Sad following holiday problem with car? (9)
I believe the answer is:
breakdown
'problem with car?' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'sad following holiday' is the wordplay.
'sad' becomes 'down' (down can mean sad or unhappy).
'following' says to put letters next to each other.
'holiday' becomes 'break' (break can mean a holiday or time off).
'down' put after 'break' is 'BREAKDOWN'.
(Other definitions for breakdown that I've seen before include "Problem with car" , "Collapse - analysis" , "making you burst into tears?" , "psychological crisis" , "Stop running" .)