I've set a new record - maybe

[ckissick]

Yesterday my fuel pump went out on the '83 Westy. So this morning I drove the '89 Tristar to work. A coolant hose blew. I got the Tristar back home but I can't drive it at this time. I had to go on a site visit 30 miles away. It's a nice warm day here in CA, so I drove the Beck Spyder. When I got to the job site, the engine quit. Dead battery. Must be the alternator or voltage regulator. I got a ride home with the tow truck. I still had to go back to the office, so I drove the oldest car of them all, the '50 beetle. 3 breakdowns in 24 hours! Can anyone beat that?

I have to go home now. Let's hope the old bug is up to the task.

(BTW, the 912 is on a rotisserie right now - it's not going anywhere for a while.)

[Jim Richards]

Stop what you're doing and go buy a lottery ticket now, Charlie!

You're taking all this automotive adversity well. Good man!

[sammyg2]

You should off-load those old junkers!

I might be willing to help you out and take that darned beck spyder off your hands .....
only 'cause i'm a giver.

[pete3799]

Not breakdowns but one winter ,many years ago while i was hauling cross country, my wife managed to get her car stuck in the snow bank in our driveway. She walked up to the house and got the 4x4 pick-up and got that stuck trying to pull the car out. She hoofs it back up to the house and gets the Massey-Ferguson .....yup..... burys that too. She had to.give up at that point as that's all the equipment we owned. Called the neighbor and they got everything out for her.

[id10t]

I was a senior in high school, Mom and Dad were at a conference out of state, and I had the house to myself. Coincidentally Will Smith's "Parents Just Don't Understand" had just been released... him talkin' about taking the keys to Dad's new Porsche... would he mind? of course not!

I was driving my '76 Olds Vista Cruiser wagon. Battery died. So I take the 356 to go see a friend. Had a time getting it going, but going it got, and enjoyed a 10 mile drive towards my friend's house who lived 12 miles away. Got to a stop light, car dies, can't get it restarted. (turns out carb diaphragms went to crap, thank god for no fire! )

Get a tow truck home, leave the 356 up the street 'cause I don't want a tow truck trying to get it through the driveway on the hooks... Get some frat boy neighbors in a rented house to help me push it up the drive and into the garage. Carefully clean off pine needles, put keys back in the dresser, and plan to Play Stupid about why the 356 won't start and to say it was moved slightly in the garage so I could get the station wagon in the garage to charge the battery. Brilliant huh?

So... mom's car is at airport, my car needs a battery, the 356 is dead, hrm... oh yes, Dad just bought that M491 coupe Fortunately it stayed running nicely, had a great weekend cruising around with my friends, and Dad never noticed the extra 200 miles that were on it.

I confessed this to my Dad about 3 months before he died (we were talking about the Porsches and disposal after his death), and he wouldn't believe me...

[SCadaddle]

I found out back in the late 70's to early 80's the quickest way to kill a Fiat was to use it to go find parts for your dead Fiat.

[enzo1]

I've been going through the same stuff as you! What's going on!

[Baz]

Oh man....BTDT.....

Take a deep breath Charlie......we got your back!

[john70t]

Originally Posted by ckissick

3 breakdowns in 24 hours! Can anyone beat that?

1). Four (fwiw in Japan the number equates to death) years ago, yesterday, my step mom lost her beloved husband my father to three terrible years of dementia.
2). Within two weeks of his passing, both her parents passed away. Yes you read that correctly.
3). Within four months of that she was diagnosed with ALS and she finally passed away last month after eleven days of extended suffering during voluntary stop eating/drinking. She chose to pass that way. The average is seven days but she was premature and had a good constitution.

Still feel sorry for yourself?

[ckissick]

Originally Posted by john70t

1). Four (fwiw in Japan the number equates to death) years ago, yesterday, my step mom lost her beloved husband my father to three terrible years of dementia.
2). Within two weeks of his passing, both her parents passed away. Yes you read that correctly.
3). Within four months of that she was diagnosed with ALS and she finally passed away last month after eleven days of extended suffering during voluntary stop eating/drinking. She chose to pass that way. The average is seven days but she was premature and had a good constitution.

Still feel sorry for yourself?

I never did feel sorry for myself. For the very reasons you describe above. There are a thousand worse things that having a car or three break down. I learned that long ago.

BTW, the bug got me home.

[wildthing]

The Beetle will not let you down (unless it's been neglected, but that's on you!) hehe

[recycled sixtie]

Charlie you got too many cars that are sitting around. Think about it. If you had only one that was driven regularly it would likely give good service providing it was well serviced. You need to drive all of them more and service them more.

As the above says you could have relatives dying around you. You really would have something to worry about if you booted it to get in front of a semi and the motor quit.

[john70t]

(sorry ckissick, I worded that post entirely wrong. Wrong pucker used. I also should have added an emocon or something to change the entire intention. It was meant to have dramatic effect for the positives in life. My bad man.)


Yeah I've had those days when the bad things come in threes.
Don't know why that is.
Maybe life is trying to tell us something?

[rattlsnak]

I think the problem is, of the three cars you described, the newest one is @30 years old!!

[ckissick]

Now it's getting embarrassing. This morning the '50 wouldn't start. Never did that before. I topped off the coolant in the Tristar and drove it the short distance to work. It's just a moderate leak. The Westy has a new fuel pump now so I'm picking that up.

Hmm. Maybe I should get something a little newer? I probably will after I unload a couple of the old ones in a year or so.

[sammyg2]

beck spyder hint hint .....

Serial: how tight are those cars, IOW how well do tall guys fit?

I tried on a spyder kit car once and darn near needed the jaws of life to get out.
It weren't a beck tho.

[sand_man]

That might actually be a record.

We recently purchased a 2005 Jeeep Wrangler TJ with the 4.0L engine and 6-speed manual. My fiance always wanted one and thought it would make a fun vehicle to leave at our beach place or just tool around in. My plan was to drive it while I do the light-weight RS clutch kit in my 993, over Christmas break. Well the Jeep puked its TO bearing...now I have two clutches to fix this Christmas. Oh well, I guess technically the Porsche didn't actually break, I was just hoping to take my time, knowing I had something else to drive!

[ckissick]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

beck spyder hint hint .....

Serial: how tight are those cars, IOW how well do tall guys fit?

I tried on a spyder kit car once and darn near needed the jaws of life to get out.
It weren't a beck tho.

How tall are you? I know two spyder owners who are 6'-4" and they fit fairly well with no complaints. I'm only 5'-7" so I fit in anything.

[Mike80911]

I can try to top that.
I get in my Cayenne this morning, the outside temperature is 25 degrees and the battery is totally dead. So I get in my wifes BMW to jump my car and she has a flat. Then my son calls and says his check engine and traction control lights are on. All of this and the reason I was going out today was to fix my mother in laws car because she had called me and said her inside door handle was broken and she could not open the door from inside.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by ckissick

How tall are you? I know two spyder owners who are 6'-4" and they fit fairly well with no complaints. I'm only 5'-7" so I fit in anything.

Between 6'2" and 6'3" depending on which 7-11 I'm leaving.
(can't remember which comedian i ripped that off of).

Unfortunately I'm taller AROUND than most .....