Car wheel fell off

jiveabillion · #1 08-09-2005, 08:23 AM

What is the name of your state? West Virginia

My little brother bought an S-10 pickup from a well-known car dealership 2 weeks ago. It came with a 30 day Warranty. Since he has bought it, it has failed to start and had to be repaired, and while he was driving several hundred miles to go to Kings Island, the front drivers side wheel fell off.

I was planning to go to the dealership with him and demand a full refund on the car + expenses to register it so that we could take our business elsewhere. I don't really know anything about car dealerships or what kind of binding agreements they have. I was wondering if I should seek legal action since the negligence of the dealership to tighten the lug nuts on the wheel endangered the lives of both of my brothers and the lives of all the people he drove around or had as a passenger since he bought the vehicle.

What should I do?

djohnson · #2 08-09-2005, 08:59 AM

You should drop it. It;s your brothers responsibility to check everything out prior to purchase. If he has a 30 day warranty, then they may cover what they warrantied for that time only. A warranty doesn't cover everything.

jiveabillion · #3 08-09-2005, 09:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djohnson

You should drop it. It;s your brothers responsibility to check everything out prior to purchase. If he has a 30 day warranty, then they may cover what they warrantied for that time only. A warranty doesn't cover everything.

He cant really afford not to have this worked out. I'm a much better negotiator that he and I feel like I was wronged as well. Both of my little brothers were in danger because of that company.

djohnson · #4 08-09-2005, 09:37 AM

Both of your little brothers were in danger because of their own ineptitude. They had a responsbility to have the vehicle checked out prior to purchasing, then after also. If it is still in the 30 days, the warranty MAY cover part of it. But chances are it won't because they didn't maintain it.

jiveabillion · #5 08-09-2005, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djohnson

Both of your little brothers were in danger because of their own ineptitude. They had a responsbility to have the vehicle checked out prior to purchasing, then after also. If it is still in the 30 days, the warranty MAY cover part of it. But chances are it won't because they didn't maintain it.

That doesnt make sense. When he had the ABS Brakes checked, the dealership neglected to tighten the lug nuts in the wheel. How is that not the dealership's fault?

djohnson · #6 08-09-2005, 09:55 AM

prove that they didnt. What absolute proof do you have that they didn't? Why wouldnt he have checked that before purchasing? Can he prove he or someone else didn't tamper with it?

jiveabillion · #7 08-09-2005, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djohnson

prove that they didnt. What absolute proof do you have that they didn't? Why wouldnt he have checked that before purchasing? Can he prove he or someone else didn't tamper with it?

The wheel has a cover on it that requires a special tool to open it. My brother was not given that tool. That is why he couldnt check the lug nuts when he heard a strange sound coming from the wheel.

djohnson · #8 08-09-2005, 10:05 AM

That tool isn't available at autozone to everyone? He heard a weird and continued to drive it? Do you not see any responsibility to him in this?

jiveabillion · #9 08-09-2005, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djohnson

That tool isn't available at autozone to everyone? He heard a weird and continued to drive it? Do you not see any responsibility to him in this?

He was several hundred miles from home when he heard the noise. He doesnt know anything about cars. He called me and I told him to put the spare on, but he couldnt because of the cover on the wheel. I told him to be very carefull and get off the interstate. I had to keep the conversation brief because I was at work. Shortly after that his wheel fell off.

djohnson · #10 08-09-2005, 10:22 AM

You can argue and come up with excuses all you want. Anything you can get them to do would be out of niceness and not because they are legally responsible. So you shouldn't go in trying to argue and debate, but being very nice. He made the decision to continue driving knowing something was wrong, he didn't have it checked out, he could have called a mechanic or stopped at one, he could have called a tow truck. These things happen all the time and he tried to choose the cheap and easy route and it failed for him. But don't kid yourself that he bears no responsibility in this. I have advised all I can, I can't help it if it's not what you want to hear. See an attorney if you want.

jiveabillion · #11 08-09-2005, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djohnson

You can argue and come up with excuses all you want. Anything you can get them to do would be out of niceness and not because they are legally responsible. So you shouldn't go in trying to argue and debate, but being very nice. He made the decision to continue driving knowing something was wrong, he didn't have it checked out, he could have called a mechanic or stopped at one, he could have called a tow truck. These things happen all the time and he tried to choose the cheap and easy route and it failed for him. But don't kid yourself that he bears no responsibility in this. I have advised all I can, I can't help it if it's not what you want to hear. See an attorney if you want.

Why would he have to have the car checked out after he bought it from the dealership? If there was something wrong with it at that point, would it be the dealership's responsibility to fix it? I understand it would have been the smart thing to do, but if the dealership does their job right, there should be no reason to do so. Also, what if there was no warning sound and his wheel just fell off and sent him careening into the other cars on the highway killing several people? Who's negligence caused this?

djohnson · #12 08-09-2005, 10:43 AM

Anytime you purchase a used vehicle, it is the buyers responsibility to have it checked out PRIOR to purchasing. You can't play what if's because they didn't happen. He didn't check the car out, he did hear a noise, he didn't check the noise out, he continued to drive it. You can't blame the dealership fully for his responsibility.

jiveabillion · #13 08-09-2005, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djohnson

Anytime you purchase a used vehicle, it is the buyers responsibility to have it checked out PRIOR to purchasing. You can't play what if's because they didn't happen. He didn't check the car out, he did hear a noise, he didn't check the noise out, he continued to drive it. You can't blame the dealership fully for his responsibility.

ok well do you know if it is very common for a car that has this many problems only 2 weeks after purchase to be returnable or exchangeable?

djohnson · #14 08-09-2005, 10:59 AM

It is not. Lemon laws do not apply to used vehicles, and even on new ones it requires the SAME problems, not many different ones. This is a chance you take when purchasing a used vehicle and not having it checked out first.

jiveabillion · #15 08-09-2005, 11:00 AM

Also, I can't imagine a reputable company saying "Well, you should have made sure we weren't selling you junk before you signed the papers"

This is probably the biggest card dealership in the capital city.

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