Bought car that nearly killed me

dazron

It's clear no-one was hurt but this isn't the kind of thing you expect after paying out £5500 for a car is it? I've only ever had bangers and older cars and nothing like this has ever happened...

katiekittykat

Maybe go and see CAB and see what they say?

Conor_3

dazron wrote: »

If you look at the back of the wheel, there's a D shaped bit sticking out with a hole through it. In there sits a pinch bolt that effectively clamps that bit around the stud sticking up from the balljoint.

Had someone taken that out or was it missing? If it was missing, it might have snapped. Even the most tightwad dodgy dealer would've put a bolt in if it were missing as they're pennies and takes a few seconds to do so I doubt very much it's been like that since you bought it as it would have popped out way sooner than 800 miles. I think you've got a hard time making a claim as its looking like a manufacturing defect in the bolt. I'd get the balljoint replaced anyway as the spring clip at the top of the boot has come off and a new pinch bolt fitted. Shouldn't be more than an hours labour plus cost of parts. Looking at it, you've got away lightly.

dazron

OK well a car that can develop a manufacturing fault at 38000 miles in which a wheel can come off is no Car I want. I will, if I have to, get the car back fully fixed and serviced and checked and sell the b*stard.

pulliptears

TBH, I have never known another cruiser report a fault like this, and the club has hundreds of members, so I very much doubt its a manufacturing fault.

Edited to add, our cruiser is an 04, bought from new and has 60,000 miles on the clock. Its been serviced with Chrysler from the start and we havent had any problems with it.

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

dazron wrote: »

OK well a car that can develop a manufacturing fault at 38000 miles in which a wheel can come off is no Car I want. I will, if I have to, get the car back fully fixed and serviced and checked and sell the b*stard.

Once the fault is fixed you would be selling it for no good reason. Just because a component fails doesn't mean the car is a bad'un.

I would check the MOT online site for any MOT advisories issued when the car was tested. If the ball joint was on it's way out there would have been noticeable play in the wheel when moved by hand.

Personally I think you've just been a bit unlucky. Get both joints done at the same time. For all we know it could have had an almighty whack up a kerb. Ball joints tend to go when they're not looked after or replaced when they're worn.

tomstickland

A component has failed - maybe the split pin wasn't put back on properly, maybe it was a bit loose and fell off. Selling the car is a bit short -sighted.
All cars are a pile of bits and things can go wrong.

Mandark

I'm sticking up for Dazron with this one. I think if your family has lost confidence in the car then there's no point keeping it as any fun driving it will be gone.

I recall the front suspension going on my old Fiat Tipo when parked. Dealer told me that if that had happened at speed then it could have been life threatening and the car should have been sorted following a recall as it was a dodgy part. But I had it fixed got back in and carried on driving with no worries...but then I hadn't been driving at the time. If I had, then I might have got rid. I did in the end anyway because of electrical and gearing issues which the dealer couldn't sort out.

I've just recently bought a Focus and if something happened like that I'm not sure that I'd be happy keeping in it for much longer. Good luck with your decision.

goldspanners

i would get it sorted and keep it,i would also for peice of mind replace the other side aswell and all wheel bearings just to give you peice of mind that the wheels wont come off again.
if the car had been like this when you bought it then this would have happened a lot sooner than 800 miles.
if you sell it and buy another car will you have confidence in it? the wheels might fall off that too.
you have hit any kerbs recently or do you drive over those speed bumps that only cover half the road,these have been known to prematurely wear ball joints, i remember hearing a story that someone actually claimed thier council for replacing the ball joints and tyres because of this.
i dont think you will have any luck complaining about an MOT done 8 weeks ago,it only states the vehicle is in roadworthy condition at time of testing.

Conor_3

dazron wrote: »

OK well a car that can develop a manufacturing fault at 38000 miles in which a wheel can come off is no Car I want.

In that case, hand in your licence and forget driving again. It's as simple as that. It's had a lot of stress over that 38000 miles.