Sophi broke down in tears, like a diesel car that had run out of petrol.
-- Karina Kantas, Lyttle Lytton 2008 comments: I like this one because even though the simile doesn't work, the phrase "broke down" makes it feel like it should -- so much so that it forces us to imagine that cars that have run out of gas do indeed weep bitterly, lamenting the fuel system that has betrayed them.