Good turn gone bad.

  • Thread starter Thread starter david and julie
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D

david and julie

I was helping my brother out the other day by driving a car transporter from M/cr to Luton. It was loaded with a new Volvo Estate.

Got on the raised part of the M6 in Birmingham when a ratchet strap fell off a wagon in front of me. I just managed to miss it.

Got about 10 miles down the road when a lady came next to me, waving and pointing to the back of my truck. I pulled over and the webbing from the above strap had caught on a chassis bolt. This caused the strap to go tight, the ratchet part was bouncing down the road behind me.

Unfortunately it had bounced to high and gone through the tailgate glass on the Volvo! Cheapest quote so far £320 fitted, luckily it didn't damage anything else.

Has anyone else done a favour that went all wrong?
 
That's a real pi**er! But to balance things out, it could have been worse: it could have released itself, and flown through someones screen...........

BTW, When my car was a week old, it was broken into by some prats who thought it a good idea to nick a toolbox. THey smashed a side window, realised the deadlocks refused them access, then smashed the rear screen. Autoglass came with wrong glass (next day had to order the right ones...) then eventually a numbskull arrived with right glass, ripped off tailgate trim with iron bar (wrecking tailgate trim, bending metalwork and scratching paint in process). Also replaced door panel incorrectly resulting in a stripped thread on securing screw which gave way, resulting in replacement of most of door panel. Anyway, the point of this story. I was insured, but if I had to pay full whack, it would have been nigh on 800 sovs!

Stupid thing was, the plod found my toolbox with two tools missing.
If I had known that was all they wanted, I would have given them 20 quid and sent them packing. The bit I feel uneasy about is my tools are now breaking into cars all over South Manchester.....

Makes you mad........
 
Autoglass replaced my rear screen after some gimp in a council uniform smashed it and then funnily enough claimed to know nothing about it after I complained (unfortunately I wasn't there when it happened, bah!).

Enter gimp number 2. He decided that he would grab hold of the side of my car as he smashed out the remains of the windscreen. Funnily enough, his special gloves had remnants of glass in them so he ended up scratching my paintwork. I complained about that, eventually Autoglass relented (well, two phonecalls!) and sent a guy from a local paint repair firm. He fixed up the scratches good as new.

If I had my devious hat on that day I would have asked him to do a few other scratches whilst he was there and slipped him £50 or something! I can't see where the scratches are, no matter how hard I look.
 
You fared much better than me, Adam...

The guy brought a touch-up brush round, replaced the broken trim panel, and A/G offered me 100 sovs for my "inconvenience".

Boll*cks!!!

I know life goes on and I don't hold cars dear to my heart (they're just another tool to me) but the principle p*sses me off - that there are ill-trained w*nkers out there who must realise they are doing a cr*p job and wrecking your property, but don't give a damn, and carry on regardless, even when they realise what damage they've caused...

Makes me mad!!
 
My new car has a "water in diesel" message on my dashboard display, the dealer told me not to use it incase it might only be a instrument fault. The pick-up truck came round and start my car while it was in gear and crashed into my front wall of the bungalow causing £640 damaged :roll:
 
My wife would laugh at you and say serves you right for leaving it in gear. I do it all the time as an anti-tow measure. When we were gong out, I drove up to the lakes with her and a Japanese friend. My wife (then girlfriend) drove the car back, and when she started it, it leapt forward 3 feet smashing the bumper to bits. I wasn't at all bothered, and julie said "if that was my ex- he'd have been grumpy all day!!" She never checks if it's in gear...well she does now!
 
Parking in gear, old fashioned but I do same, reverse.

Friend had handbrake cable snap on hill (not in gear), unattended ... luckily just flattened a garden wall.

Wife's car was hit from behind, unoccupied .. legally, sensibly parked, but in reverse gear.
If it happens to you .. and you are first on scene ... knock it out of gear .. pronto !
Insurance company not happy about being 'in gear' they were only concerned with potential extra cost due to possible gearbox / final drive shock damage, not possible handbrake cable failure ... resolved ok, but have heard similar since !!
Anyone else ?

P
 
That says something about driving schools etc.

I was always taught to press clutch and check gear in neutral before starting a car. I guess it was because when I learnt to drive in my 1956 Morris Minor handbrakes were'nt that good and you always left car in gear if you wanted it to stay where you left it.

Having said that I did have a near miss whilst in eorotunnel train and forgot I was in gear when rushing to get out of the tin coffin :cry:
 
Every car I have ever read the manual for states "depress the clutch pedal whilst starting the car". The reason being it saves wear on the starter motor and battery as the gearbox is then decoupled.

Next time someone has a problem starting their car in gear because they didn't check, just quietly point to that sentence in the owner's manual!

I think my owner's manual also states to leave the car in gear when parked on an incline. Many cars you have to as a lot of handbrakes are rubbish.

My Dad's first car was a Standard Flying 10 (I think) of 1930s vintage. It had 4 wheel drum brakes, all cable operated. The benefit of this was that the parking brake acted on all 4 wheels!
 
Probably reading replies incorrectly, but wife's car was parked she was not on board. Hit from behind ... car undriveable etc.
Insurance company made big issue over car being left in gear ... I wonder if nothing more was made of that due to no apparent damage to gearbox / final drive .. did anyone check ? Doubt it.

So if either had failed later, due to the crash, difficult to prove ... doubt if insurance would cover it.

Company car so not really worried ... thought provoking though.

P
 
I drove a 1970 Morris Minor up until March this year and first rule with it was ALWAYS leave it in gear! You dare not do otherwise! I always do it now as a matter of habit and it does drive my other half mad!
Jane
 
I'm surprised european car safety regs haven't adopted the American requirements. Where you have to dip the clutch or press the brake before the car will start.
 
Jane...bet you were wishing you'd kept the old moggy when the Fiat was playing up!

I know the manufacturers have no choice due to rule and regs, but from a consumer point of view there's a lot going for the old moggy.

No hard feelings

Dave x
 
Dave,
I frequently curse the complications of modern cars! At least when the moggie stopped I could often fix it myself by the roadside. I stare into the fiat engine and get nervous!
Mechanically it was a great little car, and very cheap to insure etc, but bodywise she was on her way a bit and needed a home with someone who could restore her.

Still, we also have a TR6 mid restoration so thats keeping my mind of the loss of blossom!

No hard feelings here either, maybe we got off on the wrong foot!
Jane
x
 
pipme said:
Company car so not really worried ... thought provoking though.
Click to expand...

Ban-all-sheds said it all from his previous post, very true !

Ah - company cars. They are very different to normal ones:

1. They travel faster in all gears, especially reverse.
2. They accelerate at a phenomenal rate.
3. They enjoy a much shorter braking distance.
4. They can go over sleeping policemen at twice the speed of private cars.
5. Oil, battery, tyre pressures and fluid levels do not need to be checked nearly so often.
6. They have a much tighter turning circle.
7. The floor is shaped like an ashtray.
8. They only burn the cheapest petrol available.
9. They do not have to be garaged at night.
10. They can be driven up to 100 miles with the oil warning light on.
11. They need cleaning less often, especially inside.
12. The suspension and boot floor are reinforced to allow paving slabs and other heavy building materials to be carried.
13. They are adapted to allow reverse to be engaged while the car is still in forward motion.
14. The tyre side walls are designed for bumping into and over kerbs.
15. Unusual and alarming engine noises are easily eliminated by the adjustment of the radio volume control.
16. No security is need. They may be left anywhere, unlocked, with the keys in the ignition.
 
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