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Everyone who has owned a car knows how reliable it is to break down. How stubborn it is in its own special way.
The good thing is that with time comes nostalgia, and nostalgia can fix memories that have been bugging us for a very long time, allowing us to laugh at wedding disasters, beach fails, and even all the annoying car issues we've been through.
For the newest "Hashtags" segment on The Tonight Show, its host Jimmy Fallon asked his viewers to share their worst car stories, and it was just like always: people responded to the prompt on Twitter, the showrunners picked the funniest entries and they got a feature on live television. And, just like every time, they were hilariously entertaining, too.
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According to experts, taking care of your car starts with three rudimentary things you should be doing every other fill-up to ensure it stays in tip-top shape.
First, clean the windshield. A dirty, bug-splattered windshield is a safety hazard (it obscures your view of the road), so give it a regular cleaning. Using the spongy part of the gas station squeegee, soak the whole windshield with the cleaning fluid. Then pull the squeegee tightly from the middle of the windshield to the sides, finishing off the remaining streaks by pulling it top to bottom. If your headlights are dirty, give them a squeegeeing too.
Next, check tire pressure. Maintaining this department will keep you safe and even save you a little money. Improperly inflated tires — and this means both over-inflated and under-inflated — don't handle or stop as well as tires with the correct pressure, and they are more likely to suffer a blowout. Plus, tires with the correct pressure last longer and increase your fuel efficiency, even if very slightly.
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Lastly, check the oil level and top off as needed. Motor oil is your car's blood and is essential to its performance. It lubricates all the moving parts in your engine so they don't grind and tear themselves into a disaster. It also transfers heat away from the combustion cycle and traps and holds all the nasty byproducts of combustion, sending it to the oil filter. If your engine doesn't have enough oil, your car is at great risk.
To ensure your car always has enough oil, you simply need to keep regularly checking it. Your owner's manual might recommend that you do this at every gas fill-up but every other is usually sufficient.
Checking your car's oil level is very easy. All you need is a clean paper towel, adequate light, and a few minutes. But before you start, make sure your car is on level ground so you get an accurate reading. Then, locate your engine's dipstick (it typically has an image of an oil can or just says "OIL"). Pull out the dipstick. No laughing. Wipe it clean with a paper towel (gas stations sometimes have them available near the pumps). Put the dipstick back, making sure it goes all the way in. Pull the dipstick out again, (don't turn it upside down to look at it—this makes the oil run upward and ruins your reading). It will have two marks at the bottom. The oil level can be read by looking where the oily part ends and the dry part begins: if the oil line is between the two marks, you’re good to go. If it’s below the bottom mark, you need to add some more oil. But never add more than a quart at once without driving and taking a new reading of the oil level. Too much oil isn't good for the engine too.
All you need to do now is follow the maintenance schedule suggested in your vehicle's owner's manual, keep the car clean and it won't break down. Much.
#10
Linus Nilsson 3 years ago
And here I live in Sweden were cars would be illegal to drive long before reaching this state
#15
#17
No you didn't 3 years ago (edited)
Apparently you should have held the beams midway between high and regular 🤷♀️
#18
Brandi VanSteenwyk 3 years ago
Those are the inconspicuous cars that drug mules like... Did you check all the hidden panels?
#20
Marcellus the Third 3 years ago
Not that strange really. I've had a car drive (at say 5MPH) over my foot and it doesn't hurt; the suspension and tires spread the weight. The flatter the object the lesser the impact.
#24
Rose the Cook 3 years ago
Who installed it without sealing it? I would have gone back and told them to do it properly or else you could have just bought a tube of sealant and done it yourself, it isn't hard.
#27
Tabitha L 3 years ago
Waaaaait a minute. Didn't someone from Sweden say in the comments that this would be illegal in Sweden? I'm shocked that despite laws preventing this behavior, it happened anyway. One might be inclined to believe that there are irresponsible people all over the world. But that can't be right.
#29
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
Not that hard. The cassette recorder got more or less power depending on the speed. So it either was the battery or the alternator at fault.
#30
#34
MRSS 3 years ago
Well Ford can't make a door latch to save it's life. Started from day one and still can't perfect it. There are so many recalls for door latches on such a wide range in years, makes, and model's. It will absolutely blow your freaking mind how many door latch recall parts I have in my parts room. And supplements recalls (revised parts or updated inspections) for latches and rods and plates. Mind blowing!!!!
#35
Brandi VanSteenwyk 3 years ago
You just described my first BRAND NEW car off the lot. The $4995 Hyundai Excel. The big selling feature was that the rear window defroster was included in the base package. Ran mine through 170K miles then sold it to my mechanic.
#39
Tiger Pearl 3 years ago
And someone’s dad from another post put an engine in it for her... and the cycle repeated itself!
#42
Brandi VanSteenwyk 3 years ago
Ahhhh.... The Vega.... Aluminum block... That way there wasn't too much weight to move the thing. If it had been a stainless steel block, she'd have been lucky to pass 30MPH.
#47
Brandi VanSteenwyk 3 years ago
Push starting a manual transmission when the battery is dead.... So many experiences that the new generations will never have.
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What do you think ?
Caffeine72 3 years ago
I had an '81 Toyota Corolla fastback in high school. It had a really sticky choke and would randomly stall out at red lights. I kept a screwdriver and can of choke cleaner in the passenger seat and could jump out, pop the hood, open the carburetor, spray and pop the choke, close everything up, and get back moving in a minute or less. Also, if you turned the radio on it would make a horrible buzzing sound and then kill the electrics.
Tamera Gardner 3 years ago
My sister used to have to crawl into her mint green Gremlin from the back hatch.
Kimzi ZiCeta 3 years ago
When I moved to South Florida where it liked to rain at some point almost daily, I had a 1980-something brown Corolla that had a leaky sunroof inly when I made a left turn. I had to cover my car seat with a garbage bag and change out beach towels every couple of days and every time I turned left, I had to lean up on the steering wheel as far as I could to try to avoid getting a stream of water down my back. Always wondered how my position appeared to fellow drivers.
Caffeine72 3 years ago
I had an '81 Toyota Corolla fastback in high school. It had a really sticky choke and would randomly stall out at red lights. I kept a screwdriver and can of choke cleaner in the passenger seat and could jump out, pop the hood, open the carburetor, spray and pop the choke, close everything up, and get back moving in a minute or less. Also, if you turned the radio on it would make a horrible buzzing sound and then kill the electrics.
Tamera Gardner 3 years ago
My sister used to have to crawl into her mint green Gremlin from the back hatch.
Kimzi ZiCeta 3 years ago
When I moved to South Florida where it liked to rain at some point almost daily, I had a 1980-something brown Corolla that had a leaky sunroof inly when I made a left turn. I had to cover my car seat with a garbage bag and change out beach towels every couple of days and every time I turned left, I had to lean up on the steering wheel as far as I could to try to avoid getting a stream of water down my back. Always wondered how my position appeared to fellow drivers.
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