[1Maverick]

Since cars are such an integral part of our lives, and since most of us guys are constantly missing/forgetting/assuming things, it'll be fun to share silly incidents with our rides.

These have to be incidents that are either shocking or funny in a non traumatic manner. Or if you've managed to see the FUNNY/SILLY/SURPRISING side of an otherwise traumatic experience.

So for example -- a gruesome accident is not what we list here, but the focus is on the sweet lady doctor who you started dating after being hospitalized. All thanks to your car and the nut job who ran across the road!

Let me set the ball rolling. Warning - It's not as exciting as the above example, but yeah it's definitely silly.

After a particularly late night of shopping and dinner, I reached home @ 1a.m. parked the car in the society's central parking lot and via multiple trips transported all the bags and baggages home. Single handedly.

Feeling accomplished with my hard work, I went home and crashed. At around 7 a.m. I was rudely awakened by the watchman who washes my car. His face had strange lines that depicted a combination of achievement and annoyance. He gave me the car keys and went away without saying a word. (Reminded me of my father during my teenage years.)

After parking and getting out, I have a habit of inserting the key in the door and unloading all the stuff and finally central locking it.
But that night, I transported the last lot of bags home, and I'd forgotten the keys on the car door itself and it lay there all night, inviting anyone who saw it to open the door and coolly drive off.

Maybe the fact that it was a Palio, put off some potential thieves/pranksters. No offense to anyone, I love my eight year old 'Pulse' Palio.

I had to tell my wife, who was pretty shocked, but she didn't have the composure that the good watchman had. You know how women are- they say it like it is! Mostly.

So you'd think I'd have learnt my lesson? Think again.
Some months later I go for a meeting at Juhu and park my car in the Juhu beach parking lot and do the same thing. After the meeting I realise the car is there, but the key isn't.
Then I spend 60 traumatic minutes tracing my steps to the 2 restaurants that I'd been to and asking every waiter, durban, parking attendant and beggar if they saw a key fall from my pocket.

I even called home and asked for someone to come with the spare key.
But just in time, a security guy returns from his lunch break and says he saw the key hanging on the door of the car on his way out and so he took it along.
Relieved and relaxed, I rewarded him handsomely and give him a short lecture on how the future of the country rests on honest individuals like him.

And then I did this once in my wife's parent's building. A beaming friendly neighbor comes home and proudly gives the key to me, while loudly recounting his smooth act of alertness and bravery. (Sarcasm apart may God Bless the good man.)

So trust me when I say this -- I'm usually fairly in control of whatever is going on around me, and in no other area of life do I have this problem of forgetfulness or anything (okay maybe people's birthdays is an area), but this one Key Hanger issue is freaking me out.

So even as you're thinking of you're silly/funny/surprising car story, where's your car key mate? Please let the silliness flow...

[alexkrish]

Good Naration 1Maverick.

This silly thing happened when I took my B-I-L's Octavia and on the way home thought of filling up fuel. I had always been used to Petrol Vehicles and never went near a diesel pump to fill up fuel. That Octavia being a Diesel vehicle, I obviously had to fill up diesel.

I went to the fuel station, filled up fuel ( without even knowing if I filled a petrol or diesel ) and was returning back home. All of a sudden it struck me that the Car am driving has a Diesel engine And here comes the Question !!

"What would happen if I filled Petrol in a Diesel engine Car ??? "

I didnt tell this to my wife to avoid panic and I called a good old friend of mine and a service stations guy whom i knew. He started telling me that If you had filled up petrol on a diesel engine, the Engine would cease and stop functioning and would cost me a lot to repair it. He asked me to bring the car to the service station, If i was anywhere near his place.

