Learn German: Ich hatte früher nie eine Panne gehabt. - I had never had a breakdown before.

This is the Past Perfect tense (Plusquamperfekt). Just like the English translation 'had had', the sentence uses the simple past form of the helping verb (hatte) along with the past participle of the main verb (gehabt). Because the main action is 'having a breakdown', the verb haben appears twice in different forms.

Why use früher for 'before'? Shouldn't it be a word like bevor?

Früher translates to 'formerly' or 'in the past', which fits perfectly when you mean 'before now'. Bevor is a conjunction, meaning it must connect to a whole new clause with its own subject and verb, such as bevor ich dieses Auto kaufte (before I bought this car). Since we just need an adverb to say 'in the past', früher is the correct choice.

Why does nie come after früher instead of before it?

German word order usually places general time expressions (früher) before specific frequencies or negations (nie). Placing nie right before eine Panne also clearly shows that the 'breakdown' is the specific thing that never happened.

Does eine Panne only refer to a car breaking down?

While eine Panne haben is the standard way to say your vehicle broke down (like a flat tire or engine failure), it can also mean a general mishap, glitch, or slip-up in other situations, like a technical failure during a presentation.