I was driving to pick my daughter up from dance yesterday and I realized that I had to snag one of her friends as well, which necessitated getting all of the crap out of the backseat of my E39 BMW.
I can’t remember the last time it rained in New York, but it was so long ago that Yankees fans still had a reason to live. Because of this, I’ve got chammies and quick detailer in the back seat to keep my car from looking awful.
As I was blindly fumbling for crap back there I found something I didn’t expect. When I thought I was pulling out a spray bottle instead I found this:
There was a whole-ass door handle for my car back there. I assumed immediately that my daughter, at some point, had removed the door handle and rather than tell me just tossed it back there. Then I looked around. 1… 2… 3… 4…
They were all there.
Curiously, I had not changed any of the door handles. Nor do I need to change any of the door handles as they are all functional (which can’t be said of the rear window regulator), so it’s not like I ordered the part and forgot about it. To make matters even more confusing I’d just thoroughly cleaned out the car earlier this year and vacuumed under the seats and there was no door handle.
Where did it come from? Did someone break into my car and give me an extra door handle?
I do sometimes park next to this guy:
What about you? What’s your biggest car-related mystery?
Place I worked at 8-9 years ago had a 1993 Dodge Ram with over 400,000 miles on it. I used it much more heavily than anyone else, was practically the only one who drove it at all, and ended up getting stuck with the maintenance. One day, it started overheating, radiator was bone dry. So, I filled it up and everything was fine for a few weeks, then it did it again. But, the weird thing is, after that second incident, it never happened again. For the next year and a half-two years, the coolant level never changed over tens of thousands of miles, much of them pulling trailers. Whatever was happening, it fixed itself
I had a similar mystery where I found an exterior accent trim piece under the floor mat in the back seat. The identical trim piece was firmly in place where it should be on the car. My car had been in the body shop several months earlier, so I assume that is where it came from, but I am fairly sure that trim piece was not damaged/replaced, so it is still a bit curious.
The first geo metro I bought had a black b pillar on one side & white on the other.
I have two:
Number 1
My first car was a 1990 Honda Accord EX. My parents bought it from some salvage operation in 1998 and Mom faithfully drove it from then until 2006, when she got a lightly used loaded 2003 Kia Sorento EX 4WD. The car sat until 2011, when I began driving in earnest and inherited it. In 2012 or 2013, I had loaned it to a family friend, and the timing belt snapped on her.
Anyway, the car had a 1989 build date, so it was one of the very first CB7 Accords. It was white with a weird eggplant-colored vinyl (not leather, not cloth) upholstery I’ve not seen on any Accord before or since. I’ve seen that interior color on other cars, but not with vinyl upholstery. I doubt the salvage outfit took the time to reupholster the seats, so I imagine it came that way. I wonder if it was custom, or if it was perhaps a pre-production or press unit. Oh, it also had a J-VIN, indicating that it had been built in Japan and not Ohio. I wish I could find a record of the VIN.
This is the color.
Number 2
One of my current cars is a 1996 Jaguar XJ12. This was the first year of the LWB body style for the X300-series XJ, and the last year you could get the V12 in the US, so it’s a rare car. I believe 19 such cars were sent to North America for 1996. It’s actually this very car.
The XJ12 should have a solid front grille with black slats and a gold growler, plus a matching rear plinth. For some reason, mine has the fluted grille and rear plinth that belonged to the Vanden Plas model here in the ‘States, and the Daimler Double-Six overseas.
The simple explanation is that someone, at some point, swapped them over. But I like to think the original customer (the car originally came from Jaguar Darien in Darien, CT, and I have all the original stickers) ordered it that way. Neither of the prior two owners was able to tell me anything. I even have a contact who works for Jaguar Land Rover in production planning, and he was unable to dig up specific archive records related to this aberration on my car.
Earlier this year I got into my Dodge p/u to drive to the hardware store and down the street, when I pushed the brakes, a fresh dead gopher slid down the windshield in front of me.
Eventually I guessed a hawk dropped its lunch on my roof.
Which TPMS sensor is in which position and where it shows the pressure on the little car diagram. I know they can be reset, but every time I take it in and ask for them to be reset, they still seem to be in random locations.
Where to put the Blinker fluid. Still have no clue.
I thought it’s usually near the 710 hatch?
Yeah, still trying to figure out where to add horn fluid…
The instrument cluster in my former 2010 Focus would buzz under very specific circumstances: fourth gear, around 2000 RPM, outside temperatures near or below freezing. Never did figure out what it was about those exact conditions, but I could “fix” it for that driving session by slapping the top of the dashboard.
But it’s satisfying to slap that huge expanse of very hard plastic!
I have a 2010 myself, and finally solved my big mystery – when it’s beastly hot outside, she can vapor lock. Holy 1960s car problem, it took me a bit to put it all together but I finally figured it out and now make sure she’s no less than half full in the summer.
True! There was a delightful “boing” when I hit the right spot to stop the buzzing.
