Thursday 12 September 2013

*closed* Win a £25 Sainsbury's voucher.

I am delighted to offer one lucky reader a £25 Sainsbury’s voucher, in accordance with the launch of the Sainsbury’s Bank Guide to Car Breakdown.







How do my readers enter my giveaway?


·  Log in to Rafflecopter and enter the draw by leaving a blog post comment on your  worst car breakdown experience.

You can also enter by tweeting about the giveaway.


·   The more times you enter, the better your chance of winning the £25 Sainsbury’s voucher!

·      Whether or not you’re our prize winner, your worst car breakdown experience could also potentially appear in a future Money Matters Blog post.

·     The winners will be chosen via Rafflecopter (which uses random.org) and announced on this page.

·      The deadline for entering the giveaway is Friday 27th September.




a Rafflecopter giveaway








Disclaimer- I am also receiving a voucher for running this competition.
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199 comments:

  1. Breaking down on the way to a job interview for a job i really wanted. I missed it and I did not get a second chance

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  2. I broke down on the way back to Lincolnshire from Oxford, the gearbox virtually fell out of the bottom of the car.

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  3. I have only broke down once and I had my little boy with me who was only 1 at the time and carful of food including frozen stuff as I had just been to asda!

    @ashlallan

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  4. Having a girly shopping day out, we decided to go down the motorway to Boundary Mill. I was in the middle lane, car started to lose power, rather unpleasant smell quickly followed by plumes of smoke coming from the engine. Managed to get over onto the hard shoulder and phone the RAC who were brilliant I have to say when they realised three females broken down on the motorway. The most scarey part was getting out of the car to get up on the embankment, the speed of the cars whizzing past nearly knocks you over! Oh and thank you so much to all the cars that beeped as we sat on our tesco bags on the wet grass. RAC took us home, got another car and went off shopping again so not a complete disaster.

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  5. My gearbox got stuck in 4th gear going 70 mph approaching a roundabout! A lorry driver moved my car onto the verve for me luckily and then a police car sat behind me as there was an accident on the other side of the roundabout!

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  6. luckily (?) I don't drive, but I've been stuck with a friend when we broke down in the middle of the countryside in Gloucestershire before mobile phones - we seemingly walked for miles to find a phone box to call for help before realising we'd left our purses in the car ! thank goodness for reverse charges and kind parents ...

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  7. I didn't break down but my wipes stopped working when I hit torrential rain on a motorway! I couldn't see anything all of a sudden and I was travelling at 60mph. I had to use my indicators to pull over gradually and then I stopped. It was the most frightening experience ever and I had to call the mechanics to come out.

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  8. i dont drive and good thing i suppose i never had any

    @avelte2000

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  9. When a wheel strut broke sending me into a spin from the outside lane of a motorway and stopping on the little triangle where the slip road joins the main carriage, facing the wrong way! - I could not get out the car as traffic roaring both sides of me! So scary - but thank goodness for the lovely RAC man who turned up very quickly!

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  10. on our way to holiday car tyre blew and we had a mad struggle to get away on time.

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  11. I had a high speed blowout on the M1 at rush hour but managed to keep control & made it onto the hard shoulder without any problems but it was really scary

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  12. We went camping last year in Cornwall, which is 280 mile trip one way, on the way back we had just got onto the start of the M5 by Exeter and the car broke down, we managed to crawl to the services on the hard shoulder, then we waited 2 hours for the breakdown service, and they took us home but because they can only work 4 hours on their taco, the guy had to stop after an hour as he had done his maximum work and someone else took over, in total it took us 10 hours to get home, the worst ever breakdown and we had our 2 kids with us. But they were surprisingly good and patient.

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  13. Worst for me was when I was learning to drive and started to panic because the chap behind kept flashing his lights. Turned out the car exhaust was hanging off and dragging along the road!

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  14. mycar used tobreak down everywhere but only for 10mins then it would be fine it just did it in the worst places usually at a roundabout or traffic lights

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  15. When the car suddenly decided to die right on the entrance to the motorway a very nice lorry driver blocked the road to stop an accident and some lovely people pushed the car to a safe place.

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  16. I don't drive - leave that hassle to hubby!

