The Ford car had been giving trouble and needed to be repaired. The driver which Shri Shri Nathji had engaged was a certain Sher Singh, who had earlier driven only army trucks and tanks, as he said.
He was especially inept at handling the Ford Car, and there was even a time when he splashed cold water into the running engine of the car to wash it. This led the car to misfire for months afterwards, making a sound like that of a pistol shot. It was a strange way to herald the approach of Shri Nathji.
The driver would seldom close the bonnet of the car firmly, so that many a time the bonnet would swing upwards while the car was in motion, blacking out the vision and almost causing an accident.
The car would be found frequently stranded whenever Shri Nathji took it to Delhi, so much so, that Lala Hargopal had become afraid to set foot in it.
On one occasion, the car had run out of petrol because the chauffeur had not checked the petrol in the tank. Shri Nathji, Mateshwari, the boys and Lala Hargopal were stranded on the Shanker Road in New Delhi for two hours, while the driver went to get petrol and arrived later to tell them that that he could not find it.
There was a comical scene as he sat in a tonga telling Shri Nathji of his failure and Shri Nathji said angrily to him: “Get down!” and the man lept down and stood at attention, giving Shri Nathji a military salute!
It soon became clear that it was impossible for Shri Nathji and his family to live in Malik Nagar and yet drive down to Delhi. The car as well as the driver of the car had become a liability for them.