My car died and I’m devastated - hand hold please

[whyyyyyisitmonddayy]

I’m being so ridiculous but keep in mind I’ve got a really bad kidney infection so I’m in a lot of pain. I can hardly walk.

My car died. Clutch went. It was a landrover nearing 20, had a name (from previous owner - on paperwork) and it was falling apart. It was my first car and gifted to me by my mum who had it for six years. She was a tricky thing to drive but she took me everywhere.

she was my freedom. I’m 21 and a student. I’d gone car camping in her. I did delivery driving from her. Saved my ass while hydroplaning, going through flood water, etc. I spent 100s of hours behind the Wheel. Getting drive through food by myself and parking up for some quiet. I’d repaired her road size and put away money to repair her failing turbo (her clutch went first and it was far too expensive to fix). I’d gone on holiday in her, slept in the back, she dropped my bags of for other holidays. Hell, she even dropped me off at school, at college, at uni…

I defended her when my boyfriend rightly told me she was a hunk of junk who needed to be scraped. She did. But I still cried when she broke down after her torque went.

im lucky enough im able to get another car but nothing is catching my eye. My life is falling apart and im barely holding it together already. And now my sweet old car is gone. it’s silly, but I loved the way she felt to drive. Terrible MPG though. I took such good care of her too.

Thank you so much. They really do become a representation of how our lives have changed! I’ve had time to really think about it and I’m still gutted. I’ve even thought about buying an Identical model but it wouldn’t be a wise choice as they are no longer in production so very hard to get a decent low mileage one.

This car was my freedom. I earned an income through having the car, and always felt so please when I pulled me through really bad flood water etc. it was a GREAT car. Especially to have clocked 170k. I feel a pang of sadness when I see the dozens of same car that drive around town. “Why did mine have to break down”. It had massive cup holders and a tray for my bag too.

it feels like losing a good pair of boots. Yeah, I’ll probably get better boots. Fashionable ones. Something I would have picked for myself. Ones without wear, holes, and badly patched over soles… but I’ll miss how worn in my old ones were!

I’m looking at getting a mini countryman, which would really be fit for purpose. It was really cool driving the car I had, as it was a weird car for a young woman to drive, and I always got comments on what a nice car it was. I’d even worn holes in the arm rest. And in the mat. I’ve driven through evil storms in it, through deep water, down horrid country lanes. It became a habit to say “thank you, name.” At the end of a trip. Or “for f’s sake, name, don’t break down!” And at the end of a night shift, I would get in, turn on my heated seats, put on my playlist, and say “let’s head home, name”.

i probably won’t get it scrapped yet. It’s sat in my driveway and will have to go soon, but it’s nice having it here for a few more days until I can secure a new car (which will most likely take a few months, due to my list of requirements and low budget 🤦‍♀️ ). I’m excited to have a car which will be more straightforward to drive, but I’ll miss how mine felt a bit like an arm chair. It was so temperamental it really did feel like a person! And it used to mess with the locks of other cars when I parked near certain models of the same brand.

They become an extension of our lives. Mine was a very old luxury car too, which is a cult favourite among some drivers! I’m not sure if I put the model of the car in my og post, but it was a compact SUV, and matched my dads car of the same make (it was originally my mums, both cars were silver). So seeing them parked side by side on my home driveway once more is bitter sweet. Particularly because my dad’s car is three years older and also due to be scrapped.

might try to sell mine for spares and repairs so I feel like it lives on a little bit. I’m feeling better, and as my partner pointed out, I’m very sick right now and I’ve had to endure massive change over the last few months. I’m also drained from balancing work and my full time post grad. He’s been wonderfully supportive and has pointed out that I really adored my car. It’s natural I should feel really down about it.

im feeling a bit better about it today. I’ve been looking at new cars and I could get something I would actually pick for myself, and not feel afraid to get nice accessories etc for it (with my old car I always felt it was ok the brink of car-death).

thank you for the support. My mechanic is looking for something nice for me, and he’ll give me some recs on cars I might like. He sold the OG car to us so I’m feeling comfortable that he knows what I’d like to drive!

I need something suitable for my job. I also need something suitable for my lifestyle. Everything I’m seeing either has huge engines, too pricy to repair, or is in bad shape. So yes, nothing is catching my eye.

I also need to get the money together. It’ll take months to do that. So yes, I am looking, but I’m not going to rush out and buy something that I won’t be comfortable driving / won’t be fit for purpose.

thsnk you. Kidney infection is awful and there’s a chance I have kidney damage. My job is also quite scary - I’m a young woman who is working night shifts and driving to remote locations - so my car was a safe space.

im definitely feeling better today.