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  17. I broke down on the approach to a major 4-way junction - my brother in law kindly came out with a tow rope to get me home but the rope only lasted a few yards before it snapped when we were right in the middle of the junction. We held up masses of traffic and felt very embarrassed having to push the car out of the way.

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  18. Breaking down on the motorway on the way back from Devon - lunchtime with two small kids in the car = nightmare of an experience

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  19. I don't drive but my partner breaking down on his way to work when they were short staffed

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  20. a punctured tyre 60 miles from where we were staying 60 miles from Amsterdam, on a Sunday, when nothing was open and knowing we had to leave for Germany the next day!

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  21. My worst breakdown was my first. I'd been driving a few months at uni - I caught the train home and once back I went to collect my car it had run out of battery. Luckily I had RAC cover, but it was awful after a weekend at home and feeling homesick, to be stuck 200 miles away with a flat battery, in the dark, rainy car park.

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  22. Coming back from peppa pig world 35 mins away from home and the engine decided to pack up on us

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  23. I have never broken down yet.

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  24. Many years ago on the M25 when we had a plane to catch for France the car overheated and by the time someone had helped us get going we were late and we missed the flight by 5 minutes.

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  25. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE M1 WHEN POURING RAIN!!

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  26. Breaking down when I was lost and had the little one with me and she needed feeding!! It was horrid!

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  27. Broke down and had to wait 4 hours for a tow.

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  28. I've never been broken down thank goodness! I do remember being in the passenger seat as a child when we bumped into someone. We were on holiday in France when it happened, going round the corner of a tiny road and meeting someone coming the other way. Fortunately they spoke decent English and we ended up going back to their farmhouse to exchange insurance details - quite a strange day out in the end!

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  29. Our taxi broke down in India, in the countryside. It was an unbearable 40+ degrees and there was no clean water we could drink.

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  30. being in the middle of nowhere and having no phone

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  31. We were going to Bournemouth for the day in my friends Morris Traveller. We didn't even make it to the end of my road.

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  32. My boyfriend and I went on a holiday to the Isle of Wight. The car started making weird noises just before we got on the ferry. Once off the ferry they started again. We eventually had to stop the car on a quiet road and call RAC who we were with, as my boyfriend was concerned about various lights coming up on the dash. 1 hour of sitting in the car bored to death, we called RAC who told us not to worry and somebody was on their way. 1 hour later we called again to be told there was no record of our initial telephone call. They told us we'd have to wait for somebody to come out. 1 hour later we gave up and called them and told not to bother and called a private garage and asked for their help. It was a terrible day, but the break was made better when my now-husband proposed to me that weekend, so it wasn't all bad :)

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  33. i was on an 80 mile round trip, i had to go where i was going and my clutch decided it wouldn't go past 3rd gear about 30 miles into the journey.. so im driving up the A47 hovering between 30 - 40mph for the trip there and back :/ sorry to anyone i held up!

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  34. Driving over a man hole cover and the whole suspension going on my poor little Renault 5. My son who was about 3 at the time helpful soul that he is suggested I put some more petrol in it to make it work!

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  35. We were stuck at a junction and couldn't get the car into gear. Had to call the AA and when they got there, I had to try and steer the car while they towed us away and it wasn't as easy as they made it seem.

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  36. Living abroad, I had just arranged to sell my car - when it died, on the driveway, the day after my RAC-type cover expired. *sigh*

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  37. Broke down by side of busy road. No breakdown cover. Police stopped to make sure was okay.

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  38. The battery dying just as we were packed up ready to leave for holiday

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  39. I broke down on the way to a martial art grading, right in front of a college during the day, with lots of bored students staring out at me. My exhaust fell off and my little 206 sounded like a very sick motorcycle. I hadn't been driving long and only had insurance, not breakdown cover. I had to call my Dad to come bail me out. Cringe!

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  40. We broke down in a car park in the freezing cold. Took ages for breakdown service to get to us, but we just about managed to get back in time for the pre-school pick up!

    @rachiegr

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  41. Breaking down on holiday in Wales and having to be towed 200 miles back home!

