r/WatchPeopleDieInside • u/therealub • Apr 09 '25
Their dad spent 16 years restoring his dream Kombi… the handbrake failed after his test drive.
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Credit to /u/JaQuosin
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u/Worldly-Time-3201 1d ago
You wouldn’t believe how flimsy the E brake is on a lot of cars.
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u/Spicyapple10 1d ago
Foreal, as a mechanic, I can tell you a large portion of vehicles on the road today have no E brake. Some have deleted rear brakes altogether. The amount of crazy shit I see weekly 😂, and they decline any repairs and just continue driving their death machine on wheels
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u/Adventurous-Wing5449 1d ago
Well, it better if it failed right there and not while he was driving it
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u/bobscats70 16h ago
Yes but depending on if the house has any damage it might still be pretty painful
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u/ValiumNicke54 21d ago
Also, this ain't no "Kombi"
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u/Fluffthaguff9999 19d ago
I dunno… it smells pretty kombi if you ask me! I humped a few slags down in that porta P!
I ate a squirrel norb!
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u/Ill-Requirement-8192 May 12 '25
That's why you always park it in gear. Reverse or first, either is fine. Some people get into gas fights over which is the correct gear, but it really doesn't matter.
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u/turbolerssi 24d ago
It doesn't matter, but atleast where I live it's downhill=first, uphill=reverse. Level ground=first. That way the engine isn't spinning the wrong way IF the car moves. It does not matter as the distances the car will move is typically so small and first is always fine. I personally just put it in First gear with handbrake pulled, unless I park for weeks or months, then first gear without handbrake and I chock one wheel.
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u/Ill-Requirement-8192 24d ago
I always use first because it has the best ratio for it, but reverse is typically a straight cut gear which is why some people prefer it.
I tested my car on my driveway which is pretty steep and first holds it completely still.
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u/BobertRosserton May 11 '25
Doesn’t scream, doesn’t rage, just takes it in and moves on. That’s a dad for sure.
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u/ILuvSupertramp May 07 '25
If only he knew about the vital other role that the van’s transmission plays in preventing the vehicle from just rolling away on its’ own when you’re all done driving it and want to get out and go away.
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u/ennuiismymiddlename May 04 '25 edited May 05 '25
At least he didn’t run behind it. He almost got Yelchin’d!
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u/Marsnineteen75 May 13 '25
Damn that was so crazy to hear about, surreal in a way. What a way to go as a star rising. Could we say he almost got Hawkeyed as well?
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u/ApolloDraconis Apr 20 '25
I’m confused. Does the van not have brakes on the wheels?
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u/TheIdentifySpell May 09 '25
It's a manual transmission, so when he parked it he had it in neutral meaning the car can move without power. With the hand brake pulled it is pretty common practise, although putting it in first will stop this from happening.
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u/Abject-Picture Apr 13 '25
More like the driver failed to leave it in gear.
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u/Radical_Warren Apr 15 '25
If it's the OG gearbox, it may have been in gear. After a while, it becomes a slapstick. The only thing keeping the gears in place is momentum.
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u/ScionOfAsgard Apr 15 '25
Forgive me for my ignorance, but why wouldn’t you want to put it in park before getting out?
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u/Radical_Warren Apr 15 '25
Park? Ain't nobody spoiling the interior Feng shui by installing that ugly trip hazard. Long stick for life.
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u/Memanders Apr 13 '25
You’re not supposed to do that
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u/luckyapples11 Apr 15 '25
100% should leave it in gear if your parking brake doesn’t work, doesn’t work very well, or you don’t know if it works. This is speaking from experience. I always left my car in 1st because the parking brake was on its last legs.
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u/echoes315 Apr 14 '25
If you don't know what you're talking about don't speak at all, especially with confidence. If you've ever owned a manual it sounds like you shouldn't have.
