Breakdown

I broke down on the M5 the other day - a Vauxhall VRX I'd collected from the BCA Bridgewater auction. It's only the 4th time ever that I've broken down in 52 years of motoring. That's me on Waze in the image below.

The first time was on the M1 in an MGB I rebuilt, but the problem was carburation, which was resolved by myself without the need for a call-out. The 2nd time was when my Lotus Elite overheated and I just about managed to make a fuel station on the East Lancs / M6 junction from where it was collected by my mechanic (I had to hitch from the East Lancs Road to London via Oxford and got to my flat in London at around midnight). The 3rd time was when a sensor on Hay's car packed up on the M5 (she was driving, so it wasn't really me who broke down). And this time in the VRX - the cylinder head gasket blew.

I didn't really want to pick the car up, as my OBD reader showed a crankshaft sensor problem, but I was instructed to bring it in anyway. One-Eyed Pete had to be called out to collect me and the car. He does the odd pickup with his car transporter for us when we get into difficulty, which isn't that often.

Oh, I tell a lie - I broke down in an Jaguar X-Type I was collecting from a deceased's estate in Wales - the alternator had failed and Pete had to come out to pick me up, so that's 5 times. However, when you do as much driving as I do, and in auction cars, it's not surprising.

Time was when it wasn't uncommon to see a broken down car on the hard shoulder of motorways every 5 or 10 miles, but cars are so reliable these days that it's a rare occurrence.