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  42. when i was in labour we broke down on the way to the hospital. i had to walk up the steepest hill ever to get the rest of the way. it happened again when taking the baby home the next day to. it was snowing n a total nightmare

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  43. Driving in Houston, Texas when flash floods from a fast moving Tropical storm while on the highway. I tried to exit to wait it out but found myself floating around the underpass in 5 feet of water and stuck for 6 hours until the water receded enough for a tow.

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  44. The battery dying just as we’d loaded up the car ready to go on holiday.

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  45. broke down on the way to fetch kids from school, ended up walking in the snow, i was rather late :/

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  46. kids day out – got our son and niece with us and off for a day out to the zoo – started off fine and the engine overheated and broke down at the side of the motorway with two kids and it started to rain! then get a flat tyre later in the day! just ended up a whole nightmare!! x

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  47. There was a fault with the bonnet catch and the bonnet flew up and smashed the windscreen while I was driving at 50 up in the hills. Instantly couldn’t see so had to do an emergency stop and hope I stayed on the road! There is no phone signal there so I tied the bonnet down with a bandage from the first aid kit and drove slowly home! It took a few hours for me to stop shaking!

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  48. After going to garage earlier in day to say the battery light kept coming on..Later I went to a friends house, pulled up outside and the car died. My friend wasn't home and I had to trek over a mile down a dark road to a phone box with 2 young kiddies. (before the days of mobiles..)

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  49. Accidentally putting petrol in a diesel and then breaking down in the middle of no where. When the recovery man EVENTUALLY turned up (about 2hrs later) he drove past us 3 times! Unhappy :(

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  50. Breaking down on the way to work and arguing with the green flag an as he wanted money to take the car home

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  51. Touch wood i have never broken down

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  52. BROKE DOWN ON MOTORWAY ON THE WAY TO THE AIRPORT LAST YEAR, LUCKILY WE MADE THE FLIGTH THO :)

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  53. Calling out a well known rescue service to be told I was being a silly woman and there was nothing wrong with my car - then the engine seizing on the way home and the garage telling me it was beyond repair.

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  54. We broke down on a busy A road - managed to coast into a layby but cars were going past scarily fast. We were rescued by an AA recovery truck which happened to be passing while waiting for the AA to turn up and taken to a safe place. He then tried to fix it but we had to be relayed home.

    Hazel Rea - @beachrambler

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  55. We only bought our first car 3 months ago so luckily not had a breakdown yet.

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  56. We broke down once, only a mile or so away from home, but we didn't have a pushchair for our (then!) baby. Walking that far carrying a very heavy baby was NOT fun!

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  57. When I left my car lights on when I parked at the airport before going on holiday so flat battery when we arrived back and had to wait for the breakdown man to come and jump start the car and charge it for a while!
    karen s

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  58. My speedometer stopped working whilst driving along the M4. I thought it best to stop & have a look under the bonnet to see if a cable had come loose. Being the safety conscious girl I drive with the door locked, and got out of the passenger side, being on the hard shoulder. Nothing obvious under the bonnet, so I thought I'd just leave it and sort it out when I got home. Only to discover to my horror that I had managed to lock myself out of my car!! Nooooooo!! I pulled a branch from the bushes on the bank and tried to push the door lock by poking the stick through the slightly open sunroof, but to no avail. So, I had to ring the police. How incredibly stupid did I feel as they pulled up smiling, produced a key and opened my door. Fortunately I have never broken down on the motorway since, which is just as well as I would not wish to repeat the experience!

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  59. Luckily I have never broken down.

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  60. New years eve/day my partner slid on black ice and buckled the wheel - an expensive start to the year

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  61. Touch wood I've never had a bad experience (frances hopkins)

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  62. We had planned a trip through Glencoe, we had got half way through when the gears stopped working. It was pouring down by then and the breakdown took 2 hours to get to us and four hours to tow us home. NIghtmare.

