Speaker Paul D. Ryan last week told the story of the undoing of his trusty Chevrolet Suburban.

Mr. Ryan was at the Economic Club, a Washington nonprofit, to discuss tariffs and trade policy when the conversation turned personal. The Republican and self-described “policy guy” recalled having more freedom before he became the speaker of the House in 2015.

“I haven’t driven a car in three years. It’s a little strange,” he said, adding that he had been keeping his car in his home state.

Mr. Ryan is from Janesville, Wis., home to a General Motors assembly plant that closed 10 years ago. He said his mother, who lives in the area, recently tried to start his sport utility vehicle but could not.

So Mr. Ryan had it towed to a dealer.

“They realized that a family of woodchucks lived in the underbody of my Suburban and they ate all the wiring out of it,” he said. “And so my car was eaten by animals, and it’s just dead. I had to call the insurance company. So I don’t have a car.”