So I borrow a buddies 65 Caddy Convert. for my daughters 8th grade dinner dance.. I work for 3 days fixing stuff that needed to be done, running lights, brake lights, signals,power top, cruise, lots of broken wires, polish the chrome, buff it out, check and top off fluids. I drive it for the whole weekend, putting maybe 100 miles or better on it, $70 worth of fuel. I deliver it to him today, in way better condition than I picked it up in, and with a full tank of gas. We took my daughter and 3 of her friends to the dance, did the picture thing the whole deal.. So I get a call from my brother who said man you got the caddy back just in time. The guy who owns it took it out drove it down town, got a few beers, was coming home and heard the engine knocking and the saw smoke coming out from under the hood, and blowing out the back... Gets it to the next exit, pop's the hood and oil everywhere. I call the guy, he said it was running great better than ever, gets ready to come home and boom starts knocking, smoking, he shuts it off, and gets it towed home, and says hey it was nothing you did, I ( I, being the owner) was driving it when it happened!. At this point I don't know if the motor is junk, don't know if its a oil cooler line, if its a sending unit blown, don't know if its a oil filter that blew a seal. I offered to come over and take a look at it to see what happened, and he was totally cool with that.. But I know how I would feel if I let one of my buddies borrow one of my cars, and I go for a ride not an hour later and it does the same thing.. I would have this little thought in my mind like wtf did he do to my car.. I know that things happen and **** can happen at any moment. But what do you think would be expected.. I mean when I delivered it it was running like a top, he drove it 10 miles then all hell breaks loose.. I mean other than offering to look at it and maybe helping fix it is something simple other than say a complete rebuild.. What would you guys do. I honestly feel that it was in perfect shape when I delivered it, I did'nt beat it, hell I went beyond the typical borrow/return unwritten law by fixing alot of issues that needed to be done.. But I do feel bad that it happened.. So with that being said what are your thoughts Ryan
"got a few beers" You did nothing wrong. Tell him the blown motor is the best thing that could have happened, DWI is pricier. Help him fix it out of kindness
You sound like a good guy and he must be a good friend to let you borrow the car. I would check it out for him, It probally will be something minor and I bet he will buy the parts and maybe you can install? My family drag races and we have loaned cars and parts to others and we all understand that stuff breaks no matter who is driving. Do whatever gets rid of that sick feeling you have in your gut right now. Tom.
Stop in and visit your friend, look at the car, If it's somthing that 2 guys can fix in an afternoon, give him a hand. It will ease your mind. If he put a rod thru the side of the block or some other major thing. Still offer to help with some labor. He prob. is never going to fix anything on it. You fixed all the little easy to fix things. You might be able to get a car for a good price
So ask yourself this question, did you drive it like you stole it? Was he willing to loan it to you in the first place? Did you offer to help him and is he accusing you of destroying his car? It sounds like he doesn't think you hurt it at all, unless you think you did something bad to it lend him a hand with it if that makes you feel better. it doesn't sound like he is going to ask you to overhaul it.
tough one. But, as any of us know that own and drive vehicles that are 40+ years old, **** happens. I guess I would buy some beer and go over there to help figure it all out, lend a hand and some blood sweat and tears to fix it. I would personally feel no monetary obligation, but I would help as much as I could with the labor.
No one drives my cars as hard as I do so if one screws up, I know it's nothing that they did unless they failed to pay attention to the gauges. Short of gauge failure, there's no reason to overlook temp and oil pressure etc. I'm with Tommy on this....but that being said, I don't borrow other people's cars and really don't like loaning mine out just because most people do not pay attention to the gauges which I find is kinda strange since most of my friends are car guys but even they are like that too...
Ryan, sounds to me like you're mostly concerned that he doesn't harbor any su****iouns that you beat on the Caddy. So just relate your concern, and re***ure him that you were kind to his car, and then maybe do what some of the others are saying, and give him some help to fix it...just 'cause you're friends...not 'cause you feel guilty. Look on the bright side...you enjoyed the use of the car and the time with your daughter. Don't let this little glitch overshadow that. I hope the mechanical issue is a small one, but regardless...you and your friend will of course deal with this just fine.
He is still stoked that I fixed everything that I did.. I plan on helping with everything I can in order to get it running again.. I was so careful with this thing. I mean I drive my **** hard, but when it comes to sombody elses **** I am so careful. And being the kind of guy I am and anybody that knows me knows that I don't borrow, but am more than happy to help a buddy out.. I know and he knows that It was not my fault, I just feel real bad that this happened.. It was a real downer to a great weekend..