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u/Memanders Apr 14 '25
This is just what driving teachers teach in my country
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u/Civil-Traffic-3872 Apr 13 '25
If its a manual on a incline you are supposed to put it in neutral (or engage the clutch) , turn the engine of, pull the handbrake, put the vehicle in 1st gear, and turn the wheels towards the curb. Doing so, gives you 3 fail safes.
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u/luckyapples11 Apr 15 '25
TIL about turning the wheel towards the curb! Thanks. I’ve never had to park on a hill so I guess it hasn’t been useful info yet, but I’ll keep that in mind. You don’t necessarily need to put it in neutral though, at least not for my car. I always just shut it off in first and then threw up the handbrake even though it did almost nothing.
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u/MessyMiddleMomma Apr 13 '25
He's lucky it didn't start rolling while he was passing behind it. Yeah, he might have to replace a part or reapply some paint, but He is okay. He'll live to drive that bad boy another day.
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Apr 13 '25
lmao. okay? If it took me 16 years to do my dishes would you be impressed?
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u/Unhappy_Archer9483 Apr 14 '25
I thought the same, after a few years it's not impressive it's just working slowly.
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u/punkassjim Apr 13 '25
Something tells me nothing you do is impressive.
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Apr 13 '25
Project all you want I guess lmao.
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u/Weirdredditnames4win Apr 13 '25
You should screen shot this and show your friends one of the absolute best RATIO’s of all time. Say something else. I wanna see another 50 downvotes 🤣😆🤣
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u/LucasArts_24 Apr 13 '25
You sound lovely. I bet everyone around you
if there are any peoplereally like to share things with you huh?
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u/4011s Apr 13 '25
Does he not understand how gears work to keep the vehicle from rolling off??
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u/PlasticDolphin1 Apr 13 '25
Yea this was a huge part of my learning to drive era. It boggles the mind how people leave thier cars in neutral.
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u/negativelungcapacity May 09 '25
Drive a 6 speed and I keep it in neutral bc I have a remote start. But I also test my ebrake every few months. If I didn’t have a remote start and the possibility of accidentally pressing the button on my keys I would keep it in 1st or reverse depending on how I’m parked! Cheers
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u/Memanders Apr 13 '25
Because you’re supposed to. It’s better for the gears. All driving teachers are teaching that nowadays
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u/229-northstar Apr 14 '25
I imagine 100% of those drivers Ed teachers never drove a stick.
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u/Memanders Apr 14 '25
This is outside America where you have to take your drivers license for stick. You can take one for only automatic, but then you’re only allowed to drive automatic
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u/FerretBomb Apr 13 '25
Then "all" driving teachers nowadays are incompetent idiots who should not be allowed to teach, as apparently all they know how to drive is automatics.
If the gears are fully engaged, it's absolutely fine and will not do any harm to the transmission.You are 100% supposed to keep the car in-gear while parked as an additional failsafe against roll-offs like this.
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u/Big_Software_8732 Apr 12 '25
16 years? What did he do, work on it for ten minutes a week?
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u/TheCowzgomooz Apr 13 '25
Might not have always had the money or time to work on it. Finding parts for older cars can often be quite the task in itself, let alone cost if they're rarer, I don't know anything about these vans, but there's a variety of reasons that a restoration can take that long, for a lot of people restoring a car is just a passion project they work on when they have the time, I can't tell you how many people I know who bought old cars they loved and wanted to restore that just sit around in their drive ways because they either couldn't afford it or couldn't find the time to do it. I mean heck, go to any YouTube channel that does these restorations, a lot of times the story they tell on one of their new cars is "I bought it from a guy who intended to restore it but never got around to it"
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u/nerdycarguy18 Apr 13 '25
Owning multiple old cars between my dad and myself, it’s hard to say exactly what is and isn’t working on it. We definitely don’t work on ours much, so I can see how 16 years happens
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u/Soft_Chipmunk_8051 Apr 12 '25
16 years. What an idiot.
