The Written Podcast: A Broken Car

I missed last week’s Friday post, because life simply got in the way. I had originally planned on writing about my experience in London. I’ve only ever gone to London with someone else, either with parents or my friends. I’ve travelled through London myself on route to Milton Keynes, which was an experience of itself, but remaining in London instead of passing through is a whole different experience altogether.

Last week was full of busy days, but I made time to write the post on Thursday evening, ready for Friday. Unfortunately, as you can see, there was no post because I found myself standing on the side of the road, next to my car.

It wasn’t a late night, but I was exhausted. Mentally and physically.

Earlier that week, whilst travelling from home to work – I got lucky with the traffic and went from Colchester to Chelmsford in fifth gear. Sure, I wasn’t able to stay at 70 the whole way, I did have to slow down, but usually I don’t have to change down gear until reaching 35. The slowest I went was 45.

When turning off at junction 19, it finally had to change down to gear 4 and lower to stop at a set of traffic lights. That’s when the gearstick got stuck. I put the clutch down, but when attempting to pull it into neutral, I refused until I put a bit of force behind it. I had to copy the same pressure when sliding it into fourth gear.

Once I had it in first gear and pulling away from the traffic lights, it easily slid into all the upper gears. It could have been a fluke, so I wasn’t worried about it too much, but considering my only way of getting home is via car, and if the unknown problem with the clutch escalates further, that could be highly troublesome for me. I went about my normal work day as usual.

By 6:20 in the evening, climbing into my car and pulling off, the gears were thankfully easy to use.  The A12 is utterly unpredictable. There’s no telling which lane to stay in. I can stay in the outer lane all the way, or the inner lane. There’s plenty of times when the outer lane is completely stationary for a couple of minutes, whereas the inner lane is moving – slowly, but steadily. The next day, it can be the opposite. There are times where I simply cannot reach fifth gear because the traffic is so extensive, other times I wonder if I would ever see another car before pulling off at my desired exit. In the mornings, the A12 is always busy, but in the evenings, rush hour means rush hour. Between five and six, you must expect to be stationary for at least fifteen minutes in total from Chelmsford and Colchester. However, after six, the traffic hasn’t entirely died down, but you can expect a few slow patches here and there. On average, in the mornings and evenings, it can take on average of 45 minutes.

It’s rare, but I was able to travel from Chelmsford to Colchester in fifth gear. I was hoping what happened that morning was a fluke, but a part of me knew that it would happen again. And it did. I was at the roundabout at Horsley Cross when it happened again, but I was able to coach it into the lower gears, carrying on with my journey.

I had to will my car to and fro from work until Saturday when I would then have it

checked out. Come Thursday, 13^th December, at Horsley Cross, when changing it down from fifth to fourth, the gear stick broke. Not the gear stick itself, but the linkage between the stick and the chord which changes the gears. I felt it snap, and then something rattling underneath the leather cover.

I had to pull over on the side of the road, phone my dad, call the AA and wait, expecting this to be a very late night, and dreading having to phone my boss the next morning saying I’m unable to make it into work, especially considering I’ve only just started my job and currently in the three-month probation period. Whilst having car problems cannot be classed as my fault, I very much would have liked not to have any hiccups during a very important period at work.

Also, that Friday, the parts department had planned a Christmas do at the Hare, and I had promised to take someone home that evening after the party.

All of that seemed to have gone up in smoke. Even though I had a thick long coat on, I was still shivering.

My dad and I have both had unsatisfactory experiences with the AA. Not with the mechanics themselves, but the process of getting a mechanic out to attend to our broken cars. We’ve waited above five hours one time. However, this particular evening, the AA turned up within twenty minutes. The clutch may be faulty also, but if we could find a way to reconnect the gearstick with the chord, then maybe I could continue my journey home, and go to work in the morning, go the Hare, take my colleague home, and then go home myself. Seems like a lot of gear changing, but I was confident it could be done.

The AA mechanic, my dad and I, together, bodged the gearstick and chord together with chicken wire and tape. That was literally all that was helping me change gears, and with the clutch having difficulties itself, the next morning’s journey to work was certainly an experience.

Somehow, I managed to do everything I had planned. I didn’t miss a day’s work, nor did I miss the Christmas party, and I kept my promise to my colleague, who actually didn’t believe me about the car, and when he did get in the car, he was too drunk to actually process the fact it was a bodged job, and continued to disbelieve me, even when staring at it.

On the way to the garage to get it fixed, the chicken wire and tape finally gave way, but even then the car made it to the garage.

There are countless times when you see people on the side of the road, standing next door to their broken down vehicle, whether it’s a car, lorry, van, or motorcycle, and you don’t really think much about it. It’s almost as if you take your working vehicle for granted until it actually breaks down. Only then did I really feel what those other people were going through and how much of an inconvenience a broken down vehicle is to them. I could have missed out on a day’s work, the Christmas party.

My Ford Focus, Zetec, 1.6, is practically indestructible. It has done over 131,000 miles. It’s bound to have a few problems here and there, but now it’s fixed, there’s strong hope it’ll last for many more miles to come.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)