poofy_puff Wrote:
> My last car, a Toyota Echo, had
> a hex on it and kept getting rear-ended. It was
> totalled back in July, but I drove it for a couple
> months before taking it to the shop, where they
> found too much damage underneath the bumper and
> totaled it out...."
I too, had a "bad luck car". It was a 1983 Mitsubishi Sapporo which I bought brand spankin' new, right off of the lot. I had a bad feeling about it on the drive home, but ignored it. In the two years that I had it, the following happened:
1)As I was stopped (completely) on the interstate in broad daylight due to a wreck ahead behind a long line of traffic, police cars, ambulances, etc... a man who was talking to his kid and not paying attention read ended me going at least 55 MPH. It only sustained some rear end damage,but it was in the shop for over two weeks and I was out of work for a week and in pain from my injuries for MONTHS.
2)Two months out of the shop, I was rear ended again, this time at a stop sign (dead stopped again) by a woman who was putting on makeup in the rear view mirror. Only minor damage this time, but back in the shop it went for a few days.
3)It was stolen out of my mother's drive way (which is in a nice, supposedly low crime area) during broad daylight at noon. Legally,(the insurance co. said) it had to be "missing" for two weeks before the insurance company would replace it with a similar vehicle. I was called by the police on day 13 that it had been found stripped, and had sat under some sort of a tree that had dripped sap all over the hood and roof. I was hoping for a "total", but the insurance adjuster said it could be fixed. BACK in the shop, this time for nearly a month.
4)STOLEN AGAIN, this time from the mall parking lot and in broad daylight again. It was found a few days later and determined that it had been taken for a "joy ride". The motor had some kind of damage and the interior was trashed. Literally HUNDREDS of beer cans filled the inside and they had drained out stale beer all over the interior. The insurance guy again said, "it's fixable". ANOTHER few weeks in the shop.
5)I was driving on the perimeter (I285) in Atlanta and suddenly, the gas pedal went straight to the floor all on it's own, and while I was still trying to figure out WTF?????? The speedometer had gone from 60 to 90 and NOTHING would make it stop, I wedged my toes under the pedal and the rubber part popped off. I was passing people like it was the Indy 500 and I was scared shitless. I could see traffic backed up a short distance ahead and I considered crashing into the railing, but there were cars behind me as well. I had tried putting it in neutral in the beginning, but it wouldn't budge and the ignition key wouldn't move either. I tried again though (in a desperate last attempt) and it worked and I just cut the damned car off and with all of my might, steered the damned thing up and off an exit ramp. After I got done crying, I started it back up and VERY SLOWLY drove it a mile up the road to a garage. The mechanic checked it thoroughly and could find NOTHING wrong and no explanation for that to have happened. It never did it again, but I was always afraid that it would.
6)The brakes just went out with NO warning (like squeaking, looseness, warning light, etc...) and they just went STRAIGHT to the floor. Luckily, I was in a residential area and coasted to a driveway. The mechanic said that the brakes were completely "gone" and that normally, I would have had warnings for MONTHS, but I didn't. Also, the car had just been checked out from head to toe less than a month prior and new brake pads put on. I guess the guy didn't notice, but since he owned the shop, wouldn't he have told me if the brakes were fucked up? He claimed that they were "fine" when he checked them at that time, after I called and complained of course.
7)Since the windows had been broken and the steering column dismantled the two prior times it had been stolen, therefore causing more damage and making the repairs take longer, I started leaving the keys in the middle console in plain view and the car unlocked. Apparently the car thieves don't "really" look for unlocked cars with keys in them like you hear about, because it was stolen AGAIN from a shopping strip in Columbus, Ga, while I was visiting with friends and out to eat at a restaurant. They had STILL smashed in the driver's side window AND broke the steering column, again. At least it was found later that day only short a tank of gas and no damage other than the window and steering column though. Maybe I should have just left the keys in the ignition.
8)MERCIFULLY, I was finally sideswiped by a van that had run a stop sign and this time, they totalled it. I was able to collect a decent replacement value for it, but State Farm took this opportunity to cancel my insurance.
In addition to all of those major mishaps, that car ran out of gas on two occasions when the gas gauge still showed nearly a quarter of a tank, and both times it was as I was passing through "bad" areas on my way downtown, so I never let it get below a half tank after the second time. Another time, a hornet's nest had somehow been built in it, although I have no idea when it could have happened. One day these "bees" started swarming my head and I pulled over and got out. That's when I saw the nest in the corner of the rear window and one of the damned things had flown up under my midriff top and had stung me on the boob. It also did weird electrical things like the stereo would just "come on", the interior light would start flickering, and more than a few times the speedometer would go from 0-90 and back really fast while I was driving in a residential area at 25-30 mph. I think that the car was cursed and I was glad to be rid of it. Ironically, when it wasn't doing voodoo, it drove great and was a beautiful car, which is why the various mechanics could never find anything wrong with it, I suppose.