[KateMid]

Hi everyone,
I hope it’s okay to post this here. I badly need advice and I don’t know where to get it except in a car forum.

I’m writing a novel in which the villain damages the hero’s car in some way so that the hero is able to drive some distance and then the car stops. Does the following excerpt sound like it could be a likely scenario:

Before I could reply, the car made a weird noise and then came to a halt. John tried to start the engine again. It made horrible choking noises, but refused to come to life.

My eye fell upon the gas gauge. “The gas gauge reads empty,” I pointed out.

“That’s impossible. I put gas in just last night.”

John got out of the car and went to the hood. He crouched down and peered under the hood.

He gave a muffled exclamation. I got out to see what was wrong.

“There’s a fuel leak,” he said. He bent and peered closer. His voice grew more wary. “It looks like someone deliberately cut the fuel line.”

“Are you sure?”

“The cut looks very clean.”

***

I know nothing about cars but someone told me:

I don’t think that would work. Late model cars have fuel pumps in the gas tanks, so there would be pressure in the line to the fuel injection rails. A cut line would spew out the gas very quickly, while there would be no pressure to the fuel injectors, and the car wouldn’t run. Wouldn’t even start. Plus, they would smell the gas. A crimped fuel line would restrict the flow of gas and cause the car to stall after running for a while. Very hard to crimp a fuel line these days, because they are no longer metal, but are hoses.

***

So, can anyone suggest what the villain could do instead to disable the car after it runs a certain distance? I suppose I could make it that the car is an older one so the above scenario works. My friend also suggested:

“the bad guy could have propped a nail against each tire tread. When they drive off, the nail goes into the tire, and a ways down the road, at least two tires would go flat, so the spare wouldn’t fix the problem.”

Thanks for any help.