What's Wrong With This Picture? Exhaust Systems Can Be Such A Drag Edition

My daughter Tova usually rides to her job with a co-worker. She’d noticed the car they were using had been getting louder and already had mentioned to her friend that something might be amiss with the exhaust system. On the way to work today, it started to get even louder, and then there was a grinding noise. Tova suggested they stop and check things out, but the driver said it was “only a couple of miles” to the school where they teach, so they continued. Tova said that there was a banging noise and then most of the grinding seem to have stopped. Other drivers were honking and pointing.

One guy even got out of his car at a red light, tapped on their window and asked if they knew they were losing their muffler. They thanked him and told him yes, and then continued on their way. Frankly, I can’t even figure out how just about the entire exhaust system from the downpipe back managed to get back there intact. I’m sure the tubing would bend first but visions of the forward pointing pipe snagging a pothole and vaulting the car into the air come to mind. One can only imagine what it did to the undercarriage of the car as it made it’s way out the back.

I suppose that in a world where people will keep driving on a tireless rim, sparks a blazing, seeing a car dragging an intact exhaust system should not come as much of a a surprise, but, please, folks, as car enthusiasts you can do your less mechanically interested friends a big favor and tell them that when their cars are making bad grinding noises, it’s a good idea to stop and check things out.

At one point or another we’ve all seen someone driving a vehicle that was visibly or audibly broken (or both). What’s the most interesting example of something rolling badly in need of repair that you can remember seeing?

Photo courtesy of Tova Schreiber.