushed the car out of the way.
On the M25 many years ago we were heading for Gatwick for a flight to France when the car overheated.By the time we got going it was too late and we missed the flight by 5 minutes.
We broke down with a 2 week old baby in the middle of Winter. He was lactose intolerant and so had special formula milk which we didn’t have. Luckily his Grandad saved the day!
Hele
BANK HOLIDAY M1 TRAFFIC, POURING RAIN!
Flat battery at the train station after returning to university following a weekend home. In December. On a Sunday night.
I don’t drive so no break downs
xxx
About 12 years ago I broke down just as I was approaching a roundabout. There were loads of cars behind me and the drivers were all beeping the horns in frustration. I didn’t have a clue what to do but one kind couple stopped and towed me off the roundabout so safety where I rang my father to come and rescue me.
We were going to Bournemouth for the day in my friends Morris Traveller. We didn’t even make it to the end of my road.
we had set off on holiday and broke down on the M20 where we had to sit on a grass verge waiting to be towed off by a breakdown truck. my son was only 4 and i remember feeling really vulnerable on the edge of the motorway. we had a packet of biscuits to munch on which helped ! sadly we had no car for the rest of the holiday, got towed to campsite and left, luckily a local garage fixed it in time to go home at end of the week. it rained everydsy we were there and we had to walk everywhere, not best holiday i`ve ever had ;]
Broke down and had to wait 4 hours for a tow.
I’ve been fortunate enough to never break down …touch wood!
I once broke down in rush hour and it was so embarrassing. Then to make matters worse, I was on a steep hill and suddenly the holder for the spare tyre, which on my old Peugeot 106 was underneath the car, broke. The spare tyre rolled away and under the car behind ripping its exhaust off. Pretty unlucky.
breaking down on the motorway, in the rain, in the dark no clue of where I was, years ago before mobile phones and no emergency phone boxes for several miles.
in the middle of the night when i was in labour with my first child we got in the car to go to the hospital but broke down on the way. it wasnt far so decided to walk but it was a really steep hill and wasnt easy with contractions ripping through me. the birth went well and the other half left in the morning to get the car fixed before coming to take me and new baby home.we spent ages getting the baby car seat strapped in properly, i got in and off we went only to break down again before getting off hospital grounds. in the end baby and me got a taxi and eventually made it home!!
This summer when I broke down twice in one day!
Laura H
dont have one as i dont drive
@avelte2000
Kind of my worst and my best, I broke down in the right hand lane approaching a roundabout. Cue lots of beeping and grumpy people behind me. Suddenly a fire engine drew up in the next lane. The driver said to me ‘you cant stop here’ and I told him I wasnt exactly doing it on purpose. He said ‘out you get boys!’ and suddenly 4 firemen in uniform were bumping my car out of the way. It was hard to know whether to be embarrassed cos my car was broken down or embarrassed because I was ogling the guys so obviously!
I dont drive but have been in a lovely old VW Beetle when something went wrong under the bonnet and flames and smoke started pouring out of it! Luckily the driver kept his cool and sorted it out without injury or mishap.
i was going along this road and it had a really rough surface and I realised my tyre had gone. When my hub cap rolled down the road this was confirmed!
I couldn’t really stop to pull ove ras it was a busy road and not many places to stop so I had to carry on till I could get to a side street to pull ov er. My tyre had completely burst from that dodgy piece of road!
I don’t drive – leave all that stress to hubby!
I broke down with my son when he was a baby….it topped off an already stressful day. When recovery arrived, I started crying because I was so pleased to see him. So embarrassing!
the car wouldn’t start on the morning of a job interview – it was beyond help so a neighbour came to the rescue
Years ago with my first car, bought second-hand. I was on my way to visit an elderly relative, when I pressed the clutch pedal to change gear. As I was about to turn a corner, the pedal went down and stayed down. I acted promptly by changing indication, pulling in at side of road and parked the car. I had been so surprised at what had happened with the clutch pedal. Luckily I was nearby relative that I was planning on visiting, so made my way there on foot. On phoning my boyfriend he instantly knew the clutch cable had snapped and arranged for replacement / repair.
Rachel Craig
oh god onlyt been driving about two months, gear box completely broke in front of a junction, driving alone, 10 percent battery- just sat and cried and texted until my battery went until someone turned up 2 hours later!! put me off xx
We’ve never broken down (touch all wood nearby) but some of these other stories are awful!
