I know its a beater but......

[GR02XR]

I was behind this rust bucket of an Acclaim earlier today going about 30\35 mph when its exhaust system fell off. Luckily it took a good bounce to the left and I avoided getting hit by it/running it over (I did have to swerve a little bit)….had that happened I think I would have beat the driver over the head with his own muffler. That thing must have been holding on by one rust flake because when it happened the exhaust sounded exactly like it did before falling off and it didn’t drag first or anything…just one second it was on the car the next it was on the road . I understand that some people cant afford a good car but if the damn thing is falling apart keep it off the road. I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t have insurance either.

[freednighthawk]

Especialy since it doesn't cost all that much money to fix your exhaust system. You can get all the replacement parts from a junkyard for less that $50 usualy.

That is one of my pet peeves. I dont mind if you drive an old car, but to leave it in that kind of disrepair is just stupid. And illegal.

[DanoftheDead]

A couple of days ago some asshole in an older lincoln with the vinyl covered hardtop was driving so fast on 295 the ****in vinyl peeled off in a single sheet and went flying over head. The day before that I watched a large chunk of plastic from under some other pos fall off in front of me an shatter on the highway but I was able to switch lanes before running it over. People are ****in morons.

[GR02XR]

An old fart stopped traffic in an intersection today because there were ducks crossing....but they weren't even in his lane (I was 2 cars back in the left lane behind him and could see them in the right lane)!!! I was too late changing lanes to run the little buggers over in front of him. Elderly logic: Almost cause a pile up so the pretty little duckies can get across the road........

[aircougar1]

Originally Posted by freednighthawk

Especialy since it doesn't cost all that much money to fix your exhaust system. You can get all the replacement parts from a junkyard for less that $50 usualy.

That is one of my pet peeves. I dont mind if you drive an old car, but to leave it in that kind of disrepair is just stupid. And illegal.

Honestly, stuff happens, and many people can barely afford to put enough gas in their run down vehicles to get to their jobs for which they need more money to pay for heating oil, gas, mortagages, etc....

I was once in a very poor situation and could barely afford the car insurance on a 1985 Dodge Aries SE, and one time the whole exhaust system broke away from the manifold, and all I could do was hang it up with a metal wire hanger, and then get it home to wrap a aluminum food can around it with some clamps until i could afford to have a shop fix it...

Don't judge others. Life is rough.

[GR02XR]

Originally Posted by aircougar1

one time the whole exhaust system broke away from the manifold, and all I could do was hang it up with a metal wire hanger, and then get it home to wrap a aluminum food can around it with some clamps until i could afford to have a shop fix it...

At least you did something. I drove by the area where this happened yesterday and he just left the exhaust and some other crap I didn't see before (heat shield maybe?) on the sidewalk. The decent (and correct) thing to do was to take what came off the car with you not leave it to someone else to deal with the trash. Like I said in my op, I understand that some times its hard to have a decent car (been there too) but when stuff starts to affect other people you have to take steps. I had a Saturd that liked to die at its whim. Whenever and where ever it did so, I got my ass out and pushed it out of traffic.

I have seen people who have stalled out or the car had stopped running for whatever reason just leave it where it died...halfway into a driveway with the rear out in traffic, in an intersection, in a turning lane at NIGHT without the hazards on in blizzard conditions and even facing the wrong way on the street. Is it too much to ask for someone to act responsibly? When the Cougar seems to have a problem, I get it checked out...not because I'm looking forward to spending several hundred dollars (the '00 I had got me for $1900+ once and while I had it, I sure as hell didn't want to spend it on the car) but because I don't want to get into or be the cause of an accident for something that should have been taken care of.