I went back to the fuel station where i filled up the fuel and to my surprise, the guy had mistakenly filled up diesel instead of petrol. That car didnt have a 'P' or 'D' marked on the fuel tank lid. This mistake of the fuel station guy saved my day. sometimes, its good to forget things, but not like this

[Zombie69]

My first ever visit to U.S (2006), company provided me the apartment and the car! Didn't know until then most cars out there were automatic!
Finished all the formalities, got the keys to my car and went out to the parking lot and there she was, a silver shiny Chevy Impala! Dig my keys into the slot, started it and saw there was no Clutch and the gear lever was not next to the side of the driver but below the steering

I was trying to get the car move but it wouldn't budge an inch! Went back to the H.R lady and said
Me - Linda, there is something wrong with the car !
Linda -I personally checked it and it just came back from the service station yesterday and we got it ready for you, what's wrong with the car
Me - not sure, you might wanna come and have a look

We both walk out to the car and she asks me to sit in the drivers seat and asked me to start the car, i start it and tell her it doesn't have a clutch. She starts laughing hysterically and explains the controls! I felt like a moron and I felt like I'm driving a Honda Activa after i tried it for the first time. I wasn't comfortable with it for the first few days as whenever the traffic slowed down in front of me or at the stop light, My hand and foot would always search for the clutch and gear

Cheers!
-Z

[PAVAN KADAM]

My friends i 10 Auto - 7/10 times i have pressed the non-existing clutch.

My M-800 - Locked the car atleast 10 times with the keys inside

My M-800 - Got my mechanic to come over from 25 kms saying oil leakage, when it was just the A/C condenser water dripping down

[ghodlur]

The silliest thing I had done with one of my friends car which I had to use since mine was in the service was drive with the rear wiper protruding outwards. Could not get out of the car since it was raining cats and dogs. Drove the entire stretch without rear wiper operating when I needed it the most.

Also I had left the keys of my Honda activa at the scooter itself and searched the entire house, had a tiff with wife and later the security guy comes home with the key. You should have seen the look on my wife's face. Nearly escaped being thrashed.

[rohanjf]

1. When I went to US last year, I left my bike key on the bike (parked in my reserved parking area in our apartment building's basement). For two full months it lay there, and no one touched it. Bike's battery was drained, but otherwise, no problem. I noticed the key only after I returned! (May be no one wanted to steal an eight year old Kawasaki Caliber).

2. During my first long trip in South Africa in May, I drove my Polo constantly at 150+ kmph, until I was pulled over by a cop. She said the fine is 800 Rands (1 Rand = 6 Rs). After some discussion, she asked for 200R (bribe, obviously). I said I didn't have so much, and offered her 50R. She got frustrated with me bargaining, so she let me go without a fine ;-)

3. While giving my Palio for accident damage repair (about 18 months ago), I kept the stereo panel at home and forgot about it. When I got the car back, I even forgot that I myself had removed the panel. I searched for it everywhere in the car and made the service guys search in their workshop too, and finally gave up hope. I drove the car without stereo for 2 months. And I finally found the panel while shifting my stuff from one house to another.

4. I went for a long drive (to Mangalore) a week after I got my car. As advised by the car salesperson, I opened the bonnet and topped up the fluids. Then I tried closing the bonnet without removing the supporting arm. This caused the arm to bend, and also a dent in the bonnet because the rubber padding underneath the bonnet came off and the arm poked into the bonnet :-(

5. Last Saturday, it rained heavily in Bangalore and there was stagnant water in some places. Many cars were hesitant to drive through them, but I did. I forgot about the effect of water on drum brakes. When I had to stop at a signal, the car refused to slow down. I pressed the brake pedal hard and also pulled the hand brake. May be the double effect on the rear drums made them respond, and I managed to stop inches behind the i20 in front of me. Whew!!

More stories whenever I remember :-D

[Butters]

Nice topic !

This incident keeps repeating with my Zen. I keep forgetting the keys in the car and lock the doors. The doors can be locked by punching in the lock button near the window and shutting the door by lifting knob from outside. Once i am out of the car, i am like, "Hey, where are the keys ?" and i walk back to the car only to find the are in the ignition slot !

Luckily (or may be not) any 800/Zen key can be used to unlock the door So whenever i forget my keys in the car, i start looking for another maruti 800/Zen owner near by. They always keep wondering at the first, but when they see the magic work, just smile at me

[n_aditya]

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

My M-800 - Got my mechanic to come over from 25 kms saying oil leakage, when it was just the A/C condenser water dripping down

ROFL. This had me in splits. Must have been a Kodak moment. I wish you had captured the look on his face once the "problem" was discovered to be nothing serious.

@ghodlur - that was hilarious.

[jinojohnt]

Forgetting Car Keys is nothing - Dad once came back home from Church in a friend's car, because he forgot that he had driven his car to Church.