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  63. I have only one really bad memory as I was a child when it happened. My granddad was driving and I was in the passenger seat – in his old white mini metro. He went over some kind of bump and the whole windscreen just shattered in front of us. Like …PING!!! He pulled over and had to get a sheet from the back of the car to line the bonnet before pushing the glass outwards so he could drive home. I was petrified!! The car was freezing as we drove home and I was in such a state I could hardly walk when we got there. I was only about 9 ish, but its always haunted me :( *shudders*

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  64. in a late night car park with a flat battery after Christmas shopping, no electrics to lock myself in the car and minus six degrees!! cold and scary

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  65. Luckily enough, haven't had many breakdowns. But recently the car went crazy driving back from Leeds, rather than stop - my husband drove all the way back to york on the hard shoulder, going 20 miles per hour :/

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  66. Just done a car boot sale and on my way home when got a puncture, cost me 5 times more for new tyres than I'd made at the boot sale.

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  67. Snapped exhaust at a car boot sale.

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  68. About a week ago my dad had my daughter in the car he was driving down the dual carriage way and had a tyre blow out! They were so lucky not to have been involved in an accident. My dad had to change the tyre in a really dangerous place too.

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  69. We bought a car off ebay and about 2 weeks later as we drove from Ripon to Leeds the radiator broke and it started to overheat so we had to pull over and wait to be towed. I was pregnant and desperate for a wee too!

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  70. On the way to a wedding on the motorway. Ended up being hours late.

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  71. breaking down in the middle of the motorway with big lorries speeding past either side of me id never been so scared in all my life and didnt have my mobile phone on me.luckily the police came to my rescue and got me safetly to the hard shoulder. and called the rac for me :)

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  72. I broke down in the middle of temporary traffic lights, in rush hour and totally blocked the road

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  73. Pam Francis Gregory16 September 2013 at 19:18

    Blown tyre on motorway

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  74. I broke down on the motorway 100 miles from home

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  75. The worst time was in rush hour on a busy junction and the car just died on me thankfully a man pushed me off the road but then I had to walk and get help.

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  76. when my tyre burst on a bad piece of road and i had to drive on for a while trying to find somewhere to stop

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  77. We picked our secondhand car up from the garage and tried to drive down to devon that evening. The car broke down on the motorway an hour into the journey and we were stranded in the middle lane, a very scary experience. Luckily the garage agreed to refund us because it was so soon after we bought it, we wouldn't have been so lucky if we had bought it privately.

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  78. I dont drive but my husband broke down on someones driveway in the snow (on home visits for work). They helped push the car off the driveway then just left him! Meanies!

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  79. feeling ridiculous when I ran out of petrol!

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  80. My worst was when my son was a baby and it was dark - I felt incredibly vulnerable

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  81. I broke down in the snow on my way to a Christmas party :(

    Worst thing was I was wearing peep toe sandals!

    Since then I have always kept a pair of wellies in my boot!

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  82. when my girls were babies and I broke down on a pitch black back country road, It was horrible

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  83. We broke down with a 2 week old baby in the middle of Winter. He was lactose intolerant and so had special formula milk which we didn't have. Luckily his Grandad saved the day!

    Hele

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  84. could not start car to collect daughter from school and it was raining heavy

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  85. breaking down at the top of ASDAs roundabout

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  86. We were coming back from being away at Christmas. A seven hour drive lay ahead of us. The snow was extremely deep and wind. We had no car heater so had to leave windows open and put hot water bottles on and blankets. If that wasn't bad enough our fan belt was squeaking and on the verge of collapse. And then if that wasn't bad enough, our brake lights went out. We had no breakdown so had to keep going, pushing the side lights when we broke. Managed to get within a mile of home and the fan belt went, thankfully our old girl did make it home. We got breakdown cover after that ordeal.

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  87. been really lucky and not had a break down as yet touch wood hehehe

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  88. Breaking down on the motorway on the way to a wedding with my daughter being the bridesmaid

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  89. Breaking down was bad enough..but then cyclist cycled into the back and dented the bumper..

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  90. I don't want to tempt fate,..... but not so far :-)

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  91. My 11 month old car decided to blow up whilst working miles from home - I was stuck had no idea what to do had no break down cover that I knew of. Luckily a friend told me all new cars come with some kind of recovery for 12 months! So luckily managed to get recovered but was such a long cold wait!