We broke down on our way to Cornwall for our Summer holiday. We had an estate car and I hadn’t been too careful with packing, just shoving loads of stuff in the car. Our children were about 10 and 12 at the time so we had loads of stuff! We left at 5am but were delayed initially by an unscheduled trip to A & E as I cut my leg rather badly just before I got into the car. Once we had left the hospital (5 hours later! I needed stitches!) we continued on our journey but the car began to lose power and we broke down only about 20 miles after leaving home. After being towed back home my husband arranged for us to borrow a hire car but by this time on a Saturday all that was left was a small family saloon! I had to repack very carefully and leave lots of stuff at home that we really missed later in the week! We eventually arrived at our holiday caravan 10pm! So much for an early start!
had just brought my first car at 19 and drove it down to Southampton when half way there the engine went on the motorway. There was steam coming out from underneath the bonnet and I thought it was on fire. I was utterly devestated and had to get it towed to a nearby garage, upon returning to the car dealership I found that they had packed up and gone so never got my money back.
A blown tyre whilst driving quite fast!
my wife once put diesel in our petrol car and we broke down on new years eve, never again.
a snapped timing belt in the middle of winter late at night in the freezing cold, the wait for rescue seemed like hours
The battery dying just as we were about to leave to go on holiday.
Breaking down on the side of a busy road and having police stop to ask if okay.
i was in my brothers car when his car broke down in the snow it was cold and nasty
id only passed my test a week so was nervous about going out on my own however it was a winters night and i was going home from my mums when my exhurst fell off I was getting stressed about the car and my two year old would not stop crying as he was cold and hungry.
fortunately I never had a break down 🙂
Car broke down on the way to an important interview. I never made it there on time and I never got a second chance to attend.
We broke down in the winter in a car park, so luckily we were safe. The breakdown people took ages to get to us, but thankfully we made it home just in time to pick up our daughter from pre-school!
@rachiegr
In the middle of nowhere in the Scottish Highlands in the rain, it took ages for the AA to find us,it was very difficult to explain where we were because it was just trees and mountains. Luckily a helpful local came to the rescue and managed to the the AA exactly where we were, if it wasn’t for that lovely lady we would still be there now!
a punctured tyre 60 miles from where we were staying 60 miles from Amsterdam, on a Sunday, when nothing was open and knowing we had to leave for Germany the next day!
Snapped exhaust
On the way to a wedding, on the motorway, ended up having the car towed back to Kent while we were driven round by an recovery driver man trying to find a replacement car. Not fun. Got to the hotel in the middle of the night where everyone else was pissed, we were just pissed off.
I dont drive so none
Car wouldn’t start and got stuck in a car park
On new year eve/day my partner slid on black ice and buckled the wheel – it was an expensive start to the year
exhaust fell off on way back from Devon, thankfully we were only 20 miles from home
broke down on the way to pick the kids up from school, ended up having to walk in the snow to get them and was rather late 🙁
gettin stuck right outside the chippy with no moeny lol starvin too
A few years ago I was on my own and my car broke down on the M11 so I had to pull over to the hard shoulder in the dark and pouring rain, and not one person stopped to help me. After some time (and fortunately for me) an off-duty police officer and a tow truck driver on his way home from work, both came to my rescue – I got a tow home for free! Turns out my car had run out of fuel…
kids day out – got our son and niece with us and off for a day out to the zoo – started off fine and the engine overheated and broke down at the side of the motorway with two kids and it started to rain! then get a flat tyre later in the day! just ended up a whole nightmare!! x
Driving from Lincolnshire to Devon the gearbox went so we had to be taken back home, then we hired a minibus which broke down when we were exploring North Devon. Meaning we were without transport for most of our break!!
There was a fault with the bonnet catch and the bonnet flew up and smashed the windscreen while I was driving at 50 up in the hills. Instantly couldn’t see so had to do an emergency stop and hope I stayed on the road! There is no phone signal there so I tied the bonnet down with a bandage from the first aid kit and drove slowly home! It took a few hours for me to stop shaking!
After going to garage earlier in day to say the battery light kept coming on..Later I went to a friends house, pulled up outside and the car died. My friend wasn’t home and I had to trek over a mile down a dark road to a phone box with 2 young kiddies. (before the days of mobiles..)
(rafflecopter ID – Su Tyler)
Breaking down with the choldren in the car and being stuck for 20 hours x
when my girls were babies and I broke down on a pitch black back country road, It was horrible
broke down in middle of nowhere on way to catch flight to NY – Missed flight 🙁
We’ve only just bought our first car so, touch wood, no break downs yet!
