Front tire came off
 

I bought this 2005 Conv last wed and the dealership and didn't finish the 120 point check. I took it home they said they will do a oil change , new brake and detail next week. I took the Vette in yesterday and they did all that. I left the dealership an almost got on the freeway, but took the side streets home. Went 6 blocks the front end started shimmy real bad at 45mph I hit the brakes and BLAM. The left front tire came off the Vette flying down the street almost hitting a on coming car, vette slide across both lanes stopping in a driveway. I crawled out of the Vette on my hand and knees. I was stunned no one got hurt. A woman behind me saw the whole thing. I have her number, I called the dealership and they came and flatbed the Vette back to the dealership. I found just one lug nut in the street and my McGard tire lock was missing too. I bet someone gets fired over this. Either lug nuts were not tight or stripped. Wonder how much this will cost the dealership? Sorry this is so long, I didn't sleep good last night and my whole body is sore from being tense up. That's my tire in the middle of the pic in the grass. Inside of mag was scored with deep cuts. Rotor is just as bad. Do you thing the front end is messed up?? Thanks guys.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...f2abdfdc2a.jpg

Scary!

I can tell you, I worked at a dealership, and it's not the first time we had that occurred and repaired the car, the tech we made pay for his mistake.

While the car is in for repair, here is you owners manual to learn your car.

http://www.c6registry.com/Technical/manuals/2005OM.pdf

Very scary....and frustrating. Not only is this an awful thing to happen and very luckily no one was hurt, but it is also an indication of negligence on the part of the dealership. You may want to talk to someone about having them replace this with a brand new car.

I would hate to be the mechanic forced to pay for a 2019 C7

That's horrible! Just thank God you wernt doing 70 on the freeway when it happened.

Glad nobody was hurt! I hope the dealer steps up and you don't need to get an attorney involved!

Scary, but I think unless the dealership decides to own it, it would be hard to prove anything. It's a used car, and they're not really liable for it. They could easily claim the aftermarket lugs or something like that are to blame, and the lugs nut being found doesnt amount to evidence, they could have flown off anywhere.

Good luck, and remember that you want the dealer on your side for this.

According to the OP, they did brake work, in order to do so they had to remove and reinstall the wheels/lug nuts, so they are liable.

OP: WOW, glad now one was hurt.

He said they just did a brake job so pretty easy to put the blame on them. I do agree he needs them on his side if possible. Will make the repair much smoother.
Glad no one was hurt. Good luck.

I don't agree with this at all. He drove straight from the dealership and wheel flies off. Pretty difficult to think they are not responsible.

Quote by Mr Bob: " Do you thing the front end is messed up??"

I do,,,where are you located? Wouldn't want that dealer service dept. working on my car. That tire went for a long ride... You bought the car last week,,,I'd ask the dealer to
buy the car back at your purchase price, and go shopping for another Vette to buy. JMO

get a lawyer and make em take the car back

If it's not their lugs, they're not totally liable. They're not liable if they put the lugs on right, but the lugs failed through no fault of their own. It would be tough to prove liability.

Not a good way to be introduced to your new car!

He bought the car from a dealership. Took the car in for work which should have been done first. Wheel falls off after they had removed wheels. Under what scenario would the dealer not be responsible?

Its a used car. It was likely sold as is. They have a moral obligation, but legally, they likely have no liability.

That is scary and fortunate that no one got hurt. Keep us updated on the response from the dealer.

IANAL, but "as-is" has nothing to do with negligence. It appears the car was sent out the door with missing lug nuts or the mechanic failed to notice a gross deficiency with the wheel mounting during the course of his repair. Either is a negligent act.

The OP is owed a complete repair, and not necessarily by the guys who broke it. If I were him, my objective would be to persuade the dealer just to refund the car. Not a bunch of money or a new ZR1 or any nonsense like that. They can fix it at their cost and resell it and avoid a legal fight.

Why would they ever do that? Ridiculous.

If he's over the car already, it wouldn't be totally unreasonable to have them take the car back and refund 100% of his money.

Or, the mcgard lug failed, the other wheel lugs broke from the force, and the wheel flew off. Nothing negligent about that for the dealership.

Like I said, hard to prove anything, and it's better off to approach it in a friendly way.

It's clear the studs aren't broken or stripped, they weren't tightened down.

And my wife always questions why I do all maintenance myself. SMH Dealerships are the Worst.

A stripped lug isn't going to cause a cascade failure like that. You could idle around town all day on two torqued lug nuts. A quick inspection of the studs and nuts could rule that out right away.

An unsafe car was released from their shop after work was performed on the part(s) that failed. Had they installed window tint and the tire fell off, they could logically escape responsibility. In this case, there is little or no question that they are liable. The chances of most, or all, of the lugs failing at one time is extremely low. In the absence of clear proof to the contrary, if I'm on the jury the dealership will be required to make him whole.

