GTPlanet's Car Stories

[Obelisk]

Hi, guys! This thread is for people who want to share stories about their cars - funny or horror, fail or win, etc. Dealership and customer stories might be OK but I'd have to check them. Now, just a couple of friendly reminders from the ever-powerful Acceptable Use Policy:

Edit: Driving stories are fine too.

• You will not post or link to content that is obscene or sexually oriented.
• You will not use profanity in the forums, nor link to content which contains offensive language without sufficient warning.

(...)

• You will not use the forums to violate any laws nor to discuss illegal activities.

I'll start - I have a good one.

About two years ago, it came time for me to buy my very first car. Of course, being a high-school student with zero money, I had to buy a used car. My father and I spent two months looking through a bunch of different options (including - I kid you not - a blue and red VW Beetle). Around this time, my sister had started dating a boy from the next town over - and thanks to an incredible stroke of luck - his dad happened to be a used car salesman near where I used to work. We went over to his lot to take a look, and a humble little Nissan called out to me. It was an '04 Altima 2.5 S, and it was in excellent shape with the exception of an inexplicably warped gas tank cover. It was cheap, too. Just a bit under retail price. I test drove it, and immediately decided on the car after the test drive - it was perfect. The following week, we bought the car and were told we needed to wait a few days for it to be made ready and for us to get the plates. I was fine with that, but I still needed to take it out to get inspected after. All of the registration and paperwork done, I finally got the keys to this little Nissan. I drove it home, and then my dad asked me to drive it around with him in the car. We drove for about 25 minutes, and when I got back, my dad's face changed expressions.

Dad: "Doug, do you smell that?"

I didn't smell anything unusual.

Dad: "I think I smell anti-freeze."

He got out of the car and looked under the front of it. There was anti-freeze everywhere. All over the driveway, and apparently all over the block as well. Of course, we had to take it to a repair shop right away. I found out the following day that the radiator just happened to explode at the exact moment I got the car. Talk about terrible timing...But I got a free inspection and new radiator out of it!

 

[Turbo]

In the summer of 2013, my grandpa (my dad's dad) sold his Harley to purchase a black 1982 Chevrolet Corvette. This guy knows quite a bit about cars, and 45 years ago, he owned a Dodge Challenger R/T, and a Charger as well, and he knows how to fix these cars, too. My other grandpa (my mom's dad) must've been jealous, so a month later, he buys a 1982 Chevrolet Corvette. The only difference between the two cars is that one is white and the other is black.

The cool thing is is that I get to see my mom's dad's Vette every day. Because his house doesn't have a garage, he keeps his Corvette in my family's garage. It's been sitting in my garage for a pretty long time, since he rarely ever comes to my house to use it. Only problem is, he keeps the keys, so no one in my household can take it for a spin.

Here's a picture of my mom's dad's Corvette. Excuse my messy garage.

 

[ThrasherDBS]

Do they have to be related to just working on or buying a car, or can they be close-call driving stories as well?

 

[SPhilli911]

Back in 2009 I went to a car show in Pennsylvania. I was in my late teens and a few friends of mine and I wandered around the event grounds before the show started and stumbled upon a garage with some cars in it so we went in to check them out with our cameras. Inside was an F40 along with some Lamborghinis (Diablo, Murcielagos, Gallardos), a few of which were owned by one guy. This one guy happened to be in the garage getting ready to move the cars to the show grounds up the road and asked me to help (the two friends I was with couldn't drive manual) and tossed me the keys to the Diablo SE30.

The Diablo was backed against a wall and when I got in the car, started it, and put the car in gear, the owner yelled at me, "Are you sure you've driven a manual car before?!" since I had the stick in the left/up position which is reverse rather than the left/down for first gear it is in a Lamborghini. Besides that, it was a foggy, rainy day and the car's windshield was fogged up and would not clear at all, so I drove the thing to the show very slowly (the owner was in the F40 either in front or behind me, I don't remember, but imagine worrying about hitting an F40 with a Diablo as a teen ). So, I moved a Lamborghini a few hundred feet, big woop. Still a big deal when you're at a show to look at cars only to get a chance to "drive" one of your childhood, Need For Speed III dream cars.

I can't access my Flickr from work so this is a google image I managed to find. Looks to be the same car, same event, and same year though, according to the file name at least.

 

[Obelisk]

Do they have to be related to just working on or buying a car, or can they be close-call driving stories as well?