Dead battery while Christmas shopping, minus 6 degrees & a 1 hour wait for the breakdown truck 🙁
breaking down in work, and being horribly late
being in the middle of nowhere and having no phones
Calling out a well known rescue service to be told I was being a silly woman and there was nothing wrong with my car – then the engine seizing on the way home and the garage telling me it was beyond repair.
Remember as a child being driven down a steep hill when a wheel rolled past us. We all laughed then as we listed over realised it was ours!
We broke down on a busy A road – managed to coast into a layby but cars were going past scarily fast. We were rescued by an AA recovery truck which happened to be passing while waiting for the AA to turn up and taken to a safe place. He then tried to fix it but we had to be relayed home.
Hazel Rea – @beachrambler
We were going on holiday and the whole wheel came off,we wnt all over the road,it was very scary!
while on route to go on holiday last year we broke down on the way to the airport!!! grrrrrrr we made it just nin time though!
We broke down once, only a mile or so away from home, but we didn’t have a pushchair for our (then!) baby. Walking that far carrying a very heavy baby was NOT fun!
I have never broken down – touch wood
My windscreen was shattered by a stone while driving on the motorway x
I don’t have a car at the moment and have luckily never broken down but my old Kia had a habit of not starting up especially in the rain
We have been lucky and havent broken down yet
I once broke down in the middle of temporary traffic lights and blocked the whole road at rush hour. Awful!!!
we broke down in the middle of spaghetti junction at midnight before the days of mobile phones. It was in Nov and was pelting rain. We were frozen by the time the motorway patrol found us!!!
We were moving house and our car was jammed packed full of stuff from our sojourn with relatives whilst we were looking – we broke down two miles away from our new home. We had to get a friend to come out and give us a jump start (dodgy alternator, we had to replace it in the end) as there was no way we could push it, WAY too heavy. Given I used to drive old bangers then I have broken down countless times 😀 (Rafflecopter entries in my real name Nikki Hayes)
We had a tyre blowout on the M20 this summer lucky my partner managed to get the car from the fast lane to the hard shoulder in seconds but it was very scary. We had to wait for about and hour and half not to bad but we had nowhere safe to stand so we ended up next to the bushes with ant hills, nettles and lorry’s zooming pass not good with 3 kids and a baby.
We had planned a trip through Glencoe, we had got half way through when the gears stopped working. It was pouring down by then and the breakdown took 2 hours to get to us and four hours to tow us home. NIghtmare.
I broke down in rush hour on a busy junction ended up with a chap pushing Me off the road then I had to walk to the nearest phone.
we broke down at the top of a roundabout blocking everyone getting into ASDA ..
I had a high speed blowout on the a55 during rush hour but managed to steer into the hard shoulder
Worst breakdown. Oh, so many to choose from. I think it was probably the one where I broke down an hour from home with all 4 children in the car, so we missed meetng up with our friends for a science day, and it took all day to get home. I hate DPFs.
The car went a bit mental on the way back from Leeds, my husband was on the motorway and rather than stopping, drove all the way back on the hard shoulder going 20 miles per hour.
About a week ago my dad had my daughter in the car he was driving down the dual carriage way and had a tyre blow out! They were so lucky not to have been involved in an accident. My dad had to change the tyre in a really dangerous place too.
We bought a car off ebay and about 2 weeks later as we drove from Ripon to Leeds the radiator broke and it started to overheat so we had to pull over and wait to be towed. I was pregnant and desperate for a wee too!
It was when my son was small and it was dark – I felt so vulnerable
Our car broke down in the middle lane of the motorway. It was terrifying and pouring with rain.
ning out of petrol at 2 mins journey time from work!!
I don’t drive, so thankfully, I’ve not faced anything yet! 🙂
We broke down on a ferry and couldn’t get off, the guys on the ferry helped out and eventually got the car going again by which time we had made the journey 3 times
I broke down in the snow on my way to a Christmas party 🙁
Worst thing was I was wearing peep toe sandals!
Since then I have always kept a pair of willies in my boot!
when i was about 6 my dad was driving along the motorway and there was 6 of us kids piled in the back and a tyre blew the car spun several times i was petrified
We broke down while taking my sister to her wedding to a man no one liked. We told her it was a sign but she ignored us
My car cut out on a busy road for no reason and I had no power and no lights at night. It started after 10 mins and only did the same thing once more.
My parents I were travelling home from Wales late at night and a stone chipped the windscreen, it was so scary!
Being stuck in the fens at night and having to wait 2hrs to be rescued is my worse breakdown ever!