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  92. We'd just flown home from a holiday abroad and had to phone up meet and greet to collect our car only to be told that the car had broken down. Due to health and safety the company weren't able to take all of us to their compound so they would only collect my husband, leaving me and my 2 young children stranded at airport with all luggage. Tried to get a taxi to take us to him but unsure of address as postcode given by meet and greet company didn't pick up any valid address.Daughters by this time unconsolable Luckily a nice taxi driver agreed to drive us around until he found them. Breakdown guy by this time had turned up and rang me telling us to get to the local Tesco store and he would meet us there. There followed a 4 hour journey in back of recovery truck home. Great end to a lovely holiday.

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  93. Waiting for two hours for an RAC van and then they drove within inches of me, I did have the bonnet up, and drove off. After complaining it took them another two hours for someone to come and fix the problem.

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  94. on the motorway when the timing belt went.. not fun waiting in the rain on the hard shoulder

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  95. We had a puncture on our way to the airport for our jollies, arrived at the airport at the last minute with greasy hands from changing the wheel.

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  96. I do not drive,so haven't had any

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  97. My was when our car had been into the garage for a full service The car was only a couple of years old They delivered the car back All was well so we thought I went to use the car when i came to stop the brakes wouldn't work right the brakes had to be pumped so i could stop The garage came straight out & fixed the brakes It was scary as i had only passed my test a few months before

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  98. The gear box went whilst driving from Lincolnshire to Devon to see my parents,we were taken back home by the recovery truck after a couple of hours wait. Decided to hire a minibus to make the journey and while we were driving around North Devon looking at the place my mum and dad lived when they were first married, an injector went on the minibus meaning another wait for a recovery truck to turn up to take us home!

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  99. When I broke down doing a right turn at some traffic lights, in the middle of the night.

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  100. When we were younger, my Mum had an old red Fiesta and it broke down whilst going round a roundabout! We had to sit in the car in rush hour traffic until a passing firetruck stopped and the firemen pushed us to safety! x

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  101. being stuck at the side of the road whilst being a breast feeding mother but without my baby! Anyone who breast fed will understand the pain after a few hours!!!

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  102. We broke down on the way to somebody's wedding and then when we finally got there I tripped and skinned my knee.

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  103. When I was 17 & had just passed my test and that was the days before mobile phones. I was stuck in winter & in the dark with no breakdown cover & had to walk to find a phone & was stuck for hours until someone could come & get me.

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  104. Breaking down on my own on the top of the pennines on the way to family in Yorkshire. It was a snowy day and very misty. What was worst was when I got out of the car to deal with the green flag. My dog started on the Christmas Turkey!!!! Was devastated at the time, but now we laugh about it.

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  105. We broke down in the middle of winter in freezing temperatures. It wasn't long before the RAC got to us but it was hours before I could feel my toes again!

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  106. Bank Holiday, old MG Midget caught fire, horrendous!

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  107. My worst experience was my first day at university. i took a wrong turning and then boom my clutch stopped working. the car revving its head off!. It was poring down with rain, i had to leave the car and walk which took around 40 mins. missed my lecture. so got the train home.
    that night got my dad to go have a look at it and the car started and drive home fine! i was so embarrassed

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  108. I've never owned a car.
    My worst MOTORBIKE breakdown experience was during a torrential downpour that shorted out my sparkplug due to a leaky plugtop. Pushing the bike from stockport to oldham with a few brief successful bump starts along the way... nightmare)

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  109. Being hit by a driver which meant car written off and serious back injury!

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  110. My accelerator pedal stuck down, on the motorway, in fog. I was in the slow lane, but couldn;t see the phones far enough ahead to go into neutral and stop by one. So scary!

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  111. On Dartford Crossing - It was VERY stressful that's all ill say.

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  112. Broke down at night in torrential rain. Took 3 or 4 hours for the rescue service to arrive. I saw the van go past several times and each time I called I was told that they had been unable to find me and assumed I had got started and not called in to cancel. They took down the details incorrectly hence were looking in the wrong place.

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  113. I've been lucky as I've never broken down. I've probably jinxed myself by saying that now!

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  114. My gearbox seized on the way to a motor race competition, which I had driven 200 miles to and the wheels would not even turn, so the car had to be literally dragged onto the recovery vehicle! Luckily, the competition was cancelled due to bad weather and I got to enter after all. I didn't win, but it was great fun, even if I did have another 400 mile round trip!

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  115. My clutch cable snapping as I neared the top of a hill!

