Our Rav-4 made me terrified today.
So here's the deal, about six or seven years ago we got a Rav-4 to deal with the snowy roads around here when they're really bad. Which is something it has done admirably, it sticks to the road like glue, and ice, snow, or wet weather does little to stop this. It comes at the price of being a bit of a "gas guzzler", though that's something we've generally lived with.
Now the problem here is that it's a little bit of a clunker, after six or seven years on top of whatever else it had before we bought it means that is starting to fall apart a little. Most notable up until now the problem has been the gear box, if you want to use the first gear you have to wedge it in there and keep it held there while you accelerate, and god help you if you do the switch between clutch and accelerator poorly.
Generally speaking we all avoid driving the thing if at all possible, but sometimes when everyone else is away (like today) I have no choice but to use the Rav-4 if I want to go somewhere. It's really awkward, but as long as I avoid the motorways (the entire car has a habit of wobbling alarmingly if you go at high speeds), I can generally get by driving to and from friend's places. Today a friend called and asked if I wanted to meet up because she was bored, I told I too was feeling bored, so I agreed, got showered and dressed, then realised that only the Rav was available. I've toughed it out for this exact purpose before so I wasn't that bothered by the idea, I got in the car, I drove to the end of the road and started to slow down... only to find out that despite having my foot wedged as far down on the brakes as I could get it, the car was not slowing down.
Fear, now I know thee, thou art hurtling along in a 2 ton cage of metal towards a busy T intersection with a brake that refuses to work.
For about five seconds I was really starting to freak out, and I was about to try turning a sharp right to try to avoid crashing into anything when something finally clicked together and the brakes locked in and brought the car to a screeching halt...
I turned around and tested the brakes a little on a straight, quiet, road, but I decided not to chance it and just went back into the driveway, I'm not driving that car again until it's fixed.
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Topic: Things that made you absolutely terrified today (Read 1969038 times)