Every college student knows the pains of having a car that doesn’t want to cooperate. Between flat tires and oil leaks, there are a number of ways for a car to turn any day sour. Months after the incident, though, car trouble stories can be some of the best in the book.
Emily Mclaughlin, a first year, has had her fair share of car troubles. Having owned a 1989 Honda Civic for her first car, she shared the constant misfortunes she ran into over her two years of driving. “One time I was driving to a show in Milford, and my muffler fell off. I had to ask strangers around the parking lot if they had string to tie it back on. It stayed that way for about a month,” said Mclaughlin.
Broken mufflers weren’t the only issues Mclaughlin had to deal with. “I can remember one time I tried to sneak out of the house. I put my car into neutral and rolled it to the street. My driveway isn’t long so it wasn’t very difficult. I don’t remember where I was going, somewhere with a friend, but my car ended up breaking down. I didn’t know what to do, so I ended up having to call my dad. I was in so much trouble,” she said. Even with the memory of an inconvenient night, Mclaughlin can’t help laughing as she recounts the story.
Jack Roberts and Braden Lynn, also first years, share in this amusement when thinking back to their car troubled stories. Having taken the car up a trail in the middle of winter, it wasn’t long before Roberts and Lynn found themselves stuck in a not-so-great situation.
“It started snowing all of a sudden, and then started to rain,” said Lynn. “The roads froze over and we couldn’t get the car to move. So we had to take the mats out from under the front seats and put them under the tires, but the car only moved about three feet before we’d have to move the mats again.” Roberts and Lynn continued this method until they were off the trail again, both exhausted from the effort of getting the car away from the ice.
“I had such a headache by the end,” said Roberts. “The whole way I was just inhaling fumes while I tried to push the car back.” Just like Mclaughlin, the boys can’t help but smile as they tell the story.
Whether it’s broken pieces or limitations of the vehicle, every car is bound to let its driver down at some point. Yet, even with the constant disappointments, there always seems to be that certain connection one feels with the car they drive. “His name was Huey,” said Mclaughlin after sharing her disastrous stories. “He was my baby. I absolutely loved that car.” Any driver, whether their car is dependable or not, can surely agree.