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  116. I broke down at some really busy traffic lights when my petrol gauge kept telling me I had petrol when in fact I didn't! Very embarrassing!

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  117. a tyre blow out at night on the M1

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  118. Breaking down in bad ice, luckily not too far from home!

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  119. Travelling from Southampton to Cornwall the cam belt snapped half way there. We were recovered back to Southampton and hard to start the journey again in a different car - nightmare

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  120. Breaking down on bonfire night, up a hill!

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  121. Breaking down on bonfire night up a hill!

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  122. i don't drive & never been in a breakdown either :)

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  123. i was in he car with my mum and we broke down under a narrow bridge and caused a traffic jam! embarrasing!

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  124. I live in North Yorkshire and broke down some years ago on a trip to my local town. It was back in the day when mobile phones were just coming into being, we did have one but my husband was using it that day. I had to wait, and wait, and wait, for a car to pass for me to flag down, I must have been there for over an hour, it was freeeeezing.

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  125. Was on my way to a date. I had met this guy through online dating and we had looked forward to meeting for weeks. He had made it clear to me that he was nervous and apprehensive as he had experience with online dating and many girls had stood him up. So then when my car broke down I panicked I tried to call him but had no signal being in the middle of a country road. When I eventually got someone to give me a lift I arrived just as he was about to leave. I explained the whole situation and we are still together now 1 year anniversary is 3rd of October. In a way my car breaking down helped us as it served as an Ice breaker

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  126. I live in North Yorkshire and was travelling to my local town when I broke down. It was back in the day when mobile phones were just coming into being and, although I had one, my husband was using it that day, we shared it. I had to wait, and wait, and wait for a car to pass to flag down, I was there over an hour and it was freeeeezing.

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  127. We broke down on the way to my nans funeral and had to have the car towed and get a courtesy car half way. The worst of it was my boyfriend didn't have his drivers license so in a fragile state I had to drive and it was a big 4 by 4 eek! Felt like a bus! Luckily we made it to give my nan a lovely goodbye!

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  128. When I had a flat tyre, I borrowed a jack from a total stranger and broke it.

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  129. Luckily only broke down once... my accelerator cabal snapped when going up a hill so I quickly had to pull into the side... in front of a driveway... on double yellows. Nothing I could do though... I had no accelerator pedal to move

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  130. An offside tyre blowout on a busy dual carrigeway meant that the police had to cordon off a lane so I could get the tyre changed

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  131. The worst was when my tyre burst when I had gone down a nasty pothole at the side of the road. It was a country road in the dark and the car had came to a halt on a bad bend. Luckily I had a reflective hazard triangle which I put a few metres behind the car so people approaching could see me. My husband had to come out to change the tyre. Was scary!!

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  132. Many years ago we had an Allegro (which my husband said should have been called "All Aggro". It hated going on journeys and broke down at every opportunity. Worst was on a dual carriageway with nowhere to pull in and we ended up with a police escort!

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  133. on my way to leeds fest, it's pouring down with rain and my window wiper suddenly stops working, the linkage rod had broke!

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  134. Broke down once in a thick fog - it was quite scary

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  135. Luckily hasn't happened to me!

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  136. I broke down on a country lane in the middle of winter, this was the time before mobile phones, had to walk 5 miles in the driving winter rain, horrible.

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  137. Breaking down on the motorway during a torrential rainstorm!

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  138. https://twitter.com/gustavo_fring67/status/382761789148000256

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  139. Gear Box went - in the middle of nowhere before the days of mobile phones. Long walk :(

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  140. breaking down on way to meet husband from the airport - he got home before me via a taxi!

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  141. We had a flat tyre on a dual carriageway. A police car stopped and offered to help. The tyre wouldn’t pump up so we went to get the spare out of the boot.
    The spare was also flat so the policeman said he would take my partner to the nearest garage to pump it up, my partner then shut the boot with the keys inside it.

