What would you do regarding this servicing oversight?

My partner has recently had a Honda car serviced under a 2-year free
service deal on an ex-demo (3,500m) car she bought 18 months ago.

A couple of days ago we heard a knocking sound seeming to come from
the rear of the car but with no other symptoms affecting the driving.
We are both as good as clueless with cars so other than making sure
there wasn't a stone lodged in any of the tyres it was decided to take
the car into a main agent this morning to get the problem dealt with.

As it turns out, we have moved since the car purchase and preferred to
take the car into a local Honda dealer rather than the more distant
dealer who carried out the last service. As part of that service, 2
new front tyres were advised and fitted.

Now just returned from the local Honda with the problem (knocking)
speedily sorted. They informed my partner that the agent carrying out
the service had obviously been careless since the offside front wheel
had only one nut in place, itself loose - 3 missing - and that she
was probably lucky to be alive having used the car over the last few
weeks to cover 500 miles or so.

Obviously we are relieved to be alive (as are all her passengers!) but
feel that we should seek some sort of recourse while being unsure
exactly what.

Would anyone have any ideas or insight to share on this?

 

Were you damaged in any way? If so, you deserve to be made whole.

Otherwise, no, there's no recourse for your to pursue.

And simply don't go back to that place.

 

bristle wrote:

How could you not notice three missing lug nuts?

Don't want to venture whether you've ever checked tire pressures.

What else don't you know?

 

Boy I agree! The statement "with no other symptoms affecting the driving"
just doesn't hold up - it should have driven like a wheel was about to fall
off! Shaky steering at best, pulling and difficulties making turns more
than likely! And visually it should have been fairly obvious the wheel
could not have even looked straight. I guess once the assumption was made
that the noise was coming from the rear, no thought was given to a more
complete visual inspection.

 

legally, you should check the service order you signed - it'll almost
certainly have a disclaimer on there about it being your responsibility
to check lug nut tightness after a few miles. if you signed that order
and didn't act accordingly, you're going to have a hard time.

additionally, there is a good chance the wheel stud that held was
over-stressed and is now likely to fatigue. there will almost certainly
be visible damage also. even though they'll be able to defend
themselves legally, you could nevertheless go back and ask this place to
replace the studs because of the damage caused. if you ask reasonably
and promise to take no further action, they probably will.

then never go back. and buy yourself a cheapo torque wrench and check
this stuff each time you go in for wheel service.

 

This happened to me once with an Oldsmobile. The service guy loosely
installed the lug nuts, then got distracted with something else and never
came back with the torque wrench to finish the job. It didn't handle any
differently from normal until about two miles down the road when the
handling got loose and the knocking started pretty much at the same time. I
didn't lose any but in that short distance several of them were nearly all
the way off.

If there is any damage to the lugs you should be able to make the offending
shop replace them & of course, they owe you the lost nuts. Other than that,
you don't really have any recourse.

 

There seems to be some question as to -how long a period elapsed- between
the "last service" and the loose and missing lug nuts.

as another person posted, the owner/operator should have noticed missing
lug nuts while doing tire pressure checks.

Or when washing their car.

Now,I once forgot to tighten lug nuts on a front wheel,and it was not long
before I noticed they had loosened and the wheel was wobbling.
Less than a day,in fact. I was lucky,I didn't lose any of the nuts,or
damage the studs.


--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

 

you should have just cranked up the stereo, loaded up your friends, and
driven to t.j. that would have gotten rid of a few for you. like the op.

 

My skill-set and diagnostic flair lie elsewhere.

And I wouldn't dream of asking if you're still beating your wife.

I don't know what you might have suffered in your formative years
which could have so crippled you socially that you feel the need to
elevate yourself by trying to belittle others.

I don't know, and I don't care.

 

And yet it is exactly as I told you. In fact at 70mph on the motorway
the knocking sound was barely audible over the road and engine noise.
Drive was smooth.

But if it helps you through your day to call me a liar then be my
guest.

 

Beyond our initial excitement this is how we're seeing it too. There's
no reported lug damage according to the 2nd garage. We've been
advised by them to soundly upbraid the garage where the service was
carried out. In their words, it would be a "serious disciplinary
matter".

We'll be going out of our way to embarrass them.


Thanks for your civil and helpful response.

 

as per my original post: "recently".

No, the owner of the car would not have checked pressure in the brief
interim.

Maybe you've recently enjoyed fresh spring breezes? Here, slush rain
and snow discouraged 'car washing'.

Yes, I imagine if she'd done the job herself (the tyre replacement)
then she might have linked her own questionable competence to a rapid
diagnosis.

 

My thanks to all (save a couple of posts from the usual and expected
usenet dysfunctionals) for their consensus view.


Adieu

 

Have a great, shorter than necessary rest of your life, ignoramus.

 

I hope that you have enough income to have a mechanic on staff full
time. Your ignorance in regards to safety is going to kill someone
(hopefully just yourself and not other innocent motorists or pedestrians).

Ignorance, I see was the correct word to use in regards to your outlook
on life.

Pot, let me introduce you to the kettle.

That, it appears is the main issue here. You should seek professional
help with your issues.

 

bristle wrote in

Still doesn't tell us HOW LONG. "recently" could be six months.

probably not at all.

I live in Florida,but beefore that,grew up in BuffaloNY,and people still
washed their cars in the winder,to remove some of the salt and dirt that
accumulates on vehicles. The coin-op washes are very busy in the winter.

ooh,I must have touched a nerve.... hmm,"bristle" does seems appropo.
Actually,I just got out and looked.

As for "questionable competence",all it takes is a distraction in the midst
of a job.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

 

I never wash my car in the winder. My winders are fer seein' through,
not fer car-washing'.

 

yeah,I know I can't type....

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
localnet
dot com

 

right, they're really going to take a verbal accusation seriously.
because that's all you have at this point.

yeah, personal responsibility be damned!

so you experience no embarrassment for abdicating your personal
responsibility? you know, the one you legally signed for on the service
order?

yet another idiot that won't take personal responsibility - we /really/
need more people like you in our society...

 

To be honest, somewhere between the posts you consider good and bad
probably lies the truth. My take on this is, why go outa your way to
get back at them or whatever? I think you should be grateful that you
are still alive and perhaps got a positive experience(s) out of this
thanks to them. The positives are 1- you (and passengers) are alive
and unharmed, 2- now you know where to service your car, 3- now you
know you (and partner) have a duty to learn a little about your car
and check it periodically for simple things like low tire pressure,
etc.. .

Another poster(s) was correct that typically when they install tires,
they will tell you to recheck the stud nuts after X number of miles.
By the way, I once had my stud nuts loose too and as I recall the only
symptom was the knocking noise. Luckily I only drove for 20 miles or
so on local roads and discovered it perhaps like 1 or 2 hours later.
Boy was I upset with myself knowing the danger I put myself (others)
into. No excuse for that (whether directed at myself or you). The
way I see it, if we drive a car, we have a responsibility to maintain
our cars so that we don't endanger the lives around us or our
passengers. I cannot defend ignorance for you or me. Just consider
yourself lucky to be alive and unharmed.