. Well atleast my beautiful daughter had a great time, and that her and her friends think I'm the coolest dad ever..lol Yhea hell maybe I can buy it for a deal now that it needs work..lol Now that would be a **** move..lol
You said "he's still stoked" so obviously there's no problem and he's not blaming you for the engine damage - whatever it was - that occurred *after* he got the car back. Also, you know that you didn't beat on it or do anything to hurt the engine while you had the car, so you should stop worrying. Mart3406 ================
Yhea I know I did'nt beat it, race it or anything like that .. It just ****s. He is'nt a car guy, he actually is as far from a car guy as there is.. He is a early retired, beer drinking good guy.. He is so far from being mechanically inclined that he has a Road king, and a Ultra Ground Pounder plus the caddy, and has not driven any of them till I came over and got all of them running because he had no Idea on how to jump,charge,and or replace the batteries in all of them..I could buy the Ultra Ground pounder dirt cheap,, which I may do soon. He is a single child from a rich family, and everything is disposable to him. I just don't roll that way. I never borrow **** from people and look what happens when I do..lol
With all the stuff you've posted..I think you're cool with this...just go by and see if you can help..that never hurts...
I dont think you did anything to the car besides borrow and fix it up for him Who is to say he didnt drive the car 50 miles in low gear at 60 after a "few" beers
Never borrow anything you cannot afford to replace. Motto has worked for me, and it's ingrained in my sons' psyche. I have seen too many good friendships get wrecked on the shoals of 'it was running ok when you took it'. dj
I wouldn't sweat it. It ****s that it happened, but it was pure coincidence. If you took the best care you could, there's nothing to feel guilty about.
He took the responsibility to loan it out. When he got in it everything was fine. After he drove it there was a problem. He does not think you did anything wrong, so he probably suspects its something he did. Learn to live with your guilt, you feel bad but there is no evidence you are at fault.
I probably blew up outta shock from good treatment, sounds like you did more than most would do already, but helping him fix it, if it is feasible might not hurt.
Looked at all your posts for clues on how often he drove it before you borrowed it,and how well he maintained it.If it had been sitting for a while until you used it,who knows what happened. I've been that guy before...Loaning **** cost me an almost new chainsaw when my buddy didn't bother to mix the oil correctly,and he ****ed it up completely,then brought it back.Let a close friend take my panhead for a 5 minute ride once,when he came back an hour later,I heard noises I've never heard from the motor.Barely made it home,**** was literally falling off on the ride home.While I ****-rigged it, in the dark on a moonless night with a cigarette lighter to see by,I decided nobody was ever going to borrow my good stuff again. Sounds like you did him a favor fixing the little things.Hope it turns out to be minor.
I get the feeling that you would feel a whole lot better to just drop and get working on it. Bad timing but you sound like a stand up guy who would beat yourself up thinking the worst. I am sure you will find a solution to the cars problem. Good luck, I am sure your buddy will appreciate the help of a friend.
if it was me id help him to try and fix it but its sounds like you didnt do anything but good things to the car heck its a GM it was bound to blow eventually ..that was a joke
Couldnt have said it better. I used to race dirtbikes and usually had decent stuff, but I had a buddy who was a spoiled brat and lived at home until he was 30, mom paid all his bills so he always had the best of everything. Anyway, go to his house to check out his brand new race built Yamaha 250 bike with every go fast part on it you could think of. I jump on it and immediately do the biggest wheelie evar, damn near vertical before I even started moving. I kept my cool and then played it off by doing wheelies all over the place, hell, he probably thought I was a bad *** for taking off like a bat out of hell, but I was shakin inside at the thought of flipping a brand new 10k dirtbike. Have never taken anybody else up on a test ride/drive of anything ever again, just aint worth it. Sorry for the ramble, but sounds like all is well. I would def be over helping though without hesitation.....
i believe you will do the right thing, just as i believe (and the owner also) you didn't do anything to facilitate the break down. just as he was a friend to loan you a car you will be a friend and help fix it. it ****s and i know the strain it can put on a friendship. a true test of friendship either makes it stronger or finds the breaking point. good luck.
So the obvious question is... How fast was it in the 1/4 mile anyway? ;-). Just Kiddin bro. I say free labor until you feel ZERO guilt. (tho I don't think it had anything to do with you)
I had a '65 Malibu SS with a 427 BBC and 4 speed. I just swapped rear ends for a 4:88 posi when my friend wanted to take it for a ride. When he took off, he left a cloud of burnt rubber. When he got back, there was white smoke pouring out of the tail pipes. I pulled the motor and the block was cracked. Just recently, a friend of mine was thinking about putting a straight axle underneath his '55 Chevy, so I let him take my straight axle '51 Ford for a ride. From the git go, he floors it and starts power shifting. That's the last time I let anyone drive one of my cars.
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