Warning!

[Marwood]

I'm up for this Kenny and would also suggest sending to a few key publications. Government won't pay any attention to this unless there is media attention.

Why is a state agency seemingly willing to ignore a potentially life-threatening issue and content to let the manufacturer lead on the matter? Said manufacturer is either in full denial mode, because its incompetent, or playing a statistical long game whereby it does the bare minimum now in relation to the complaints (but just enough to create a legal or PR evidence trail should one be needed later on,eg. "we did the responsible thing and alerted owners, etc"), and will rely on us getting bored and going away, or having to settle a few cases out of court under terms of anonymity.

Normally this would be of limited interest. After all, who cares about a few "spoiled petrol-heads whinging that their expensive toys are broken" ? However, VW woke mainstream media up to the manipulations of the car industry. Its a new trough of scandal for them to feed from with, in this instance, the added bonus of free schadenfreude: "look at the rich petrol heads whinging about their expensive toys being broken...!"

I had a candid conversation with a car journo pal recently who was shocked about the possibilities of wishbones failing at speed but he couldn't, he said, put his head above the parapet for fear of being blacklisted by the industry...He would however follow-up should the story break somewhere else. Again, as per VW. He trotted out other examples of where manufacturers failed to acknowledge issues and the obvious trend seems to be that mass market producers have to deal with things properly whereas niche players rely on owner's loyalty to brand, egos (ie. I can't admit publicly that I bought a duffer) and tiny numbers (one crash = unfortunate but unlikely to be news, two - more so. It only becomes a trend - and more newsworthy - with three or more smoking wrecks...).

It is pretty **** galling to think we have to brand our own cars 'killers' in oder to get traction but I fear that's what has to happen. The game is cynical and rigged. Resale values vs a life - no contest.

M

 

[spkennyuk]

I'm up for this Kenny and would also suggest sending to a few key publications. Government won't pay any attention to this unless there is media attention.

Why is a state agency seemingly willing to ignore a potentially life-threatening issue and content to let the manufacturer lead on the matter? Said manufacturer is either in full denial mode, because its incompetent, or playing a statistical long game whereby it does the bare minimum now in relation to the complaints (but just enough to create a legal or PR evidence trail should one be needed later on,eg. "we did the responsible thing and alerted owners, etc"), and will rely on us getting bored and going away, or having to settle a few cases out of court under terms of anonymity.

Normally this would be of limited interest. After all, who cares about a few "spoiled petrol-heads whinging that their expensive toys are broken" ? However, VW woke mainstream media up to the manipulations of the car industry. Its a new trough of scandal for them to feed from with, in this instance, the added bonus of free schadenfreude: "look at the rich petrol heads whinging about their expensive toys being broken...!"

I had a candid conversation with a car journo pal recently who was shocked about the possibilities of wishbones failing at speed but he couldn't, he said, put his head above the parapet for fear of being blacklisted by the industry...He would however follow-up should the story break somewhere else. Again, as per VW. He trotted out other examples of where manufacturers failed to acknowledge issues and the obvious trend seems to be that mass market producers have to deal with things properly whereas niche players rely on owner's loyalty to brand, egos (ie. I can't admit publicly that I bought a duffer) and tiny numbers (one crash = unfortunate but unlikely to be news, two - more so. It only becomes a trend - and more newsworthy - with three or more smoking wrecks...).

It is pretty **** galling to think we have to brand our own cars 'killers' in oder to get traction but I fear that's what has to happen. The game is cynical and rigged. Resale values vs a life - no contest.

M

Sadly i think your right Marwood. As far as im aware recall and notification letters go to the registered keeper on the V5 document. Its the only way of getting the information to the most recent owners of the vehicles. Ive been notified about the emissions issue on the Audi A4 which didnt come from the dealer.

Thats two of us willing to send letters to our local MP's if we can get enough people to join us then at least it will raise awareness of the issue. We also have very similar issues with other manufacturers that changed the parts as a safety recall.

Please add your name to the list if your happy to send a joint letter to your local MP below :

1. Spkenny
2. Marwood

 

[mchristyuk]

As the one who instigated this sorry saga it would be rude of me not to add my name!

1. Spkenny
2. Marwood
3. Mchristyuk

 

[spkennyuk]

Thanks Mchristy. Keep the names coming folks. I suggest we keep the list going till the end of January and aim to get the letters all posted the same day in February. Possibly not the valentines cards they were expecting

 

[Evo Cymru]

Thanks Mchristy. Keep the names coming folks. I suggest we keep the list going till the end of January and aim to get the letters all posted the same day in February. Possibly not the valentines cards they were expecting

Me 4!

1. Spkenny
2. Marwood
3. Mchristyuk
4. Evo Cymru

 

[deano]

Me 4!

1. Spkenny
2. Marwood
3. Mchristyuk
4. Evo Cymru

5. Deano

 

[spkennyuk]

Keep the names coming folks.

 

[lovellracing]

6. Lovell Racing

 

[Trev Latter]

To add a little to this...I had a conversation with the MOT examiner when I took my car in the other day. He knows about the wishbone issue because I told him last year and showed him where to check, BUT, since the notification from both Maserati and more importantly, DVSA, there's no notice or any supplementary notes on the MOT system to flag up checks on the wishbones due to potential faults.

 

[T-axle]

 

[Steve GS]

View attachment 36241

Holy s--t
This isn't good hope your ok and no personal injuries

 

[T-axle]

Food for thoughts...
Spotted this while having a walk with my family.
No further information provided.

But... it ain't lookin' funny!

 

[T-axle]

 

[conaero]

You can clearly see the track rod end sheared in the hub or the bolts sheared in the upper wishbone.

This could be from an impact, lets hope, that is scary!

 

[conaero]

...ah, and there is paint on the top of the arch, looks like its been hit. Could be the paint from the inside of the rim I suppose but does look like impact damage to me.

Threaded part of the lower wishbone ball joint has sheared too like that one did last month.

What was the pallet under the subframe for?..has it been driven over maybe?

 

[T-axle]

 

[T-axle]

Due to circumstances, I didn't take my sweet time to investigate.
But I couldn't see any sign of impact: body was straight, airbags ok, wheel looked ok (apart from all the nicks when it feel face over).
Hope the owner overcame his shock moment!

Noticed? The hood/ bonnet shows dents as it got kissed by the engine.

 

[T-axle]

Arch got marked by wheel, I think.

 

[T-axle]

Now, how "rare" is this going to be?

 

[conaero]

If you go back at any point see if you can leave a note, we need to know what happened. This guy looks like he got away with it, the next person might not be so lucky.