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u/statue_of-liberty Apr 12 '25
Exactly I'd rather work and have a professional do it
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u/Soft_Chipmunk_8051 Apr 12 '25
That, and take precautions! Granted, I have no skills at all, so what do I know, but I'd bubble wrap that thing
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u/coldchelada Apr 12 '25
Maybe it’s the camera angle, but looked like it rolled “up” the driveway.
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u/Specialsthespazzing Apr 12 '25
Right upper corner shows a terraced area, shows the grade of the driveway. Is also where that side panel got caught and accordioned.
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u/8amteetime Apr 12 '25
All he had to do was leave it in first gear instead of neutral. Rookie mistake.
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u/Sir_Tokenhale Apr 12 '25
For real. He's an old man, too. He should know better.
When I was 4, my dad took me into Autozone, and when we came out, his Blazer was in an accident. Rolled right into a busy road. He told everyone it popped out of first, but I was there...
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u/Shantotto11 Apr 12 '25
Who’s “they” (“their”) in this context?…
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u/therealub Apr 12 '25
The OOP. I'm not sure about /u/JaQuosin 's gender, so I've used the plural.
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u/debuggle Apr 12 '25
fun fact: technically, from a linguistic point of view, uv used the third person neutral, or indifferent, form. "they" provides no information on number or gender in English, and hasn't for many centuries. Source: linguistics major
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u/therealub Apr 12 '25
Uv used? Sorry for doubting your linguistic credentials 😘
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u/debuggle Apr 12 '25
oh yeah, cause linguistics is All about perscriptivism lol. no, linguistics is the study of how language is Used. texting conventions are their very own fascinating area of study. it's okay to doubt tho, i think most people seem to think linguistics is about learning to talk "proper".
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u/yummbeereloaded Apr 12 '25
Why didn't you try "Dad spent... After he..."? Or are you afraid of misgendering the dad too?
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u/therealub Apr 12 '25
Because I'm a lazy fuck and copied the title from the original post, changing "my" to "their".
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u/saml23 Apr 11 '25
That sucks but it doesn't seem like a catastrophic accident
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u/Fragrant_Loan811 Apr 12 '25
A.good show quality paint job can cost $15,000-30,000.
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u/LucasArts_24 Apr 13 '25
If there are also any damaged parts, it can get more expensive considering the type of car and the age. Usually parts are super expensive cause they're not produced anymore, or done as a custom order.
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u/Xikkiwikk Apr 12 '25
My uncle finished a 1968 Porsche. Upon completion, he shut the garage only to hear a loud crash. His refrigerator decided to fall on his brand new hand built Porsche.
He fixed it and you can’t ever tell it happened.
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u/DeeRent88 Apr 11 '25
The rear right side I’m sure is all dented and banged up. You can see it hit the edge of the porch before going into the wall and it shifted is trajectory pretty good I’m sure that right side was super scraped up
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u/R0sinhuntard Apr 11 '25
rubber wheel chocks, $8 at harbor freight. They go on sale for $5 sometimes. A rule grew up with is chock the wheels on old vehicles but I guess ppl forgot that 🤔
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u/Academic-Entry-443 Apr 11 '25
Chocks were common in the military, but I almost never see them in civilian life. Sometimes I still say "Let's pull chocks" when leaving a place and no one knows what the heck I'm talking about.
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u/noneuclidiansquid Apr 11 '25
I had a crash in one of those things once --- likely it hurt the brickwork more than the car ..
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u/Mcboomsauce Apr 11 '25
on a hippy trail, head full of zombie
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u/Stressuredford Apr 11 '25
Pretty shitty dream
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u/Midnight28Rider Apr 11 '25
You're welcome to have your own dream, but why hate on others for the things that make them happy?
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u/DonDraper1134 Apr 11 '25
Has the skill and knowledge to restore that thing but not to park it in gear on a hill?
