Hey guys.

I purchased my Z no more than three weeks ago, and i absolutely loved it.... till my front wheel fell of the car.... Here is the deal...

I purchased the car from a used car dealership:
2003 Nissan 350Z Touring 6spd
-55,--- miles
-clean carfax, no reported accidents
-$11,000 dollars
-warranty included
Sounded great! took the car for the test drive, picked it up two days later. Drove the car for a week and a half, noticed the suspension was creaking, brought it back to the mechanic, they "checked" the suspension told me all was well. they said the bushings were fine and they didnt need replacing, and i also couldnt replicate the sound once i got the car to them.
Anywho, two days later i begin my drive to work, im about five minutes away, i go to make a right turn and before i know it, there is a loud crack, the car hops twice, starts pulling to the left, i need to pull the wheel back to the right so as not to end up in oncoming traffic and before i know it im turned about and the car is uneven.
I get out of the car to inspect the matter and, wouldnt you know it, the spindle knuckle cracked in several places. Needless to say I was mortified. I bought the car a few weeks ago and there was no way i could have caused that. Anywho i take the car to the dealership and they swear up and down i had to have hit something and yada yada yada. they also quote me about 4000 to repair, body work not included.
I looked into going after them and unfortunately, i dont have a case for a few reasons:

1)The recent influx of brand new gaping potholes Long Island, NY has accrued this past winter.
2)My age and appearance (23, tattoos and piercings out the ****)
3)it isnt a part that usually just outright FAILS like this. The claims adjuster i spoke with from my insurance company said that it isnt horribly uncommon for these to go on various cars, but still doesnt happen often

anyway, so now im stuck with the car, my mechanic is working on it getting the car back in shape, or at least DRIVE-ABLE using a used spindle knuckle and anything else it might need.

So the reasons im coming to the forum about the matter is:

1)has anyone heard of this happening on these cars at all, or any car for that matter
2)anyone selling a silver left front fender
3)how bout a front wheel?
4)A silver sideskirt as well

 

When i Say cracked in several places, i mean SNAPPED OFF in several places.

 

Won't your insurance take care of your bodywork damage?

 

So how much did that "warranty" cost?

 

I would actually go after the town or city for the lack of road repairs causing the damage. Better chance of getting money from them instead of the dealer. Might take forever but hey you never know.

Was an accident reported? How did you handle this incident on the spot?

 

A "clean carfax" doesn't mean it's never been f**cked up.....It's probably been put in a ditch or something before you bought it.

 

yea, i know the carfax doesnt necessarily count for ****. I didnt HIT a pothole, thats just what the dealership is trying to say. I didnt file a police report though, which the insurance company would need, and im honestly trying to handle it without the insurance company, as (because im 23) the car insurance is high enough on the car as it is without me reporting an incident. no one has anything helpful to put in here? lol
also the warranty came with the car but basically only covers engine/transmission

 

So the reasons im coming to the forum about the matter is:

1)has anyone heard of this happening on these cars at all, or any car for that matter No
2)anyone selling a silver left front fender Check your Regional Marketplace as well as the General Marketplace
3)how bout a front wheel? Check your Regional Marketplace as well as the General Marketplace
4)A silver sideskirt as well Check your Regional Marketplace as well as the General Marketplace

 

I believe my advice along with others was helpful. Just because you handled the situation wrong doesn't mean we were not helpful.

If you really don't want to go through insurance and have 4 grand to drop, then just fix it. However, I would go to the dealership and do the best you can to have them pay, or at least cover most of it. It doesn't matter that you are 23 and tatted, if they won't help you because of that, then they have bigger issues (legal)

If they won't budge, I would maybe seek some guidance from an attorney. All dealerships HAVE to give at least a 30 day warranty and plus you can play the card that they sold you a unsafe car, which is illegal. It is the dealership's duty to make sure a car is fit for the road. If you bought it privately then you would be SOL, but since it was a dealership a case might hold water.

With all of this being said, I am not a lawyer. I am an accountant. But if I was in this situation I would do what I recommended. At the dealership if they are being jerks and will not budge, through out, "well I guess I will speak with my lawyer and see what he has to say since you sold me an unsafe car, as well as contacting the BBB, have a great day!"

