Scrounging off assistant with car, is it breaking down? (9)
I believe the answer is:
parasitic
'scrounging' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'assistant with car is it breaking down?' is the wordplay.
'assistant' becomes 'PA' (personal assistant).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'breaking down?' indicates an anagram.
'car'+'is'+'it'='carisit'
'carisit' with letters rearranged gives 'rasitic'.
'pa'+'rasitic'='PARASITIC'
'off' is the link.
(Other definitions for parasitic that I've seen before include "Like mistletoe" , "Living off another organism" , "to be paid for by someone else" , "Such threats" , "Bloodsucking" .)