[driverace]

Forgetting Car Keys is nothing - Dad once came back home from Church in a friend's car, because he forgot that he had driven his car to Church.

That was super hilarious!!
I remember that, when I first took my scooter to college, (the second day,) I returned, and on the bus stop I remembered I had taken the scooter! lolz,
--------------------------
I have this thing..
When I park, I mumble to my car, like- Good night OR see ya!
then,
I just check the lights (twice), door locks, then check the hatch door.
Check, that I havent got any more scratches!
Then, when we are returning to home, I just have to check one more time!
locked:check
another door: check

<then my bro shouts, Ohhh, Come Onnnn!, its Locked already!>
I say cheekily, just checking

* After all this, I remember, I forgot my mobile in my car!!
Again the cycle starts
care,

Ace.

[COUGAR]

Filled up Diesel in my petrol gypsy. :(

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/street...ns-my-day.html

[roamingrao]

Oh my ! Having got used to a scorpio's engine start, had to move my cousin's swift which was blocking the pathway at a marriage hall. Got the car key from my cousin, and cranked the engine several times - waiting for the vibrations ! My cousin came running - The engine is on !!!

Felt silly initially but sorry later - had i damaged the engine ?

[MX6]

This was in 1999. After years of driving my father's premier padmini, I was confident of driving any vehicle.
When I went to Delhi, a friend and I decided on a late night drive to another friend's place. Outside was my friend's gleaming opel astra. Now my friend prefers being driven by his chauffer. And since it was late night he was a bit apprehensive.
I stepped in and told him that I can manage driving this.
Soon we were off and my friend was surprised as to how I can transition so easily from a hand gear to a floor gear and from a padmini to a bigger astra!
I was just bragging a bit with the standard, oh it's nothing.
Shortly we realised we were lost (my friend couldn't recollect the route) and entered some shady looking areas.
So we decided to take a U-turn and get back.
Then I landed in trouble. The reverse gear wouldn't engage. No matter what I tried. And we were getting worried. A swanky car in a shady middle of nowhere area, and the reverse gear not engaging. We got in to some alley kind of place and didn't know where we can turn around without having to engage the reverse.
Finally, my friend decided not to take any further risks and called his chauffer to come and pick us.
An hour later he was there, slotted the car in reverse and turned in a couple of seconds.
We were incredulous as to how he managed to engage the reverse gear.
Then the driver told us the hint. There's a small lever kind of attachment on the gear stick which needed to be lifted up for slotting the gear in reverse. It was a safety mechanism to ensure that you don't accidentally engage reverse gear instead of overdrive.
I gave a sheepish grin - like a perfect idiot.
My friend's last words. I always knew I'm an idiot. Now I'm confused who's a bigger idiot. You who didn't know this thing but said you can drive any vehicle, or me, who let you drive!

[rohanjf]

An experience with 2 of my friends from my MIT Manipal days (I wasn't directly involved, but remembered this story because of that church incident mentioned by jinojohnt earlier).
One of them, Vincent, borrowed his one friend's bike (RX100) and went to church.
Another guy, Denver, too wanted to go to church, but he couldn't locate his RX100 in the hostel parking. He took an autorickshaw and came to church, to find his bike there. It wasn't handle locked, so he himself locked it and went to church.
After the mass, he came to his bike to find Vincent struggling to open the handle lock. Luckily the guys knew each other, and so they realised what had happened and laughed about it.

Originally Posted by roamingrao

Oh my ! Having got used to a scorpio's engine start, had to move my cousin's swift which was blocking the pathway at a marriage hall. Got the car key from my cousin, and cranked the engine several times - waiting for the vibrations ! My cousin came running - The engine is on !!!

Felt silly initially but sorry later - had i damaged the engine ?

Hehehe. I feel proud of my Palio. It comes with double crack prevention system :-D

[kphilip]

This was when i was a bachelor and was coming back after a late night party.It was 3 am in the morning.There was one of my female friend and a gud friend of mine.The alto car belonged to the female friend.I pushed the accelerator and there was no response from the car. i told my friends that the car has some problem with the batteries , so told them to push the car to start it in gear and @ 3 am they started pushing it, it was moving..Then suddenly i came to my senses, hey i forgot to start the engine.poor guys had to push the car in the middle of nowhere.That was one of the silliest think which happened in my life.