Breaking down on a motorway roundabout in rush hour 🙁
I don’t drive,so haven’t had any
My clutch broke completely on my way to pick up my son from Nursery, my phone battery was almost dead too! Managed to text my mum-in-law to ring nursery to warn we’d be late and get her to drive to pick him up! Just had enough battery to call breakdown company, was in the fast lane of dual carriage way at school run time, not the best day 🙁
As a teenager a friend and I drove from the Midlands to Cornwall in an old banger. It was full to the brim of shoes/clothes/essentials. Radio blaring we drove way to fast. We broke down 3 times on the way and each time called the RAC on my stepdads extended policy! hehe the worst and best breakdown experience.
My 11 month old car decided to blow up whilst working miles from home – I was stuck had no idea what to do had no break down cover that I knew of. Luckily a friend told me all new cars come with some kind of recovery for 12 months! So luckily managed to get recovered but was such a long cold wait!
I don’t like to tempt fate, but I haven’t broken down (yet) :-/
touch wood, I’ve not had one yet!
Helen booth
The RAC took 4 hours to get to me.
My story was long one but as short as possible – on way to interview & car wouldn’t brake it just kept going faster up to 65mph in a 40mph I but on my hassard lights on & hand on the horn to let people know I was in trouble, I was actually looking for a field to crash into as I had no control over the car & then it suddenly just stopped & in front of a garage too! The blokes had seen all the carry on & had come running over to me, one of them drove me to my interview & the other fixed my car. I had only been driving 2 weeks & had brought a 2nd hand car, I was 18 years old too. Something major had gone wrong with it & the bloke at the garage bless him only charged me £50 when it was actually a price of around £500 my dad said to me ‘I wish I was young & good looking to get discounts like that’ lol! I had a very lucky escape, got the job, got my car fixed on the cheap & got myself a date with the garage owner lol!
I broke down it was pouring with rain and (prior to having children)I was ready for a night out full make up and (def pre children) a small outfit. I gotout onlyto see on the other side of the dual carriage way a police car I was so happy. Sadly it drove straight the other way so I waved my hands in a no polite sign language jesture and began to cry. I sat soggy and depleated on the side of the road and then blue flashing lights appeared the police has turned around to help me- they did help me off the road, drive me home (mascara running down my face looking like a drowned rat) and ‘yes’ they did see my hand signs blushes and apologies did follow
A 3 hour wait in the dark with my young son stuck at the child minders.
When we were little, my Mum drove an old banger of a Fiesta and it broke down whilst going round a roundabout! We had to sit in the car in rush hour traffic. Luckily a passing firetruck stopped and the firemen pushed us to safety! x
Breaking down in the middle of the night when I was only 18.
I have never broken down 🙂
Breaking down on my own on the top of the pennines on the way to family in Yorkshire. It was a snowy day and very misty. What was worst was when I got out of the car to deal with the green flag. My dog started on the Christmas Turkey!!!! Was devastated at the time, but now we laugh about it.
Getting a flat tyre with a young baby and no milk bottles left! We had to wait 45 mins which is a long time with a screaming hungry baby. x
Being towed by a rope for the first time – for over an hour.
waiting 4 hours 4 rac
New Years Eve in the afternoon, on the way from Hampshire up to the MIL’s in North Wales. Just coming up to Birmingham and smoke starts coming out of the bonnet. Pulled over onto the hard shoulder, open the bonnet and smokes poursssss out. Got the kids out the car and got them to stand on the embankment. I phoned the RAC. 3 hours!! In the snow lol Ending up getting towed to a garage in Birmingham to find out the head gasket had gone 🙁 Managed to get a courtesy car and drove home, getting through the door at 12.10am, Happy New Year – pffft lol
I’m not driving :}
Breaking down on a roundabout on the way to a trip to Bournemouth. With a boot full of luggage and 2 small children in the back..not fun!
Having only passed my driving test 2 months before, I was on my usual weekend drive to London. On the return journey I broke down, managed to pull over in an entrance to a forest. They asked me where I was so I had to dangerously walk until I found a road name. Turns out the head gasket went, worst thing to brake, costs £900. It actually went twice, investigative work found out it was the switch.
gertrude_gertree@hotmail.com
i have never had one
My accelerator pedal stuck down, on the motorway, in fog. I was in the slow lane, but couldn;t see the phones far enough ahead to go into neutral and stop by one. So scary!
We broke down in the middle of winter in freezing temperatures. It wasn’t long before the RAC got to us, but it was hours before I could feel my toes again!
