what broke in your car the last months?
after owning a damn reliable mx5 and a somewhat reliable 16yo subaru, i never though i’d create a topic like that
but unfortunately i’m currently driving a 6yo e90 for now almost 2 years
So in the last six month i had to replace 4 dampers (one leaked, the others looked like they would start to leak soon), battery died this winter and now the AT selector doesn’t recognize when i put it in sport mode, or back to drive.
I’m starting to miss my 16yo subaru, which definately had less issues …
Edit:
German build quality.
If you move the shifter to Sport, the cables are strained around a sharp edge.
Just had the driveshaft carrier bearing go on thursday for the second time on my 17 year old Nissan Frontier. The last time it went was about 8 years ago, the last problems were with the O2 sensors about 3 years ago, and a front main seal about a year ago.
Not that I want to tempt fate, and touching all the wood that’s within a 5 mile radius, since the head gasket on the Corolla mine are all mostly working OK. The rocker cover has started leaking quite a bit on the Corolla but as that’s just a naff gasket I don’t want to count it.
My car: Ford Focus mk1
Earlier last year, one of the cylinders didn’t fire anymore. Needed the ignition system replaced.
Later that year, it underwent the TÜV (an inspeciton done every other year). Before that, I let the garage check whether there are any remaining issues in need to be fixed beforehand. Turns out I might or might not have driven a couple of weeks without the rear lights all in working order but they’ve also applied some rust proofing for the undertray. Good thing, because the roads are very salty this season.
My mother’s car: Peugeot 307
An issue with _Electronic Stuff_™: Every time we would want to set off, ESP announced it would cancel its services, and the ABS called an anomaly. Fixed with… contact spray to the contacts of the sensors at the left rear wheel.
There is also a service to replace the head gasket and timing belt inbound.
My brother’s car: Peugeot 407
Another issue with _Electronic Stuff_™: The board computer likes to complain that the left rear brake light is not working whenever I brake. It hilariously says “Error: No Error” whenever I step off the brakes
The same happens with the left turn signal. However, every time we checked, they actually worked despite the computer saying “nooo…”! I’m sure that’s another case for contact spray.
A different issue: The computer also complained about an anomaly in the exhaust system. Called my brother whether it’s safe to continue on with it. He told me that this was just an issue with the cold and humid air currently.
The solution: FLOOR IT. And the issue was gone.
My verdict: To fix a Peugeot, you don’t need WD-40, but Contact Spray.
2005 Hyundai Elantra, power steering pump is giving up. Not really a big deal, just a loud, screechy annoyance until I get the replacement installed. That’s really about it, other than that I’ve managed to get a small rust hole in the muffler that’s made the car a little loud.
I’d be mortified if my 2013 Civic started malfunctioning. Simply put, it shouldn’t. Ever. For the lifespan of the car. That’s how confident the service people are. Even though I’m paying through the nose for OEM replacement parts for expected wear, like 600 bucks to replace brake pads wtfffffffff
So things that have broken on my car so far: the motors winding up the front passenger window are a little sticky so the auto wind function takes a bit of coaxing to work on very hot days. Honda maintenance gave it a bit a going over with lubricant but that only about 80% fixed the problem. Also, the plastic insert on my floor mat fell out, so they replaced it.
My Alfa 159 is unbelievably reliable - apart from issues with the electrical system due to Martens biting various wires they like.
The Opel Vivaro shows its proper french quality (Its a Renault Trafic underneath) most of the time. Particle Filter clogged several times, brakes shot after 20k kms, uneven wear on the tyres. The “latest” issue was that the engine blew up (most know it as the “water everywhere”-video) and the van went to the workshop for 8 weeks. Its working at the moment - but the glorious gearbox is starting to fail… glorious french quality.
Mitsubishi Galant: Only the head unit. Already bought a replacement (with USB and Bluetooth!), but I still need to wire it. Hope I find the connector I need soon, because I’ve been driving around for 5 days with no radio.
'99 Ford Taurus: For a $150 car, it’s very drivable. I just need to change the rear brake rotors and tie rods to pass inspection and get the permanent tags.