A random and sometimes, but always, significant oil leak from my project Explorer. At first I thought it was a rear main seal leak, but then I saw oil leaking down from the driver’s valve cover. Tightening the valve cover bolts resulted in a few weeks of no leaks, after which the leak resumed twice as bad…except when it doesn’t leak. Now I am thinking it may be the rear timing chain cover (thank you, Ford, for your silly timing chain setup on the SOHC 4.0L), but checking that is nearly impossible without pulling the engine. The mystery continues…
It was summer 2009. I had rescued an 87 crown victoria from cash 4 clunkers to drive in college. It was polished, shiny and new. Some might call it a grail! Anyway.
Driving it home from MA to NY (at night, because you know. Safety in a new used car). When i stopped to gas up in southwick, 3 college girls run up and ask to pump my gas. Another takes a picture of them pumping. Then they run away.
Why? Was it me? Was it the car? Who were you? I have so many questions that will never be answered.
I’ve seen that movie and it doesn’t end well. Although, about 2/3 of the way through it is pretty fun.
It’s definitely fun – up to the point that the lucky guy realizes it’s a pagan ritual that ends in human sacrifice.
Probably a scavenger hunt. I had four college girls run up to me once, three of which stood next to me while the fourth took a photo of me getting kissed on the cheek by one of them. They then ran off, leaving me wildly confused. I found out later that it wasn’t my irresistible handsomeness (it never has been) but rather it was a sorority scavenger hunt for the pledges and I was the nearest random person when they got to that objective. Womp womp.
Luckily I am realistic enough about my appearance to not assume women are interested in me for that reason. Most of the time I get looks from women I realize it’s because I’m wearing something weird, like my high viz motorcycle jacket. 🙂
I did have one leave her number on my windshield once, but I’m 99% sure that was because she liked the car, not me. Oh well.
I had someone leave a phone number on my car outside my high school job. One of the cashiers saw a pretty lady put a note on my car, so being a stupid teenager I ran outside, grabbed the note, and ran to the stock room phone to call the number. I should have concluded before the call that she wanted to buy my car, but I didn’t, so I was quite disappointed when she asked if I’d take $500 for my car. I declined and then got to suffer the mocking of my coworkers when I told them what the note was all about.
Trying to figure out where all my refrigerant keeps going on my VR4 – I put fluorescent dye into the system after rebuilding it but still it seems to eat all of it up every few months. No leaks and it blows cold until bam one day it’s all gone and I have to recharge it. Again.
Could it be the Schrader valve(s) themselves? Had an eerily similar situation on my car and it turned out to be the valves on both ports. Easily missed because the ports are hooked up to for diagnostic testing.
Nice I would not have thought to check, thanks!
Hey Matt, I don’t have a mystery off the top of my head, but I’ll be parting out my Sterling Gray 530i in a couple months—you want a body color front license plate mount?
Yesssss please!!!!
My other half’s 06 Chrysler 300C makes its own decision as to when you can turn on the heated seats and fog lamps after a cold start, usually once a day. Sometimes they will both work right away, other times they’re both delayed. They are somehow tied together but neither has really fully stopped functioning, it’s done it for many years, they always come on eventually so we just live with it as a funny quirk only Chrysler could come up with.
Rich Corinthian Leather wreaks havoc with electronics.
I bought a 1982 Trans Am (with the Crossfire V8!) when I was in college and the interior – mostly the carpet – had some kind of chemical on it that burned skin. Like if you’ve ever used chemical paint stripper and got some on your hands – that level of burn. I ended up replacing the entire interior.
Never knew what it was, where it came from, why it was there, or what cancer it’s ultimately going to give me.
At least now we know why you are angry, Bob.
The biggest mystery I’ve encountered was probably the oil change the resulted in a blown head gasket. Well not really, but kind of.
Long ago my friend bought a 2000 Ford Focus that had some very minor bubbling in the coolant reservoir, but no egregious coolant consumption or steam out the exhaust. He had me help him change the oil a week or two after he bought it, and when we were done, it wouldn’t start.
After moving it into the back yard, it wouldn’t even crank. Something was really wrong, but it made no sense. I don’t remember what my string of logic was, but I pulled the spark plugs, tried turning it over again, and a large amount of green liquid shot out of the engine. Ok, so somehow large amounts of coolant were now occupying places they weren’t supposed to.
Let it sit for a short period of time, and then tried turning it over again, just to see if there was new coolant in there. There was. Lots. At least as much as the first time.
Since the car was so cheap, and buying another cheap thing was less expensive than paying a shop to figure it out, he just gave up on it and scrapped it.
How did it go from showing almost no signs of a head gasket failure to hydrolocking itself during an oil change? The world will never know.
His next car, a 2000 Escort (weird that they sold both at the same time) lasted quite a bit longer, until his girlfriend-at-the-time put a rod through the block. The 97 Buick LeSabre that he got to replace *that* was much more problem-free.
After I replaced the 12V Battery on my Jaguar XType, the car refused to start. No crank, no start. I am testing everything with my multimeter and everything seem ok, fuses, fuel emergency switch reset done too. I got desperate and I slammed the hood and door and left it alone. The next day the car started like normal and hasnt failed again at all.