An upgrade to a newer Vette they have on the lot, or can quickly acquire, might be a better solution for both sides. The dealer can do repairs at their convenience and the owner gets to drive away immediately in something that traditionally hasn't had the same amount of problems that the '05 models are having. A nice '08 might be worth looking at for a quick exchange. :D

Nobody got hurt, and the car isn't wrecked.

The dealership has the responsibility to repair it for free, and I'm guessing they will. The better thing to do, but they don't have to, is offer to buy it back. Anything more than that is dreaming.

It may show up in Carfax as a repair, but I highly doubt it would show as an accident or anything else too derogatory since it's not getting claimed on his insurance and there was no mention of a police report.

Tire came off
 

The dealer is fixing the car with new fender and new rotors and front wheel. I only put one lock nut on each wheel. The others 3 wheels are fine, someone took a break forget to tighten the nuts I believe. I am driving a new Cadillac CTS as a loner. ha Dealer admits fault an their insurance is taking the hit. I will keep everyone up to date when things get finished. I want to see the Vette on a lift before I accept the work and have the service manger drive it with me in the car. Then I will drive it while he is in it too. So far they are being nice, we will see.

I have little to no doubt the dealers insurance will not be involved with something this small.

^^^^this

They couldn't do your fuckin brakes and now they're going to fix it? Nope, hard nope.

What!! Nascar was only using 4 lug nuts for awhile at over 200mph and the engineers said 3 lug nuts would hold the wheel on with the correct torque.He should the fu$% out of that dealer he could of killed himself or others.

It took just 13 posts for the "get a lawyer" mentality to come up....How about 1st seeing if the dealership will step up & repair the car first? Give them a chance to do the right thing

Took my daughters car in for a front end alignment after tire install. Private shop forgot to tighten adjusting nuts. Fortunately a month later I noticed the tire angle when the car came home. Shop refused to admit any wrong doing. Not worth creating a huge fuss. Another two hundred for a tire and alignment . No one was injured. There are shop owners that are just profit minded and quality care less individuals. Its a huge karma wheel.

the so called aftermarket Mcguard lock nut kits are what GM installs on the C6 and have GM part number-12498078.they will not cause your wheels to fall off unless the village idiot forgets to torque them.they are a dealer installed option that have been on my car since new.never an issue with them.if there was an issue with them GM would not be installing them on C6's.my new Ram pick up and previous Ram also came with them when new

I hope they will replace the rocket panel too and not just try to bondo it back to shape. Front door edge may need work too.

I would ask them to void the sale or buy it back for your total price, including taxes, etc.
Mention how bad the publicity of a law suit would be for them.
Talk to a personal injury lawyer--IF NEEDED--to get their attention.
Look at it this way. If another driver, because of negligence (drunk, distracted on the phone, etc.) had caused this damage, their insurance company would likely pay for all repairs, rental car, etc. and kick in $5K-$10 for personal injury, suffering, and general hardship.
Give them the choice on which route they want to go.

If you do have them fix the car, go over it with a fine toothed comb and take it to another reputable shop to check it.

Dude, you either own the dealership in question, are the mechanic who screwed up, or are just an...arguing for the sake of arguing.

People like you are the reason dealerships get away with murder. They certainly are freaking liable and they have liability insurance to cover for crap like this.

In my youth I worked at Sears Automotive as a sales rep. We replaced a set of tires on a relatively brand new loaded Suburban (maybe 2 years old at the time) and the tire installer decided to take the thing for a joy ride. He didn't make it but 50 feet from the service bay and all 4 rims/tires came off. He hadn't put any of the lug nuts on. The guy was always a moron...but that's what happens when you only want to pay minimum wage.

Anyway...the tech was fired on the spot and Sears paid for all repairs performed by the repair shop of the customer's choice. She had it towed to the Chevy dealership down the street.

The OP has a case for having the dealer pay for all the repairs.

Please, if you have no clue what you're talking about...then keep it to yourself.

I'm also a little skeptical that they would make a claim for something this small. However, if they do make a claim and the VIN is reported on that claim, then at some future time it could show up on a CarFax report (or similar history report) and you could see some diminished resale value. That's something you should be aware of, and some time before any statute of limitation runs out for a diminished value claim, you should run reports from CarFax and their competitors and make sure this doesn't come up on the report.

BTW, one clue that they aren't making an insurance claim is that you're driving around in their inventory as a loaner. If they were making an insurance claim, you'd be in a rental car, not new dealer inventory. One negotiating point you have is that they're taking a hit for every mile you drive in their "new" car and every day you have it.
That's what I'd aim for.

If they have a similar '07 or '08 on the lot and want an even swap, I'd consider that as well. Before accepting it, take it to another reputable dealership or reputable shop for a "pre purchase inspection," and make sure it doesn't have issues.

I also wouldn't let the folks who couldn't tighten lug nuts replace and repair all those parts and "fix" it again. God knows what you'll get back, or what will fall apart after the next repair.

Definitely get a lawyer. The dealer may step up and fix it but the real answer is have them void the sale, return your money and move on to another car. But they might not do that so the lawyer makes most sense.