'00 Honda Odyssey (mom’s): Also a new (to her) car. Only problems were a faulty positive battery terminal (easy fix) and a driver door sensor that occasionally goes crazy.
my Alfa Romeo 147 has a few bits that have either broken or just worn out, for starters my front window motors seem very weak and the passenger side window struggles to go back up sometimes, my horn no longer works at all which is annoying because now I have to actuallly yell at idiots.
I have severed a cable going into one of the front brake calipers which hasn’t seemed to have actually affected anything (ABS and ASM work fine), I have a slightly off shaped alloy which makes a funny noise after 75mph and annoyingly there is now a nice big chip out of the corner of my front bumper from a slight mishap involving some black ice and a mud embankment
It’s pads and something else. I can’t remember, but it better not be the master cylinder, because I didn’t think they had any problem, it just seems service people love replacing the thing. Either way I’ll soak it up for now, because while I do know you can get perfectly reasonable pads for maybe 230AUD, I’m time, space and knowledge poor and the car’s still under warranty so the rest of my servicing is cut price (that being said it’s still more expensive than average for cut price because Honda).
Last time somebody wanted to replace master cylinder and pads on my 98 Xsara they charged me 1350AUD. That was incidentally the last time I went there. Speaking of which, that was a lemon and a half while I still had it. By the time I got it (4th hand through the entire family), the power window buttons (situated on the dash, oh glorious Citroen eccentricity) had broken through their flimsy mounts so you had to grab the whole rocker to operate them.
Or maybe it was the Citroen approved mechanic deliberately sabotaging our car, because his solution to fixing a squeaky tensioner wheel was to spray some WD40 on it, overlooking the fact it was actually quite bent and was shearing the drive belt, until one day I suddenly lost alternator, power steering and A/C because it snapped. After he grudgingly fixed THAT, two days later my car turned into a runaway with me in it until I realised that it was due to the throttle being stuck open, because some “plastic bits” had gotten lodged into it somehow.
Ok replacing the brake master cylinder seems strange to me as they generally last forever just occasionally the rubber diapharm wears out but that can be replaced. Brake service should always include new pads, machined discs and flushed/bled lines and new brake fluid.
As for what has broken on my cars lately the rhr tyre on the mazda3 keeps wearing out the inside of the tyre due to increased camber or incorrect toe angle not sure yet and the aerial has broken for the third time ($250)
oh and brake pads for ford fpv/xr brembo brakes are $2275 for front and rear before fitting. A full service requiring new discs puts it over $6500
Next question… I’d love to change the rear suspension out for something else, which sounds like a ludicrous proposition. But I’m really not that happy with the torsion beam. Would installing adjustable shocks help? Is there any point? Should I just look for a car with better dynamics next time?
Depending on what brake pads you use. To simply bleed the brake lines and replace pads should be an hrs labour plus parts at the max. Add the machining cost of about another hr so maybe $200 plus parts.
Changing suspension is a big job to do properly when you start considering that if you change one item you normally need to change every part in relation to it for the entire assembly to work as it should, plus tuning can quickly add up in labor time and costs. However when done correctly the result is worth it.
It would depend on if you can find a kit, or have to do it from scratch. I have seen both done, including leaf/solid to multi-linc solid kits for an old mustang, and have seen seen people build custom long arm multi-link/solid setups to fit many different off-roaders. But Darkshine is right about it being a big job when its not a kit.
here i am with my bike. and the only that broke recently are the rear brake light. (doesn’t light up when i brake)
and the turning signal switch… once you turn it on, then off again… you need to know the trick to make it turn on again
other than that… it’s just problems that the old owner never bothered to fix. like
busted rear damper.
shady front suspension
it was converted to a manual from a semi manual, but not properly. so instead of a balancer weight/ flywheel. it’s the old centrifugal clutch housing welded together is in place.
an ignition coil that was almost burned from a short
a CDI that is suspect for the unstable burns
and need to find a way to not ALMOST overheat in super dense traffic jam. possibly remove the stupid radiator ‘cover’
The family before Verso car: Seat Alhambra: entire engine replacement, ABS pump, all car wiring, brake light button, seatbelts, rear right windows lifter, clutch… A shi*tty car.
Before the Alhambra: Opel Kadett GSI: only the exhaust (it rusts quickly), and the ECU.
The rocker cover has started leaking quite a bit on the Corolla but as that’s just a naff gasket I don’t want to count it.