Jaguar things. It was probably just feeling a little annoyed with you and wanted to give you some trouble out of spite. It happens.
Sincerely, 2006 XJ8 owner.
I had a similar thing happen with my highschool car, a 92 LeBaron convertible with powered headlight covers. One night after hockey practice, the headlights would turn on, but the covers wouldn’t open. My friend lightly karate chopped the hood, said it was fixed, and it miraculously was. It only happened that one time, and I had the car from about 80,000 miles to 180,000 miles.
My Focus’ console storage area – the hinged lid has these (yes, labeled) indentations/holders for stuff like lip balm and cards. Odd choices maybe but not mysterious.
But what is: none of them will hold any commercially-available stuff I can find, and the card one seems designed not a single one (like a garage keycard) but more like a deck. Are you supposed to put your Mille Bornes game there maybe?
Maybe it’s all EU market sized things
Right? That’s what I figured, so I tried fitting in some stuff I’d bought in the EU. Nope. What really gets me is the pen holder…the EU market has the same stuff we do, in fact it has more Bic options than we get here. My guess at this point is, given its original design home, everything is specifically UK-sized.
Oh no, I’m sorry to hear that Matt, how long do you have left?
In all seriousness, isn’t it spelled Chamois, or is it both? Also I learned through Googling that the car drying Chamois I’m used to using is actually a goat skin, which uh, wasn’t what I thought it was.
Oh right, automotive mysteries. When cleaning out the awful 1982 300CD I had, I found some shed snake skins. The mystery was of course, where did the snake go? Never did find one, and the car is someone else’s problem now.
The temperature light will sometimes come on in my truck, very faintly, never enough to be seen in daylight. Radiator, thermostat, and water pump were all new when I got it, and I replaced the temp sensor. An infrared temp gun on the thermostat neck never goes above 190. So it’s not running hot, it just likes to show me the light once in a while. I figure if I leave that one gremlin alone, maybe I won’t attract others…
My Focus’ temp gauge pointer used to start at C and then climb to/stay at a fixed point once things were warmed up. A few years ago, it started moving around. Never toward the H end, just around the C to the middle. I can’t find anything wrong and she’s running great for her age…
I’d guess a bad ground somewhere on that circuit, but I’m no mechanic, and less of an electrician. But I seem to recall hearing a problem like that in the past and someone suggested that.
The wire to the temp sender is likely grounding out against something else.
I replaced a bunch of gaskets in my E46 325i (big shocker, I know) and could not for the life of me figure out what happened to my 10 mm socket (also a big shocker). I figured it rolled off somewhere off into that liminal space that other 10 mm sockets meet up with socks from the dryer. A few years later, I pulled the oil pan to do the gasket and lo and behold, a 10 mm socket is sitting in the oil pan. It had fallen through the dipstick tube.
I found a cowboy in my gas tank.
https://i.ibb.co/qyf3V85/IMG-20211224-114115809.jpg
You win.
By any chance is the car a 1987 or 1991 Jeep? No reason for asking, just, uh, a guess given both vehicles and toys were in my family had…
1970 Triumph GT6
Phew!
My old 1996 328i sedan had it’s factory wiring harness for the whole car. Yet somehow the front half all matched up perfectly with the MY 1996 wiring diagrams and the back half matched perfectly with the MY 1997 wiring diagrams.
Where is my 10mm socket?!
It’s not specific to personal cars, but the first car I bought (94 Toyota pickup) and the first plane I bought (64 Cessna 150D) both had bullet holes in them, the Cessna had the bullet hole in the top of the wing, didn’t go through the bottom of the wing but it did more than dent it.
At this point it’s not a matter of IF my other used vehicles have been shot but WHERE they were shot…
Why GM has let the Raptor go unchallenged since 2010.
My second biggest mystery is why GM has let the Bronco go unchallenged since 2020 (and obviously the Wrangler for much longer than that).
They could’ve and should’ve done so much more when they brought back the blazer name. The new one is just a disgrace.
Pretty sad that Mitsuoka builds a better Blazer than GM.
https://www.mitsuoka-motor.com/global/lineup/buddy/
I know everyone remembers the glorious K5 Blazer, but for most of the nameplate’s existence, it was a mediocre midsize SUV built in whatever the usual fashion of the day was. Is it any wonder the reincarnated Blazer was a transeverse-FWD midsize 5-seat crossover?
I’m not surprised by what they did but they could’ve done so much better. Look at the bronco. I know it’s got it’s issues but at least ford tried to stick with the original formula of having a body on frame off roader. Don’t get me started on the “mustang” mach e though.
What about the Chevy Blazer? Oh no. No no no no.
They’ve got that 9,000 lb Hummer sort of thing. Maybe that’s it.
Actually, if Hummer had survived the bankruptcy and recession, I think they could have had an amazing line of performance off road stuff by now.
The Hummer EV makes me cry.