It can be driving stories as well.

 

[ThrasherDBS]

Alright then. I don't have very much in the way of stories having only driven for four years and behaved myself, but there was one instance nearly three years ago where I almost wrecked my car.

In December of 2013, my town got lots of snow and ice (moreso ice). The issue with that is that those of us in the Pacific Northwest always used to having a wet winter. (Pretty much nonstop rain from October to May) Nobody, (myself included) had much of any experience on driving in icy conditions. I tried not to go out if I could help it, but a organization that I volunteer for had me work an event which was 35 or so miles away. Traffic went very very very slow on the Interstate, but about seven miles away from town, there was full-size sedan that was at a standstill, sideways on the interstate, blocking both lanes. There wasn't much time to react, but slamming on the brakes was definitely out of the question. I managed to get my car to squeeze past between the sedan and the guardrail, but that was a bit of foreshadowing for the other situation I was going to get myself into.

The other reason I had to leave the house was because of school. Thankfully, I live only three miles away from the local community college where I take my classes. This particular morning was a final exam day. The class I was taking had a lab portion which had an open book exam, and the lecture portion which did not have an open book exam. I left half an hour before, much like I usually do, but of course, I'm going 20mph on the icy roads. I drive a 2005 Scion xA with front-wheel drive and All-season tires. I had been surviving by just going slow. I get to the college's parking lot, look over to my passenger seat to grab my backpack.

Only there was no backpack.

Upon this realization, I demonstrated some very colorful language venting my anger, and then I pulled back out of the parking lot toward my home to fetch my books and pencils, and pretty much everything I needed for the day. So I'm pretty on edge right now. It's getting closer and closer to the time I need to be in class, and I'm not sure I'm going to make it. So I do what I probably shouldn't do with a front-wheel drive hatchback with all-season tires on it, and I go down the road at 30-35mph. Going down the long straight away from the college was no issue. When it game to a long but reasonably gentle right, I hit a patch of ice and got thrown into doing what I like to call: "The back-and-forth mambo" Kinda like what the SUV starts doing in this video.

There's a ditch on either side, and I'm fighting to make sure I don't stuff my car in either of them. Coming up is an intersection that doesn't get very much traffic (even less so in these conditions) so I try to pitch the thing off to the right in the intersection. Thankfully there's no cars around. I know it may seem silly, but using what I know from drifting in GT5, I pitch the car in the exact direction it needs to go, sail into the crossroad, and come to a standstill sideways along the road, completely unscathed but still very shaken.

I took a few moments to right my car so I was facing the proper direction, and then I sat there for a good 30 seconds, to process what just happened and what almost happened. My mind was fuzzy from the shock of it all, and my pulse was racing. After I regained my composure, I got to my house, got my stuff, headed back to the school, all while doing strictly 20mph.

Bonus: I actually made it to class on time and I did well on both exams.

EDIT: Was intending to link a video referring to what I was talking about, and then never did. It's linked now.

 

[Heldenzeit]

My favorite story from the racetrack happened last year around March.

My regular Watanabe wheels had been damaged during the week before the event, and were out for repair. Forecast for the weekend was for rain, so instead of taking the 13" slicks I had, I decided on just using the OEM setup of allseasons and narrow 15x6.5 stock wheels.

First couple sessions were dry, so I had limited grip from the crappy tires. I ended up over driving the car and had an off at Phil Hill. This corner starts at around 95mph entry uphill going right, and is blind over crest, before cornering to the left. I had pushed the car way too hard and did a half spin at the apex. I went over the curb into the dirt and de-beaded a tire. I also broke the front lip.

I was able to borrow front wheels from a friend that was out with a cooling issue, and rears from a vendor. I think the fronts were x8 wide and the rears were x9, with differing tires. Looked awful, but at least I was able to get back out.

2nd session the borrowed right front goes flat. I pumped it back up, and it held, but I knew this was going to be the track day from hell.

3rd session was pouring. In my infinite wisdom, I decided to go out anyway and try to salvage some lost time. Kept it slow and on track, without too much issue. Rules here stipulate that you need to keep the windows down while on track, in case they need to make an extraction.

Elected against doing the final session, which was dry. Ended up 6th from 12 in my class, which is alright for the weekend I had. Put the stock wheels back on the front, and the wider wheels on the back in case I got rain going back over the Grapevine towards home. Flat tire and extra came in the passenger compartment with me. Managed to get home just fine.