I’ll get something I like eventually, and I’ve found a few cars in my price range I can have a look at. Things feel better anyway now - my kidney infection seems to be getting better but I’m still in a lot of pain. I’m going to have to wait for the right car though - I can’t risk buying something unsuitable that I won’t enjoy driving considering I drive for 20+ hours a week.

I have some savings. But not a lot, either. But I need to be sure it’s a suitable car, and it’ll take time to find something that will suit me and my budget (as my mechanic has told me, I will, but it might take a few months for something to surface).

It was indeed my landy. She was so special to me. Pain to drive, but I like her quirks!

@ChamonixMountainBumnot big enough 🤣 thankfully OH has a storage unit at a friend's place where the classics live. The jag is being sold and then things will be a bit more manageable 🤦‍♀️ i do regularly ask him why we need all these cars, but it keeps him happy and occupied so 🤷‍♀️

Ignore the miseries OP. When my first car died I cried buckets

My first, and only, campervan died. I was bereft. I suggest getting something fun and completely different, like a mini!

Look, some people do not get attached to things and some people do, especially those with ND.

I'm sorry your car's died. It's shit. It's all the hassle of replacement when you are ill as well. First cars are special to lots of people.

Mine failed it's MOT spectacularly last year. I opted for repair even though I would have argued against that for someone else. But it fits in a tight garage while being big enough to transport the kids stuff and I didn't have band width to deal with replacement. Thankfully it passed this year. It's not just about the numbers. It's context of everything else in life. (First car, gift from parent, first freedom, income, illness, op is still relatively young, first time sorting out own car.)

Good luck finding a new one op.

That’s what I’m actually looking for, but one of the suv types

Thank you. I truly loved my car - I’m now looking forward to finding something more reliable, but I feel a pang of sadness when I think about actually driving it :(

@whyyyyyisitmonddayy I test drove the countryman version, after a LWB VW T5, it was like a mario kart!

The OP said her mother owned it for 6 years before she did and she's only 21 years old so yes it did drop her off at school with her mother behind the wheel.

the car was always “she” to my family. “She” was also there for major mile stones in my life! I also drove her as a learner. And took her on my first road trip, camping in the back of it.

I’ve had some horrible things happen to me recently and the car was a constant. Literally, as I packed up everything in it from my house to drive back to my parents after I could no longer afford rent. I commuted to uni in the car since, and worked long and horrible evening / night shifts in it. It going to a scrap yard really distresses me - because it was very very well loved. The car going wrong feels like the last straw in a very long run of horrid luck.

I’m excited now!!!! Thank you for sharing! Hopefully I can get my hands on one.

my landy had a big engine but no real acceleration. Very powerful, went 0-50 quick, but 50-70 always felt laggy. Handled lovely though, I loved how secure it felt down winding lanes.

Thanks for belittling how absolutely gutting it was to hear my car couldn’t be repaired - after my mechanic and I both thought that it was a minor fix.

I’ve endured some really horrible stuff over the last six months that genuinely did have me needing a hand hold. Genuinely evil, really heart breaking shit. My car was one of my few constants left. And I’m completely devastated.

would I be so upset if all of the other bad shit hadn’t happened? Obviously not. I’d still be very upset, because buying a car is a headache and I was fond of my landy, but I also wouldn’t be living in the middle of nowhere without transport. Without my job. Without access to university, public transport, my whole fucking life. As if moving home at 21, after creating a life for myself, wasn’t tough enough, I’m now completely severed from my life that I had.

you can get a gearbox replaced. I had my gearbox replaced at Stevens engineering in Buntingford and I’d imagine they’d love a vehicle like an old Land Rover. The price was not equal to replacing the vehicle instead either

I call mine the GC. She’s a good car who is getting us out of there xx

Well….

Don’t scrap it put it in a garage for now. Make it a project and restore it. Dont get rid of it.

Can you afford another?

It’s not just my gearbox, though. It’s my torque converter, my turbo, my rear diff, the window motor, rear windscreen wiper, locks, electrical wiring, and a leaking sun roof. And a few other things.

it’s a freelander 2 - and an early one. Known for these exact mechanical failures and on the “avoid” list of years to buy. I’m not fixing it because it’s triple the value of the car.

Looking at getting another of the same car before they retired the model - ideally the last two years of manufacturing. All of the kinks were worked out, and I can swap a few parts onto the new car from my old one if and when needed. That way it gets a new lease of life and my very expensive upgraded tyres are reused.

My red car was known as Polly Peugeot by all the family. DD2 still refers to it years later!
Sorry for your loss OP.