In the middle of a roundabout 🙁 x
In the middle of Wales on a camping trip. 6 freezing teenagers wandering home at night…. argh!
I broke down on the M1, going to a friend’s barbecue. The car just started to lose power so I pulled onto the hard shoulder before it completely stopped. When the RAC man arrived, the first thing he said was ‘Have you run out of petrol, love?’ (This was in the 80s, before mobile phones and political correctness!)
Broke down at night in torrential rain. Took 3 or 4 hours for the rescue service to arrive. I saw the van go past several times and each time I called I was told that they had been unable to find me and assumed I had got started and not called in to cancel. They took down the details incorrectly hence were looking in the wrong place.
Being hit by a driver on the motorway and ending up having the car written off and 2 years off work with chronic back pain 🙁
I broke down at some really busy traffic lights when my petrol gauge kept telling me it was full but it turned out it was empty! very embarrassing!
a blow out on the M1 at night
my engine blowing up on the motorway!!
I remember breaking down a few weeks after I had passed my test, it was late at night and in the middle of no where. I was scared to death! x
Motorbike broke down in stockport (I lived in oldham at the time) in the driving rain. Had to push it for miles. Utterly knackering.
Traveling from Southampton to Cornwall, got about half way there and the cam belt snapped. We were recovered back to Southampton and had to start the journey again in a different car 🙁 Original car was a write off.
i don’t drive & no breakdowns with the hubby driving 🙂
Driving along on a dark country road when a herd of deer came from nowhere and charged across the road, we screeched to a halt and no harm was done but my pounding heart didn’t recover all night!
breaking down on the side of the A1 late at night, breakdown guy not happy and does a bodge job then finally agrees to arange to tow us home and left on side of rd for another 2 hrs
Once, when I had a flat tyre, I borrowed a jack from a total stranger and broke it.
An offside tyre blowout on a busy dual carrigeway meant that the police had to cordon off a lane so I could get the tyre changed
We had a flat tyre on a dual carridgeway. A police car stopped and offered to help. The tyre wouldn’t pump up so we went to get the spare out of the boot.
The spare was also flat so the policeman said he would take my partner to the nearest garage to pump it up, my partner then shut the boot with the keys inside it.
on my way to leeds fest, it’s pouring down with rain and my window wiper suddenly stops working, the linkage rod had broke!
We had a night flight back from Turkey and landed about 4.30am, got bus back to car and managed to drive it 2mins down road before computer mgmt light came on and car cut out. Couldn’t get it started, phoned green flag who adv only have cover for 10 miles from home we were over 200 🙁 eventually adv we do have cover so we travelled back in tow wagon with car on tow, needless to say I slept all way home.
Broke down once in a thick fog – it was quite scary
Gear Box went – in the middle of nowhere before the days of mobile phones. Long walk 🙁
breaking down and realising i had forgot my phone, it was dark on my own and had to flag someone down to phone my husband very scary
I have never broken down
Had a terrible experience travelling to start at uni. The van overheated and blew the head gasket, leaving me stranded with all my belongings in the back. I didn’t have recovery membership either.
Never broken down so far!
Hubby got stuck in the snow in someones driveway and the pushed him off and left him alone! 🙁 It was freezing!!
car conking out at M4 toll booths coming into Wales
Having a tyre blow out on the motorway. Very scary!
a blown tyre on the motorway
Stuck up a hill on bonfire night!
I was working a night shift at asda which was 10 miles away from where I lived, I was doing 70 down the motorway surrounded by lorries when my car started to slow down voluntarily. (I had blown the engine) I had no breakdown and didn’t know who to call for for help. Luckily I had a hubby who knew what to do. lol
I was 17, it was the middle of the night and long past midnight in rural cambridgeshire and it was pitch black. Pretty terrifying!
i broke down on a motorway = my head gasket blew. i didnt have any breakdown cover so ended up paying loads to get my car towed home
A snapped steering rack whilst on a roundabout, had to go round about 4 times before i could yank it to some kind of straight angle to get off it!
broke down with two of my children been sick everywhere had to spend an hour waiting for help what a palaver
Went down a nasty pothole on a dark, country road. Luckily I had a reflective hazard triangle in the boot which I put a few metres behind the car so people could see when approaching. Eventually hubby arrived to change the tyre as it had burst and was totally ripped. Scary!!
i dont drive and cant remember any
Yesterday, my car battery died after I left the lights on, thanks to the fog in the morning.
