Many of us have been there: we’re going somewhere important, and our car breaks down in the worst location at the worst time. R/Cars is sharing some of our worst breakdown stories, and we’re slapping our foreheads sympathetically and clinking figmental beers over our frustrations.

Car trouble on a date

Several Redditors recounted having various issues while they were on a date:

“I could say the time all my brakes failed and I had to use the handbrake in my 90 five speed Camry. But the worst/most embarrassing was second date with my wife I hit a pothole bent my rim had no spare. Had to stop at a gas station fill it till the air stopped drive like I stole it to my parents and use my dads rotted out junker pickup to take her home an hour away. It wasn’t safe to even take the freeway. The fact she stayed I knew she was the one.”

No-start in freezing remote wilderness

A few more posted about being too far away from help:

“I do winter hiking and snowshoeing in remote mountain parts of canada. My truck’s alternator died way up a logging road one December. Residual charge in the battery didn’t get me anywhere. I was dead in the water with no reception and no daylight. Ended up spending the night in a -25c snowstorm. I was fine. Missed a day of work, but didn’t freeze to death like I could have. I keep an emergency kit with a proper sleeping bag behind my seat all winter, never leaves the vehicle. So I spent the night curled up in the passenger seat, and hiked back to the highway the next morning. Flagged a trucker down, got a ride into town, and had a friend pick me up at the autoparts store. The worst part was installing a new alternator and battery in the freezing cold. I had some bloodied knuckles after that, but did get it done and drive off the mountain no problem.”

Clutch giving out in a busy intersection

Is there anything more overstimulating (and maybe dangerous) than breaking down amid heavy, fast-moving traffic…on an incline?

“My clutch gave out on the corner of one of the busiest intersections of my city. While I was at the front of the line at a red. On a hill. Mortifying.”

Catastrophic engine failure on a bridge

Speaking of dangerous:

“Personal car, blew an engine on a long bridge with no shoulders.”

For good measure, the same Redditor had a work truck story that almost froze him to death:

“Work semi, total electrical failure in the middle of the night in pretty much a blizzard. Nearly froze waiting for help.”

I have several worst car breakdown stories

One of the scariest was during my shop days. My infant daughter and I were on our way to her daycare in a loaner Ford Escape. The transmission module suddenly went haywire. The car revved high and wouldn’t shift. We were on a freeway interchange and had just turned westbound. I pulled over as best I could, but construction blocked the shoulder (we call warm weather months “orange barrel season” in Columbus, Ohio). Traffic was super heavy that morning. My husband was already at work across the city. My mom tried to get to us while we waited for a tow, but she got caught in the morning rush too. The tow driver arrived first and loaded the vehicle. He waited with us for a bit and offered us a ride. After some time, I decided it was safest to get off the freeway, so accepted a hitch. The most annoying part is that once unloaded, the Escape drove into a parking spot with no problem. The TCU must’ve reset with a new drive cycle. Still, a tow was the best bet — I wouldn’t risk freeway driving again without a scan and solution.

Read all of the worst car breakdown stories in r/Cars:

What’s your worst breakdown?
byu/Senior_Ad282 incars