First draft.. comments please...
Dear Mr Carter,
Thank you for your letter of 30th July. Please understand that the only reason we as owners chose to contact the DVSA directly is concern for the safety of other road users, as the initial contact with Maserati UK and Maserati Italy had led nowhere.
It's sad that only 5 cases have been reported to you as we are aware of more and the owners had all said that they would file official cases with the DVSA, so I'd expect more reports to be forthcoming in the near future.
Regarding the fact that only mine has currently been recorded as a fully failed wishbone, (though we know of one other) I'm sure you appreciate that the next stage after cracking on the wishbone is separation from the vehicle in question. The others that have only displayed cracking so far have not had a full failure because WE notified the owners and managed to find them in time and get them removed from the cars in question.
I don't understand your comment about the DVSA footing the postage costs. The DVSA is a public body paid for from tax payers' money (which we are) and is there to ensure our roads are safe. We've legitimately raised a concern and some of our money has now been used to send parts in question to the manufacturer. If the DVSA can't examine the parts and apparently takes exception to sending damaged parts to the manufacturer for examination, I have to question what the point of the DVSA is?
The UK has a wealth of specialist engineering experience who could examine these parts in a couple days and provide an independent view on the cause behind the failures without any vested interest. The fact the DVSA relies on the manufacturer of the parts to drag its heels in deciding whether it is their manufacturing/design at fault or the end user is shocking.
Where the blame lies for the issue is currently immaterial; there were (and still are) cars driving around on our roads on the brink of an accident with the owners unaware. Considering the magnitude of the outcome of such a failure I personally find over 6 months of investigation worrisome, especially as the analysis of such material faults and manufacturing processes are so well known.
We don't expect our concerns to cause any kind of change in process, however we do feel it's only right to make sure they are recorded should the worst happen. Again this is not about finger pointing, laying blame at anybodies doors, expecting compensation or anything of the like. Our concern is getting fellow owners notified that they should get their cars checked as soon as possible. We as a group of enthusiasts are unable to tell all owners to get their cars checked as we simply don't know who they are, the DVSA and Maserati have a far better chance of doing so.
Of significant interest is the new wishbones that are now available from Maserati that are of a completely different design and feature extra material around the failure points. We've heard rumors from many sources about “redesigned components” for a while, however this is the first time we've seen them. For Maserati to go to this much effort re-engineering parts for cars that are no longer sold, whilst telling the owners of the cars that there is no issue doesn't sit very well as I expect you can understand. Maserati clearly knew there was a problem otherwise they wouldn't redesign the components. When we first approached Maserati with our concerns they were only interested in sending us to a main dealer and getting us to buy brand new suspension arms that just so happened to have tripled in price. A cynic would suggest that they were well aware of this impending issue and tried to profit from it rather than concern themselves with the consequences of failure. For your interest I've included pictures of a new rear upper wishbone side by side with the old design so you can see for yourself.
Hopefully this sorry saga can be resolved quickly before somebody is seriously injured, or worse.