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  142. breaking down and forgetting my phone, had to flag somone down to borrow their phone to call husband, was on my own and so scared

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  143. Had a terrible experience travelling to start at uni. The van overheated and blew the head gasket, leaving me stranded with all my belongings in the back. I didn’t have recovery membership either

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  144. Broke down on a roundabout on the way home from the gym as the clutch broke. Called the AA and had to tell the man where I was 3 times as he thought I was in Sheffield (I was in Plymouth) and had to say "I'm on the roundabout" about 10 times. The AA was delayed twice and took 2 hours to arrive to me while I was sat next to road kill and when he did arrive he went to the wrong roundabout. Partner had to end up going to by MacDonalds for tea :(

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  145. Hubby got stuck in the snow in someones driveway and the pushed him off and left him alone! :( It was freezing!!

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  146. My worst breakdown experience was getting a hire care wedged against a rock in Madeira.

    @polly58

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  147. Car ran out of petrol on the M11 at night, I was lucky enough to get a free tow home!

    @samanthapsharpe

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  148. Having a tyre blow out on the motorway. Very scary!

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  149. A big lorry passed us and a huge piece of rock spun up from one of its wheels into the windscreen and shattered it. It was very scary.

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  150. Breaking down on a double decker bus, on the way to work. The driver asked if anyone had spare tights so he could make a fan belt so he could limp to the depot. Every bus that stopped to help was absolutely full and we had to wait ages for a replacement even though we were within a mile of the bus depot.

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  151. On the way back from our prom (a few years ago now) and my friend was driving her dads automatic and the accelerator pedal jammed on making it extremely hard to stop the car, and quite scary too. We had to call out help as it was the middle of the night and it was pitch black on a country road! Not a very nice experience!

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  152. on the way to the airport a few years ago, after a major panick we did catch our flight!

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  153. breaking down outside our local shop about half a mile from home,had topush the car home in front of everyone before calling the rac,,embarrsing or what

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  154. Actually i don't drive - so I haven't broken down

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  155. In the rain with my mum as a little girl with a crying baby sister!

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  156. I was working a night shift at asda which was 10 miles away from where I lived, I was doing 70 down the motorway surrounded by lorries when my car started to slow down voluntarily. (I had blown the engine) I had no breakdown and didn't know who to call for for help. Luckily I had a hubby who knew what to do. lol

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  157. I once locked my keys in the boot of my car in a very remote corner of the Welsh countryside. I had a long and rainy wait for the AA man to finally find me!

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  158. I broke down at the services on the way back to wales, I had to get a push start and had to try and make it back to swansea from leicester. It cut out again before I had a chance to park when I got home

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  159. Broke down in rural Norfolk in Winter with my Dad (who is a diabetic) The AA took over 6 hours to get to us by which point the AA man had to drive us home before looking at the car as he was shaking and dizzy! Needless to say we changed providers after that

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  160. We drove 150 miles to Alton Towers and as we entered the car park our exhaust just fell off. Dilemma .. fun filled day or sort the car out? Needless to say we left the car until closing time and eventually arrived back home in the early hours of the morning. God bless the RAC!!

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  161. my sister's wedding day-we told her it was a sign!

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  162. i dont drive and cant remember any

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  163. Yesterday, my car battery died after I left the lights on, thanks to the fog in the morning.

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  164. Half way to cornwall this summer, Me, my partner, two babies and our border collie dog.
    Heard a HUGE bang and we had to pull over on the side of a road to stop anyone from crashing from the awful smoke out of our Car. The AA turned up an hour after we rang and Fixed the problem. A broken seal. Luckily we arrived in cornwall hours after it happened, but with a hot dog and two tired babies! Xx

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  165. I broke down when 8 months pregnant

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  166. My first flat tyre on my daughters first day at school was very bad timing!

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  167. My story was long one but as short as possible - on way to interview & car wouldn't brake it just kept going faster up to 65mph in a 40mph I but on my hassard lights on & hand on the horn to let people know I was in trouble, I was actually looking for a field to crash into as I had no control over the car & then it suddenly just stopped & in front of a garage too! The blokes had seen all the carry on & had come running over to me, one of them drove me to my interview & the other fixed my car. I had only been driving 2 weeks & had brought a 2nd hand car, I was 18 years old too. Something major had gone wrong with it & the bloke at the garage bless him only charged me £50 when it was actually a price of around £500! I had a very lucky escape, got the job, got my car fixed on the cheap & got myself a date with the garage owner lol!