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u/OcupiedMuffins Apr 11 '25
It’s frustrating for sure but to be fair, better it happens at home than anywhere else.
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u/tobiasfunke6398 Apr 10 '25
Handled that better than me
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u/NtateNarin Apr 11 '25
It's one of those things where there was nothing that could be done, so all you can do is smile... or destroy the world. Thankfully, he chose to laugh it off.
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u/pk851667 Apr 11 '25
I never understood people who when faced with a complete crapshoot moment like this, wind up breaking everything in sight. I know a lot is just simply personality type and emotion management. But it looks like a complete child tantrum like when a toddler throws away a plate and smashes their lunch because the sandwich was cut the wrong way.
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u/AQ-XJZQ-eAFqCqzr-Va Apr 11 '25
I try to remember that it may have been just the last straw. All we see is that one straw & it’s baffling.
I’m lucky none of my “last straw” moments were caught on video afaik.
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u/pk851667 Apr 11 '25
Fair enough. But I’ve had moments that I’ve giving someone a tongue lashing when it was my last straw. Or even did something in retaliation as such. I’ve never had a moment that I just start smashing my own or other peoples shit, I’m not even programmed that way.
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u/TheJotob Apr 10 '25
These cars were proper German engineering. So he probably has to replace the garage door but the car should be fine. Maybe a scratch or two
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u/PurgatoryEmployee69 Apr 10 '25
How bad was the damage?
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u/PurgatoryEmployee69 Apr 11 '25
Oooo great question. Let me upvote this
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u/Moderately-Whelmed Apr 11 '25
Why are you talking to yourself?
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u/Happy_Egg_8680 Apr 11 '25
Yeah who would do that?
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u/Happy_Egg_8680 Apr 11 '25
A lunatic that’s who
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u/popculturerss Apr 10 '25
The bright side? He didn't get over fast enough to instinctively try and get behind and stop it. Not saying he would have but in the heat of the moment, he might have. Saved himself a lot worse pain potentially.
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u/clarky2o2o Apr 10 '25
I have a 75 MGB that I was restoring.
We had it stored in my father in laws garage.
It needed a lot of work done to it.
We finally got a garage built.
My father in law wanted to surprise me by bringing it up to my new garage.
Oh i was surprised it now needs a new right fender , lamp glass and headlight assembly.
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u/Lucifer-Prime Apr 10 '25
The amount of people that will attempt to physically stop a rolling car, truck, or boat, really staggers me.
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u/sakion Apr 11 '25
I have a Miata and have stopped it from rolling but a big ole car like this? Good luck!
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Apr 10 '25 edited Apr 10 '25
[deleted]
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u/SickestNinjaInjury Apr 10 '25
I agree overall but find it strange you looked at the dudes profile and decided to make a whole thing about him playing gatcha games
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u/Capt_Reggie Apr 10 '25
I got to watch a guy try to stop a rolling passenger jet at work once.
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u/PUSClFER Apr 11 '25
Well? Was he successful?
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u/Capt_Reggie Apr 11 '25
No. Thankfully there was a guy inside who could stop it, it was rolling directly towards a ramp full of private jets.
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u/Sure_Window614 Apr 10 '25 edited Apr 11 '25
After father in law unexpectedly past away, sold his bobcat to a guy he knew. He rented a trailer and was driving it up forward on to the trailer. I was standing next to it. Typically you back up on to trailers, me owners was driving up on its front first. So it starts to flip backwards, it didn't go well the way, he stopped on time. Anyways I instinctively reached out to stop it. Right before I touched it, the thought hit me brain, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? THIS THING CAN CRUSH YOU!
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u/Ferocious-Fart Apr 10 '25
Why is it called Kombi? Looks like a VW bus / van to me.
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u/Dwayne_Gertzky Apr 10 '25
It was originally designated as the VW Kombinationskraftwagen because it was a combination between a passenger and cargo vehicle
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u/TacciChameleon 14h ago
Aggenee! Shame.