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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To take my own car or family members?

24 replies

vnk21 · 11/06/2021 13:58

Could do with some opinions please, as I think I am decided on what to do, but would like to confirm I'm making the right decision.

Over the weekend I need to do a 200ish mile journey, returning 2 days later.

It's a drive I've done a few times and am relatively confident with. However since the last drive my car (13 years old) has developed a few more creaks and groans and in particular I think the brakes are on their way out. It's due it's MOT in a month anyway so I have booked it in to my local garage, but the soonest they can look at it is end of next week, and I need to travel before then.

I'm happy to pootle around locally in my car - the brakes still work ok and I can stop quickly if need be at 30mph, but I'm just not sure about risking it on the motorway?

I can borrow a family members car however as I don't have DOC cover on my policy I'd need to be added at a cost of £40, plus fuel will cost more as their car is petrol and mine is diesel. I can afford these costs but I can't decide if I am being over cautious.

I could go by train however even with the insurance cost going by car is cheaper and quicker, plus the train involves going through London/ on the Underground which I've not done since pre Covid and am not too keen as I haven't been vaccinated.

So - YABU - drive your own car, it's perfectly fine and you're worrying over nothing

or

YANBU - borrow the relatives car and suck up the extra cost.

OP posts:
DeathStare · 11/06/2021 14:07

Take the other car

newnortherner111 · 11/06/2021 14:18

Need to go? Is someone near the end of life? Could it not wait?

You should not be driving a car if you think the brakes are not 100%. Imagine if a dog or cat or small child runs out in the road.

So if the journey is to be made, the other car.

NerrSnerr · 11/06/2021 14:21

I agree with PP. Imagine hitting someone because you didn't stop in time and saying to the police 'I knew my breaks were dodgy but still drove today as I was only staying local'. You are much more likely to be in an accident due to dodgy breaks on local roads as there are so many more reasons to need to stop.

Original poster
vnk21 · 11/06/2021 14:30

The brakes work fine at 30mph or less, I have tried them and they're ok, I wouldn't be driving the car at all if they didn't. Most of our local roads are limited to 20mph so I'm doing a lot less than 20mph most of the time. I only use the car a couple of times a week locally as I work from home; it is booked in for the earliest date to check the brakes/ do the MOT but as mentioned that appointment isn't until after I have to travel.

OP posts:
MadeForThis · 11/06/2021 14:37

You don't have to wait for an mot to check the brakes. Bring it to Quikfit or any garage and they will do a brakes check.

KarmaStar · 11/06/2021 14:38

Hi op,
Please borrow the other car.
Not only are you risking your life,and other's ,driving a car that could possibly fail to respond fast in an emergency situation,but following a rtc your vehicle would be examined and you could be held responsible.
Do what you know is the right thing and take the other car and have the peace of mind whilst the roads.
Have a safe journey.🌺

Aprilx · 11/06/2021 14:42

OP if you think your breaks are on the way out you shouldn’t be driving the car AT ALL. How dare you take that risk on the behalf of other road users and pedestrians.

DynamoKev · 11/06/2021 14:47

What is leading you to imagine the brakes might be faulty?
Any car sold in the last 40+ years will have dual (or triple) circuit brakes so total failure of the brakes is extremely unlikely.
If they have been allowed to wear out by lack of servicing/inspection they won't be anywhere like as effective as they should be.
Depending on mileage, if the car has been properly serviced on schedule and any recommendations followed, the brakes should be fine.

Cocomarine · 11/06/2021 14:47

If it isn’t acceptable to rely on your brakes on the motorway, you sure as hell shouldn’t be relying on them at 30mph.

That’s actually pretty shocking.

The MOT date is not the date at which you fix a dangerous car. Get your car off the road NOW. Disgraceful.

FeatheredHope · 11/06/2021 14:49

You know your brakes are dodgy and yet you’re still driving it at all? Get it fixed ffs before you kill yourself or someone else.
Honestly I despair of people.

Hagqueen · 11/06/2021 14:49

Stop driving the car entirely!!!

I’ve been in a car like that, where the driver was adamant it was fine (i didn’t know until i was in the car!) and then they stopped working entirely. We were driving under 30 miles per hour and I ended up in hospital and two cars were written off.

Original poster
vnk21 · 11/06/2021 14:49

Like I said, the brakes currently work as they should at 20-30mph. I have had no issues with stopping when driving locally. I think they may need attention either now or soon but I'm not a mechanic.

