How many times has your car left you stranded on the side of the road?

[herbiehancock]

Current vehicles:

2002 GMC Jimmy, 119,000 miles and never has had a single failure or problem, if you don't count spark plugs wearing out. Two fouled suddenly and simultaneously causing a misfire, but new plugs the next day cured that "problem." Original tires actually lasted 115,000 miles.

1990 Plymouth Acclaim LX, 126,000 miles and again, never has left me stranded nor had a failure in 2 1/2 years of my ownership


Previous cars.......

Had a 1969 Ford LTD wagon blow a head gasket

1974 Fiat X1/9, transmission failure

1976 Toyota Corolla, fuel pump failure

Only ones I can really remember out of the dozens of vehicles I've run through over my 40+ years of driving and owning vehicles.

 

[Jeff7]

I bought my '97 Elantra GLS in 2000. It has yet to leave me stranded by the road. The only times it's let me down was when I leave the lights on (headlights turn off with the car, but those other turn signal light things, running lights?, stay on), and the other problem is a dead battery that seems to stem from me driving it once a week for less than 10 minutes. I guess it never gets a full charge.
I should at least be able to do a jump start myself now - I bought one of those portable jump start things that has a good lead acid battery in it. This one's also got an inverter and an air compressor built in.

And I have yet to get a flat tire or run out of gas.

 

[Journer]

never...not even for flats or running out of gas...

good maint. FTW

edit:
my past cars:
94 celica -134k
00 f150 - 33k
99 explorer sport - 90k
97 240sx - 134k
97 240sx (2.0l turbo) - 120k on the chassi, 50k on drivetrain
98 mustang gt convertible - 80k
92 supra turbo - 98k
00 crown vic police interceptor - 100k
99 grand marquis - 250k current car

 

[dbk]

Once. I had to wait 4 hours to get picked up.

 

[akshatp]

Once. I pulled over to stretch my legs and the car just started itself up and took right off and got off a the first exit!!! Left me stranded right there on the side of the road. I think it wanted some gas...

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I have had two cars strand me - my old GF's Volvo 740 had its alternator die while I was driving from Mpls to Madison, and I paid some local mechanic to drive out and charge the battery. My '84 Accord suffered a broken timing belt along the freeway above Sausalito, requiring a tow from AAA to get it changed.

 

[IronWing]

FJ Cruiser, 400 miles: Never
1988 Olds Custom Cruiser, 260k: Never
1986 Toyota truck, 214k: Once, fan belt
1990 Escort, 93k: Once, timing belt, but died at home often, basic lemon
1976 Suburban, 230k: Every few blocks, alternator, brakes, fuel pump, poorly repaired fuel line (hint: non-reinforced rubber hose doesn't make good vacuum line), transmission cooler line, transmission, frozen engine block*, other stuff I'm forgetting.
1978 Subaru 1600 wagon, 150k: Several times due to faulty distributor rotor, once (permanently) due to loss of engine oil.
1979 Rabbit, 130k: Once, brakes.


I bought the truck in Arizona, I grew up in Wisconsin. It never crossed my mind that the previous owner wouldn't have used antifreeze. I checked the coolant level but not the mix. Lesson learned.

 

[waggy]

yeah.

my wife's escort did once. the battery died while getting gas.

I have had 2 honda's do it. my 98 accord just died while driving. had to pull over and call a tow truck

my 99 honda prelude did the same.

 

[Ilikepiedoyou]

98 civic beat to crap with unknown mileage, never a problem *fingers crossed*

 

[Orsorum]

Never, gotta love my Kia Optima.

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: jtvang125
Although I wasn't stranded by the road, the starter on my current car did go out recently so I was out of a car for a day. In the 2 years I had it that's the only problem so far.

Previous car (91 Acura Integra) left me stranded so many times I can't even remember the number. Problems ranged from busted axles/cv joints, broken timing belt, bad alternator, and over heating.

all of those sound like YOUR fault for not maintaining your car. cv joints show visible signs that they need to be replaced like 50,000 miles before you'd need to do anything about it. timing belts are scheduled service items that you knew you'd need to replace roughly 90,000 miles in advance (and they have plenty of lee-way built in). you can drive pretty far on a busted alternator if you're smart about it. and if you'd had your timing belt replaced properly, they would have changed out your water pump in the process, which was doubtless the cause of your overheating.

my accord stranded me only once: the distributor failed 50 feet from the nearest phone book. i had it at my mechanic within a couple hours. that was at roughly 150,000 miles.

 

[LordMorpheus]

Never.

Drove a 1991 Sable from 2001-2004
Driving a 1997 Town Car ever since may.

Just made a 900 mile trip in the town car, making the same trip going the other way in a couple weeks.