On our way to cornwall, We had the car loaded right up. With our two babies, and border collie dog. We heard a huge bang, and had to stop on the side of a road as the smoke was very thick and would have caused an accident with other cars. The AA rescued us and fixed the “broken seal”. Luckily we had water bottles for the little ones, so the dog didn’t get dehydrated! 🙂 xx
I do not drive
It was on the way home from our Christmas party. my friend drove myself and another colleague home and she accidently hit a boulder in the road which shredded her tyre. We heard this massive screeching all the way to the roundabout just before we reached this motorway. My friend who was driving had to pull over on the roundabout – very sensible. Unfortunately it was a lease car and we didn’t have any breakdown cover. In the end, she had to call her husband who had to tow us back home. It happened to be the worst, windiest, rainiest night of the year and we all looked like drowned rats by the end.
I broke down on the M25 and had to wait ages for the breakdown truck, it was pretty scary as lorries were flying past and there wasn’t much room between the hard shoulder and the motorway
Our car broke down at Flamborough Head lighthouse last year, there was myself, my husband and our 2 children and we had to wait about 2 hours for the recovery vehicle to arrive.
Being stuck in torrential rain on the motorway
In the middle of winter, rain beating down, cold. I broke down on a B road in North Norfolk on a Sunday. As this was before the mobile phone, I had a 6 mile walk to find any help. Never forget that, ever.
Breaking down in the middle of nowhere just before the Motorway with 2 toddler boys while 7 months pregnant with #3 – then waiting 4hrs for the AA & then another 2hrs for a tow truck! Truly awful!
i broke down whilst driving past my work, everybody saw! red faced!
broke down on way to pick up dh from airport – he got home before me passing me in a taxi too!
radiator went on car smoke everywhere AND it stopped at a busy bus stop!!
On my own, late, dark, wet, cold and in the middle of nowhere, drove through a flooded road and broke down in the middle of it as everything got soaked under the bonnet, it cut out and wouldn’t start up again. To say I was worried would be an understatement! About an hour had passed by till I eventually got the car started again, it must have dried out – Might I add this happened many years ago before everybody owned mobile phones!!
Blow out on the motorway with 2 children and pregant , very scary!
On the way to my nans funeral we broke down and had to get a courtesy car to carry on to make it! My boyfriend unfortunately didn’t have his license with him so I had to drive in a very sad state! They gave us a massive 4 x 4 which felt like a bus eek!! Amazingly we made it and gave my nan a lovely send off!
We broke down once on the way back from holiday with the caravan on the back – not good!
Our worst car breakdown experience was having a tyre blow out on the M40
@polly58
Engine overheating because I’d forgotten to top up the oil – boyfriend at the time wasn’t impressed!
I broke down in my work carpark as I was parked on a hill and didn’t have enough fuel in the car!
Breaking down on a dual carriageway, in rush hour! It was torrential rain (and my car leaks, a lot!) and I had steam pouring out of the bonnet! I then had to wait 6 hours for the AA to arrive because they forgot me!!!
on the way to cadbury world with a very upset little boy in the car 🙁
I broke down in the middle of nowhere late at night, in the days before mobile phones were the norm. I had to walk along country lanes with no lighting to find a phone for about 1 hour and then the AA told me to walk back to the car and they would meet me there. By the time I had walked back the AA man was waiting for me. As I often travelled alone at night I went out and bought a mobile phone the next day.
My car broke down on the way to my sister in laws 21st birthday party, some distance away. We ended up all 4 of us in the breakdown truck, not a great trip.
Breaking down on the M69 on my own and being stuck there for 5 hours
i’ve been lucky enough to not be in a breakdown, yet………. x
never had a breakdown but once the wheel come off the car while we driving over a bridge
lisa ann tebbutt
on the way to the airport a few years ago, thankfully we still made our flight!!!
we had a tyre blow out on an busy road.
the head gaskit always goes on our cars
i broke down on a slip road onto the motorway and only had enough battery to make one call, had to wait for hours hoping someone would come in the freezing cold
me and my other half was on the motorway, when he found out the brakes didnt work! Eeeek!!
When I thought I had broken down, but there wasn’t actually anything wrong. Instead I called everyone out for no reason… oops! I haven’t actually broken down before, dreading when it happens!
Driving down a country lane and getting a flat tyre! Plus not having a clue how to change it
Kel
trying to pass my test..hoping not to experience any!
oh so many … probably running out of petrol in (what seemed to be) a monsoon!
I had a blowout on the motorway very scary. I was 7mths pregnant and with a 1 yr old at the time.
On the a1 my car lost power!