As for the car being SOLD as-is, sure I can see that might absolve them, they'd easily refuse to step up and you'd have no recourse. But because the work was done AFTER the sale, the as-is clause means nothing and the dealer is clearly liable for this.

Also, you can't blame a 3rd party locking lug nut because the 4 other OEM lug nuts are easily enough to hold the wheel on if the locking lug nut or 5th OEM lug nut is not even there. Plenty of cars have only 4 lugs. One lug nut does not make a failure. They failed to properly tighten them so that should be end of it. Question is if they'll take the car back or fix it.

Guess we all now have to take a torque wrench with us every time a service guy takes off a wheel now.

Good luck.

Doesn't everybody already do that?

I do ;)

What's a service guy?

What color is the sky in your world?
This a complete no brainier. The wheel falls off after the dealer had the wheel off the car and then put it back on the car . How can this be anyone's fault but the doofus that allegedly tightened the lug nuts? If they were tighted properly we wouldn't be talking about this.
I would tell the dealer to refund the sale of the car or lawyer up.

I think I'd prefer a voided sale myself, but repairing it isn't totally unreasonable. Be very sure that you are satisfied with the repair though and don't be afraid to be picky.

Z

I will NOW.

I agree with the majority...play nice with the dealer and ask for a full refund.

UPDATE: Dealership insurance company called me Friday morning. They are paying to get the Vette fixed to my liking and paying me compensation too. Dealer took blame for not Tighten the lug nuts. More to come in two weeks.

Awesome! That's what should have happened.

Since the insurance company is footing the bill for repairs, this will possibly show up on carfax as an accident, or "damage". If you are getting cash compensation, first thing to ask is the various factors they used in coming up with a figure. Don't sound angry or argumentative...just ask they question. Among the factors mentioned should be "diminished value" you will suffer when you sell it. An '05 is not going to lose as much value due to damage as, say, a '13, but there will still be loss. I would not be greedy, but would certainly ask that DV be added to the figure if it is not already mentioned.

I agree with the others about the car fax. I would walk from most deals with a blemish on a car fax. I would want out of the car also. Really sucks!!

The mentality here hasn't changed in years. Could someone please tell me what is in this for an attorney? Nobody injured, so no litigation for a % of the injury limits of liability. GM has attorneys on staff - probably dozens or more of them. To them just another file to work. To whomever hires one to fight GM's attorneys, keep your checkbook handy, then your credit card, And, no, they are under no obligation to buy the car back. Likely bought at auction with a sketchy paper trail.

STOOOPID..... work with the dealer to your satisfaction.

Who said anything about suing GM?

This is an issue between a dealership/service department and a buyer of a 12 to 14 year old used car. It has exactly nothing to do with GM.

However, @mrBob2005, you should be aware at least that when this is handled through insurance, it probably (almost certainly) will show on a CarFax or similar vehicle history report. Also, it will look much worse on the those reports than it actually was. Generally, how "severe" the accident/damage was is expressed as a percentage of the book value of the car. When you're dealing with a 2005 model, it doesn't take much go get over 50% or more of the value of the car, qualifying as a "major/extreme accident" or "major/extreme damage" in the vehicle history. If you plan to keep it forever, or sell it by the pound when you're done with it, this might not matter to you. If you plan to sell it or trade it in a few years and move on to a newer model, this could be an issue.

:iagree: Lawsuit abuse..

Regardless...we are glad you are not injured. Please be sure to let us know what happens....repair cost, how you were treated, etc.

NO lawyer, NO repair, NO negotiation. F that. Similar or better car immediately. That car will never be the same and will be trouble down the road. That's what you deserve for trouble and the scare which was no fault of your own. I can't believe the dealership wouldn't think their getting off easy with that.

the OP is not in a position to demand anything. He can try to negotiate, at best. The dealer is going to repair the car, and make a small comp pkg for his trouble. That is it. Anything more than that WILL require a lawyer. If there were injuries, it would be different, but without physical injury, the dealer is not going to do any more.

:iagree:

I agree with everything you said, 386. Yes, I would be pissed. But being angry enough to crap twinkies does not make a diff in the legality of this situation. The OP is NOT dealing with the insurance company, he is dealing with the dealer. The dealer is dealing with his insurance company, and neither of them care to do any more than is morally or ethically required, which also happens to be what any lawyer representing the OP would expect them to do. If this were a dealer with known history of similar issues, it "might" be different, as negligence could possibly be proven. However, with no known history, it is a simple mistake that did not result in injury, so the only provable damages are to the vehicle. And, as someone else mentioned, this will likely be covered under an umbrella policy, so will not show up on carfax via insurance reporting.

HOWEVER...the OP should absolutely insist that the dealer not allow any manner of reporting this repair outside of his facility. Otherwise, it just might pop up on Carfax, or the national auto repair reporting service.

that's intentional, don't you know???

My guess is there not an insurance company involved (dealership probably has a large deductible) so it won't show up on Carfax, etc. It could very well show up on the VIS unless it is repaired totally off the books.