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  168. We had a tyre blow up when we were on a main road.

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  169. I thought I had broken down, pulled over, put my hazards on and sat there for a while waiting to be rescue - I hadn't even broken down! oops!

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  170. Our car broke down at Flamborough Head lighthouse last year, there was myself, my husband and our 2 children and we had to wait about 2 hours for the recovery vehicle to arrive.

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  171. Breaking down in the middle of nowhere just before the Motorway with 2 toddler boys while 7 months pregnant with #3 - then waiting 4hrs for the AA & then another 2hrs for a tow truck! Truly awful!

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  172. Me and my mum were on the way to a concert in another city, and the car started sounding weird, suddenly the power went completely. Fortunately we were able to get to the hard shoulder, but it was on the motorway at one of the busiest times for lorries, with quite a narrow hard shoulder. The car really rocked with every lorry that went past, and we both felt so unsafe. Fortunately, after a little while the car started again and we were able to get off the motorway.

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  173. has to be the mini bus breaking down on the motorway on the way to my friends hen weekend in Blackpool. we were all in fancy dress and had to sit on the hill for ages waiting for the breakdown company to arrive!

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  174. I was with my brother in his Austin Metro with my new baby & a tyre blew in the fourth lane of the motorway. We were very lucky as a lorry driver spotted what had happened pulled into the third lane & honked his horn to warn the lorries in lane 1 & 2 & they did a rolling block of the motorway to allow us to get to the hard shoulder. Forever grateful to that quick thinking lorry driver.

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  175. I was in the quite late stages of labour and we were making our way to the hospital (about 35 minutes away). Halfway there, on the by-pass, our car had a 'blow-out'. It was one of the most terrifying experiences I have ever had. I was then standing on the side of the road in what was the final stages of labour waiting for the emergency services (i.e. the AA) to get to us, seeing us broken down, a police traffic vehicle pulled over, and when they realised what was happening, rushed me and my husband to the hospital with blue lights flashing! I delivered our daughter within minutes of arriving!

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  176. car overheated and got stuck on a junction need a new part to stop it overheating

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  177. Only brokedown once, car suddenly overheated and we ended up on the hard shoulder of the M6. Scary place!

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  178. I had a blow out once scariest moment ever trying to safely get off the motorway onto the hard shoulder.

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  179. Blow out on the motorway with 2 children and pregant , very scary!

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  180. My clutch went on the motorway with two kids in the car. I was so unobservant I had no idea how far from home I was, so couldn't tell relatives on the phone where I was. Also my phone ran out of charge!

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  181. I have never had a breakdown, fingers crossed it will stay that way x
    @tjsi1963

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  182. Fotunatly never broken down i however had a mini breakdown when i was in a car with 3 friends going for a picnic and a pheasant flew right into the front of the car and we almost crashed surrounded by clouds of feathers, it was horrible! x

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  183. I broke down in the middle of nowhere late at night, in the days before mobile phones were the norm. I had to walk along country lanes with no lighting to find a phone for about 1 hour and then the AA told me to walk back to the car and they would meet me there. By the time I had walked back the AA man was waiting for me. As I often travelled alone at night I went out and bought a mobile phone the next day.

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  184. Breaking down, 2h from home, my gear oil had started leaking. I later dropped by phone from the height of the breakdown truck and it smashed!

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  185. We broke down while driving to the hospital to give a birth to our first baby!

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  186. Recently on a busy junction with steam coming out of the bonnet. Not fun at all.

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  187. Took my car into a car wash and had to push it out as it would not start, complete nightmare, hand wash these day !!

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  188. I recall once with an old car, bought second hand. As I had only passed my test about 2 years previously. I was driving up the motorway light came on dashboard, as well as steam from bonnet of car. Radiator overheating. Had to pull in to hard shoulder, allowed radiator to cool, topped it up. Then rejoined motorway exited at next available exit. Contacted boyfriend and arranged repair. Was glad that when breakdown happened the motorway I had been on wasn't particularly busy. Also glad I had a supportive boyfriend who was of assistance with the car.

    Rachel Craig

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  189. Competition aside, that is such a good guide from sainsburys. I have no idea how to change a car tyre when I really should. Maybe they should start including skills like that in driving exams?!

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