View Full Version : Back Wheel Came Off At 70mph On M4 !
Thankfully not the supe, but my company car a VW Passat, that had just been serviced and delivered back to 20 minutes before, serviced by no other than a VW main dealer, who put new discs and pads on the back! Just got on the M4 up to speed in the fast lane at about 80 and realisied something was wrong started to slow and head for the hard shoulder and wheel came off in middle lane at about 60, thankfully nobody hit the wheel or took me out and I managed to get to the hard shoulder with anybody getting hurt. All this during rush hour!! Scared the s**t out of me I dont mind telling you. Just got home now and realising how lucky I have been, especially has my 3 kids all gave me big cuddles and tell me they were scared for me. Thankfully they were not in the car I was on my own out getting there christmas pressies!
sooper-supra
22-11-05, 21:19
shit mate!!
Bloody hell, glad you are Ok:thumbs:
Whitesupraboy2
22-11-05, 21:22
glad ur ok and sue the pants off them
glad ur ok and sue the pants off them
does THAT tie up with your avatar matie.....pants....tongue...etc...
glad ur ok and sue the pants off them
Not possible IIRC, it is any drivers responsibility to check the roadworthyness of any vehicle prior to driving it.
May be possible to sue for negligence but more likley breach of contract for failing to complete the work they had been hired to (including replacing and checking nuts) which could in turn lead to damages based on the accident that ensued because of their breach of contract.
Worth a go I suppose and I would follow it up, at the very least with a small claims court summons for the managing director to act for the company?!?
Main thing is that you are OK, glad to hear it and good luck with any action you take.
terribleturner
22-11-05, 21:37
You lucky Barsteward, go out and play the lottery mate, could be your lucky day.
Prof. Monkey
22-11-05, 21:42
Not possible IIRC, it is any drivers responsibility to check the roadworthyness of any vehicle prior to driving it.
May be possible to sue for negligence but more likley breach of contract for failing to complete the work they had been hired to (including replacing and checking nuts) which could in turn lead to damages based on the accident that ensued because of their breach of contract.
Worth a go I suppose and I would follow it up, at the very least with a small claims court summons for the managing director to act for the company?!?
Fucking right you sue, they should have been torqued up, all wheel fitters recommend checking the tightness after a few days, not as soon as the fucking car has been dropped off.
Makes me mad, some bastard not paying attention to there job when its such an important issue, if I was you I would go and introduce the fitters to a torque wrench, via the back of the head.
GeordieSteve
22-11-05, 21:48
Sadly you can't sue. We lost the rear wheel of a 200sx once. They were having none of it :( You've been lucky dude
Glad your ok mate. God were you lucky. I had a collegue who had the company car in for a service at vauxhall. He lost 3 nuts on a journey, the only thing keeping the last nut on was because it was cross threaded!
toyotasuprauk
22-11-05, 22:17
Sorry to hear this, not good! More bad publicity for main dealers. Let us know what they say when you complain.
Glad to hear you're ok, I think I'd be sueing for the cost of upholstery cleaning if that had happened to me :eek:
man you could of spun the car (not good at 60)!!!
go get a lottery ticket...
tt steve
I would have thought you may have had a chance with suing them.
Traffic law doesn't expect you to be a mechanic. Yes, you are repsonsible for the road-worthiness of your car, but that doesn't mean you have to be able to examine everything yourself. By taking it to a VW main agent to have new discs fitted would be part of your duty of keeping the car in a roadworthy condition. It is reasonable to expect a main agent to have tightened the wheels up. Also this fault would not necessarily have been obvious by visually checking the car at the garage anyway.
A main agent (like any garage) has a duty of care. When I ran my garage I had to have public liability insurance which covered me for defective workmanship.
I'd get some legal advice if you are thinking of doing anything about it. The garage may say they're "having none of it", but I'd expect them to say that. I'd let the court decide if they're having any of it!
Or threaten to put it in the papers!
This is why I always watch like a hawk when ever getting my tyres changed or having work done. You just can't trust some muppets.
:yeahthat:
Heard some horror stories about quickfit type places... one guy on the mondeo club :blush: took his car to a cowboy garage to have the front disks replaced - they took off 3 wheel nuts and proceeded to use a rubber mallet on the alloy to bash the "stuck" wheel out of place.... until the owner pointed out that there were 4 wheel nuts. :scare:
oh my god, glad your ok. vw's are built like tanks anyway so if someone had hit you, you would still hae been ok!
you should sue, as each case is different and i am sure there is many companies out there nower days who would love to take the case on.
good luck and i agree- go put a lotto ticket on!
:yeahthat:
Heard some horror stories about quickfit type places... one guy on the mondeo club :blush: took his car to a cowboy garage to have the front disks replaced - they took off 3 wheel nuts and proceeded to use a rubber mallet on the alloy to bash the "stuck" wheel out of place.... until the owner pointed out that there were 4 wheel nuts. :scare:
A craftsman! It was a rubber mallet and not a lump hammer..... :)
Green Peace
23-11-05, 16:10
What a bunch of Morons VW are!
They could of killed you..I had a similiar experience with Northway Tyres of Edgware road London...left all the nuts undone and handed me back the keys...luckily for me I was driving in a 30 limit..and the wheel didn't come all the way off...I managed to stop in time!
Northway Tyres Of Edgware road..also on one occasion put different tyre pressures on each tyre to pretend my tracking was out (they forgot I'd had it done)
oh and they sheared one of the bolts off ( alloys with nut cover ) and put the cover back on so i wouldn't notice...the thing is..all this was done by the same member of staff and they refused to sack him...not sure if he still works there but if he does he will cost someone their life one day!
So Shameless plug for Northway tyres of Edgware Road!
Sorry...anyway glad you are still alive mate...they should sack the person who made that mistake seriously!!! (he could of killed you):(
Dude, going by the way my work is, i'd go back and really kick off. I'm sure you'll get something out of it,
At least the bloke who done the job will be sacked, and they will repair your car. Mention speaking to lawyers and stuff and you'll scare the shit out of them!
I know i'd be sacked right away for it and i'm sure my boss has mentioned something about it is possible to sue for some reason or another.
Sorry to hear this Gary, glad your ok for Crimbo...........;)
lambertpig
28-11-06, 22:57
just the sort of thing i would expect from a main dealer. notice how all the mecanics look about 17 years old .no real world experience and cheap to employ.
well thats what it looks like at our local vw/audi garage
No one has noticed this was OVER A YEAR ago?!
I did, I was expecting an update and news of a big compo pay-out.
This sort of thing reminds me of the bath-scene in The Shining.
No one has noticed this was OVER A YEAR ago?!
Ha, ha, how funny is that :d
What tit reserrected it then....... :blink:
Isnt there such a thing as 'duty of care', health and safety executive and all that, I feel sure a good lawyer would rub his/her hands together with glee on this one.
Worth an investigative phone call to your solicitor surely.
No one has noticed this was OVER A YEAR ago?!
2 years old now pete:p
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