Driving a long distance on a motorway is a different kettle of fish to a slow local drive. Hence my caution about driving a car that may well be absolutely fine but I am not entirely confident in.

When I take my car for it's MOT they might well tell me there is no issue with the brakes, and I could be worrying over nothing. However I won't know that until it's been in. I don't want to take it to another garage or Kwik Fit type place due to previous poor experiences/ being overcharged and billed for unnecessary work.

My preference was to use family members car. I wanted to check that I wasn't being over cautious in doing so.

OP posts:
Cocomarine · 11/06/2021 14:49

Also: non-motorway roads are not all 30mph. I believe that the roads with the greatest number of fatalities as a percentage of traffic volume are 60mph A roads.

Cocomarine · 11/06/2021 14:52

How do you know they work as they should at 20-30mph?
Are regularly doing emergency stops in wet weather, going back to then measure the metres of stopping distance?
Of course you’re not.

Backtracking claptrap.

If your car is safe to drive: drive your own for this trip.

If it isn’t safe to drive: get it off the bloody road!!!

PorkPieForStarters · 11/06/2021 14:53

I'd also borrow your relatives, or have your brakes checked at Quikfit/a garage as a PP mentioned.

I've used Cuvva before when borrowing a friend's vehicle for a short period of time and it's incredibly easy, I don't know how their quote compares?

bloodywhitecat · 11/06/2021 14:55

Your car is either safe or it isn't. Get it off the road until you get it checked out.

BackforGood · 11/06/2021 14:58

I agree with everyone else.

Your car is either safe to drive, or it isn't.

A car being 13 years old doesn't make it unsafe to drive but if you have any concerns about the brakes, then you shouldn't be driving it. Full stop.
It really isn't safe to drive around town but not safe to drive on a motorway

Original poster
vnk21 · 11/06/2021 15:00

I've owned the car for slightly under a year. It has a partial service history and was last serviced prior to it's MOT almost 12 months ago.

As mentioned in my OP, the car makes a few creaks, groans and rattles, again not unexpected given it's age. It has also developed an intermittent slight vibration of the brake pedal when braking sharply. It's not every time (and of course I usually aim to drive defensively and avoid sharp braking) but those factors, plus the fact it's coming up for a MOT, and the length of the drive, and also because I'm not particularly au fait with car mechanics, is leading me to think incurring the extra costs of using family members car is probably worth it.

If my car gets a clean bill of health after it's MOT and/or once any necessary works are completed, I'll feel reassured to drive it long distances again.

OP posts:
Original poster
vnk21 · 11/06/2021 15:12

To add, there are no 60mph roads local to me really, it's all 30 or 20mph near here. Likewise I've not needed to drive in wet weather since before any of these concerns arose which are within the last month (since I did my last motorway drive).

I have booked my car in already, I contacted my trusted garage to try and book it in asap, but next week was the soonest date they could offer.

OP posts:
FeatheredHope · 11/06/2021 15:22

I have booked my car in already, I contacted my trusted garage to try and book it in asap, but next week was the soonest date they could

And that’s fine, but if you are in any way concerned about the brakes, which you obviously are, you shouldn’t be driving it anywhere in the meantime. Even if you’re only doing 20mph.

katy1213 · 11/06/2021 15:30

Sure, go ahead - cause a motorway pile-up for the sake of £40 or a train fare.
Are you really so brainless that you need to ask what's the right decision?

NotAnotherPushyMum · 11/06/2021 15:54

Sounds like your brake pads need replacing which isn’t an urgent matter but a ‘get done as soon as you can’ thing. The brakes still work. That said, use the other car for a long journey. You’ll only be nervous driving it.

Cocomarine · 11/06/2021 15:59

What is this “relatively confident” with a drive you’ve done several times, anyway?
If you’re yet another woman on MN who seems to go to pieces at the thought of a motorway or drive longer than the school run - then get some more lessons.

Original poster
vnk21 · 11/06/2021 17:28

By relatively confident I mean I've done the 200 mile each way drive on my own about 10 times in the last year. I don't have any issues or worries generally about driving on the motorway, but I'm not as confident as someone who's been driving for 20 years or has done the journey 100 times. I'm more confident than I was before I'd driven in - any concerns I have are more around the car than the journey.

Anyway, you've confirmed I'm better taking the other car, which I'm going to do.

OP posts:
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