Nobody wants to deal with car trouble. Nobody. Still, if you keep driving your European automobile under certain conditions, you’ll not only cause further damage but also put yourself and your vehicle at risk. East Coast EuroWerks offers towing services to our customers for many reasons. One of them is to get their automobiles to our shop when they aren’t safe to drive. When is your car unsafe to drive? If any of the following is happening while you’re driving or you have broken down.
Brake Trouble
If your brakes feel weird or they aren’t stopping your vehicle as quickly and easily as they normally do, find a safe place to park and stop driving. Call for a tow truck to get you to an automotive service shop that works on braking systems. If you continue to drive and you lose your brakes, well, you know what’s going to happen. Brake trouble isn’t something to be messed with, so call for help.
Exhaust Smoke
Exhaust is also something that you shouldn’t mess with, especially if the exhaust is thick and black. If this is the case, your vehicle is on fire somewhere. The fire might be contained in the engine, where it is burning excess fuel, but this is still dangerous. Blue and white exhaust are also dangerous. In this case, you have a serious oil or coolant problem, respectively, and this equals engine damage.
Handling Problems
Handling problems usually point to suspension problems. The issue could be with your wheels, your steering wheel, or even your axle. What makes this dangerous is you could lose control of your vehicle. You could also end up dead on the road with a broken axle. Avoid this headache by pulling over and calling for a tow truck. It’s not safe to drive your automobile if you’re having trouble controlling it.
Overheating
Yes, we know that if you turn on your vehicle’s heater when it’s overheating the heat will transfer away from the engine and cool it down. This does not stop the engine damage associated with overheating, however, nor does it fix the overheating problem. You’ll just overheat again the next time you drive. Stop and get towed if your engine is hot. This avoids expensive damage such as a blown head gasket.
Transmission Issues
Finally, if your European automobile’s transmission is acting strange, don’t push it. Whether you drive an automatic or stick, the transmission is delicate and made up of many, many working parts. Continuing to force the transmission to work will damage it beyond repair, and you probably don’t want to know what a new or rebuilt transmission is going to cost. It’s not cheap.
If you’re in Wilmington, NC, when your vehicle acts up, call East Coast EuroWerks. We’ll tow your European automobile to our shop, find the problem, and offer the best solution to fix it.