 

TRUST ME! im working on it with the dealership. i pulled my car out of there when they quoted me the price because i know i could have it done cheaper if they werent going to cover it. My apologies if i insulted you, just stressing out a bit about the whole mess. I have however looked into it from a legal standpoint. My Girlfriends father has been a lawyer and assistant D.A. in Nassau county for a good deal of time, and even he took a look at it and said there probably wasnt anything we could do, if only because of the way the wheel dented in the fender after becoming dislodged... the whole fender got dented in when it caught the wheel so it looks like i smacked something, But also, due to the actual piece that snapped being one of those pieces that "never just fails". Then the fact that i didnt file a police report only makes matters look worse for me.

I did speak with an insurance claim adjuster just yesterday shortly after i posted this thread. He had said it isnt completely uncommon for the spindle knuckle to fail, he has seen it (mostly on hyundai models) but its such a rare occurrence without impact

 

^This happened to my boy on his FC RX7 not too long ago, but its a full on track drift car pretty much. So it definatly got way more abuse than a daily street driven car (or maybe not?). There really is no way of telling unfortunately but thinks are always liable to break...its just a fact of life. It very likely could have been lightly damaged by the PO and it just so happened to break when it got to you.

Luck of the draw unfortunately, I am happy to hear that your alright though. Something like this or snapping on outer tie rod while driving at speed are 2 of my biggest fears lol

 

Don't even get me started on the potholes around here (fellow Long Islander). The DOT is an absolute embarrassment.

Anyway, I wish I could help you out but all I can really think of is getting as much help as you can from insurance. What part of long island are you from?

 

I haven't heard of that happening to our cars which leads me to these questions for you:

1. Did you check your studs and wheel lug seats?
2. Did you have aftermarket wheels on the vehicle after you bought it?
3. Are the lug nuts OE or AM?

From my current job I've seen and heard the same situation go on with people an it had to do with either the studs being stripped, cross-threaded, or the wheel was put on but it wasn't flush with the hub.

The reason why I asked about the wheels, if someone installed them and didn't re-torque them after installation, the lug nuts tend to loosen which also ends in wheel-offs.

If you have aftermarket lug nuts on the studs that also could cause it if the lug nuts are not the correct size for the studs.

I'm just asking these to make sure you don't get your vehicle back and those are messed up too.

Not many people look at those when a wheel comes off.


For instance, same exact story as you but the customer's truck was on the highway at the time and when his wheel came off (aftermarket, wasn't re-torqued, AND the employee at the time cross threaded the studs) his truck was pretty much toast.

I had to deal with that truck for almost 2 months and it still was never back to it's original condition.

His damages was the spindle, transmission, tie-rods, brake-drum, steering-column, studs, hub, frame, and other various issues, all from something that could have been avoided but someone was too lazy to do everything correctly.

Just listen to everyone else and if the dealer doesn't budge, bring out the big guns.

Squalz said it best to me

As soon as you mention lawyers and the BBB and they freak out, the ball is in your court.

 

I looked at everything. The wheels are oem, the nuts are oem. whole car was completely stock from what i could tell. the mechanic i have the car at now (not the dealership service center) said everything else checked out and it was in fact just the knuckle. Im looking into a lawyer as we speak to see what they say.

 

glad your ok. and hope the dealerships owns up to it for it to snap like you said there had to be indications already there.

got any pics?

 

Ditto.....glad to hear to didn't spin into oncoming traffic....

Broken spindle? $4K ? Seems a bit high.

You can buy 350z spindles on Ebay for $120....with a hub.
Takes maybe 2 hours to swap so $400 at most.
You could buy parts on EBAY and swap the whole front suspension for $1000.

Used car dealers are experts at making cars temporarily drivable.
I suspect your spindle was cracked when you bought the car, probably from a previous accident.
As you drove it you just weakened an already damaged part and it broke.
I've never seen a spindle break from a pothole. On high perf cars broken spindles are usually the result of sliding around a corner and slamming the wheels into an opposing curb....that will break rims and spindles....
And when a spindle is cracked you can't always tell because they are usually covered in road gook and brake dust.

And I've been paid on claims from my insurance co without a police report...who can wait for those guys....an accident is an accident. Even if you slammed into a curb or some evil pothole.... its still an accident.

Good luck with you car......sounds like a good deal low mileage and all.
You might want to thoroughly inspect the rest of the car for previous accident damage......and sometimes you have clean the underside to get a good look.