Wheel falls off car - advice please
Discussion
Recently we bought my wife a new (used) car from an independent dealership. It was sold with 3 months warranty.
Shortly after purchase she noticed a knocking / rattling noise, and took it to the garage that we usually use to get it checked, with a view to then getting the problem sorted under warranty at the dealership. They thought it could be a loose brake carrier.
The dealership took the car for the day, decided that there was nothing wrong with it and gave it back, however the rattle had gone.
Fast forward to a couple of days ago the noise returns, and is worse. My wife phoned the dealership again and they stated as it was now out of warranty so it was nothing to do with them. She then books it into the garage we used before for this afternoon to get it properly checked out. Unfortunately, before she could get there this afternoon the wheel fell off as she is turning onto a NSL road. Luckily she was going slowly and no other cars were involved and she was unhurt.
We had the car recovered to the garage it was on its way to, and they are assessing it tonight / tomorrow morning, and will speak to the dealership we bought it from.
Just wondering what to do next - if it turns out there is some sort of negligence on the part of the dealership how best to pursue it.
Also she hasn't informed her insurance company yet, the garage said to wait until they had assessed the damage. Should she do this ASAP? There is a fair bit of bodywork damage etc., and we don't know how the suspension, brakes etc. have been affected.
Sorry for the ramble, probably missed some important bit of info, so any questions let me know!
Shortly after purchase she noticed a knocking / rattling noise, and took it to the garage that we usually use to get it checked, with a view to then getting the problem sorted under warranty at the dealership. They thought it could be a loose brake carrier.
The dealership took the car for the day, decided that there was nothing wrong with it and gave it back, however the rattle had gone.
Fast forward to a couple of days ago the noise returns, and is worse. My wife phoned the dealership again and they stated as it was now out of warranty so it was nothing to do with them. She then books it into the garage we used before for this afternoon to get it properly checked out. Unfortunately, before she could get there this afternoon the wheel fell off as she is turning onto a NSL road. Luckily she was going slowly and no other cars were involved and she was unhurt.
We had the car recovered to the garage it was on its way to, and they are assessing it tonight / tomorrow morning, and will speak to the dealership we bought it from.
Just wondering what to do next - if it turns out there is some sort of negligence on the part of the dealership how best to pursue it.
Also she hasn't informed her insurance company yet, the garage said to wait until they had assessed the damage. Should she do this ASAP? There is a fair bit of bodywork damage etc., and we don't know how the suspension, brakes etc. have been affected.
Sorry for the ramble, probably missed some important bit of info, so any questions let me know!
Unfortunately I don't think you have any comeback with the garage that sold you the car.
The wheel fell off.... before that happened there would have been plenty of warning... rumbling, knocking, fighting the steering etc.
I know not everyone is into cars like the people on this forum but most people can tell the difference between:
Hmmm, the car doesn't feel right lets see how it goes, and
Christ, the car doesn't feel right I better stop now.
The wheel fell off.... before that happened there would have been plenty of warning... rumbling, knocking, fighting the steering etc.
I know not everyone is into cars like the people on this forum but most people can tell the difference between:
Hmmm, the car doesn't feel right lets see how it goes, and
Christ, the car doesn't feel right I better stop now.
Edited by barker22 on Thursday 1st October 19:31
barker22 said:
The wheel fell off.... before that happened there would have been plenty of warning, rumbling, fighting the steering.
Apparently there was a couple of seconds of this - then it fell off!I do see what you mean though - it is hard to prove anything. There seemed to be the feeling that the dealership might have bodged or ignored whatever was wrong, but a lot could've happened in the intervening time.
So insurance, is it best to tell them regardless? Would this class as a breakdown or accident?
I expect the garage will say they were correctly torqued after refitting when they had it.
Not fallen out with anyone recently?
Unusual wheels attractive to thieves? - any locking nuts fitted?
Non standard wheels fitted with incorrect nuts?
Not fallen out with anyone recently?
Unusual wheels attractive to thieves? - any locking nuts fitted?
Non standard wheels fitted with incorrect nuts?
Edited by paintman on Thursday 1st October 21:19
t mental nutters out there...Ilovetwiglets said:
I was always told to check the wheelnuts a day or so after they'd been done up, don't know why but it's one of the few things that I've always done.
Basically a bottom protecting exercise. Do them up correctly and they stay done up. Forget the final tweak after the car is on the ground and there is a good chance they won't fall off for a couple of days and the customer retightening after a day prevents anything nasty happening (they hope...). Wimmen, they haven't got a clue. I hope this is sorted favourably for the OP. When I had an issue with my nuts coming loose ;-) I'd pulled over a long time before they were unwinding. The vibration's so obvious. Or, maybe new cars are so well damped you can't feel a thing? What car is this OP?
to me you need to pursue the garage who checked it to repair, either they didn't tighten the wheel nuts up correctly or they didn't do any kind of meaningful checks and missed the loose wheels nuts. That's assuming however you've done a nominal distance between their checks and the wheel coming off.
Boosted LS1 said:
Wimmen, they haven't got a clue. I hope this is sorted favourably for the OP. When I had an issue with my nuts coming loose ;-) I'd pulled over a long time before they were unwinding. The vibration's so obvious. Or, maybe new cars are so well damped you can't feel a thing? What car is this OP?
I suspect the opposite may be true. The ride in many cars is so appalling, especially with low profile tyres, or run flats, that all the wheels could be about to fall off and it wouldn't be much worse. Sorry to hear of the problem. Hope not too much damage.
How about this?
The reason the previous owner got rid is because the nuts kept loosening, after every occurrence they tightened them. Each time using a longer bar to ensure that "this time they blimmin' well stay done up".
Until the point they are stretched way beyond their elastic limit, and won't stay done up for longer athan a few days.
Garage tighten them to correct torque before selling it after their presale inspection.
Garage tghtened them again after checking for rattly brakes.
Maybe they could have noticed, maybe they should have noticed...
The reason the previous owner got rid is because the nuts kept loosening, after every occurrence they tightened them. Each time using a longer bar to ensure that "this time they blimmin' well stay done up".
Until the point they are stretched way beyond their elastic limit, and won't stay done up for longer athan a few days.
Garage tighten them to correct torque before selling it after their presale inspection.
Garage tghtened them again after checking for rattly brakes.
Maybe they could have noticed, maybe they should have noticed...
Gassing Station | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff