When I ran over a raccoon and killed my radiator and air dam, the car had to wait in the shop until the adjuster could inspect it and give the go ahead to fix it. Might be a little late and hope the old parts were kept to proceed with a warranty claim.
No way to know what caused it without a shop inspection. If you donât trust the dealershipâs conclusion, then hire an inspection by your own mechanic. The problem could have started with a tire failure, so the tire warranty may come into consideration. The tire or any of the suspension parts could have been damaged last winter however, if you ran over a pothole or curb then. Ask the dealership if there are any recalls or customer service bulletins on any of the involved parts for this vehicle.
Another idea: I have a Corolla owning friend who got a flat tire and didnât realize it. Another driver honked and pointed it out, thatâs the only way they knew it was flat apparently. In driving with the flat, the tire sidewall got pinched, so the tire had to be replaced. So it is quite possible you had a flat tire longer than you think you did.
Bottom line: If the tire, rim, axle, control arm etc all needed replacement, then $3000 for parts and labor is within reason. On the upside, at least youâve got the work done now and can safely drive your car. If I had that problem myself Iâd leave well-enough alone as far as the dealership, and be on the telephone with my insurance company. This is the kind of situation for which you pay the annual premiums.
With all due respect, that would be pointless at this stage
The carâs already been repaired and new parts have been installed
Paying a mechanic to reach a conclusion at this stage is a waste of money
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Thanks all of you for advises and responses.
Iâm guess that possibly the tire blew out due to underinflation and the damage was caused when the wheel rim struck the pavement violently.
Based on denial of a warranty claim thatâs what it sounds like to me anyway.
In theory the tire pressure lamp should come on. Since a tire pressure sensor is mentioned I wonder (again, theorizingâŠ) if the sensor was defective and the lamp not coming on for whatever reason (unless you were ignoring it) maybe an underinflated tire was the cause of this problem.
A snapped ball joint could cause this kind of problem. At 30k miles itâs a bit young for a ball joint to fail but rough roads, driving through somewhat deep standing water, and so on can ruin them.
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I see damaged vehicles towed in at least once a month, the damage is usually caused by a curb or median strike at travel speed. The damage seen to the wheel in these cases makes this apparent, did the service department review the damage with you?
Impact with a hard object will leave a large dent in the rim of the wheel, a ball joint failure alone generally wonât bend the wheel in the same manner.
The tire pressure sensor was likely damaged during the incident, if it was no longer transmitting a signal, which could have warned you of low tire pressure, the warning light would have been on ever since the sensor failure began.
Look in your manual for the number for Honda. They have a number for complaints. Tell them what happened and file a complaint. They should be able to have someone look into it.
Yeah, but what are they going to look into? The carâs been fixed. The broken parts arenât on the car anymore so you canât look at them to determine how they broke. This is a step that needed to happen before repair was authorized.
For next time, OP, they gave you a loaner car. If they tell you it wasnât under warranty âOK, Iâm gonna call Honda Corporate and have them investigate.â You didnât need to rush to get your car repaired, because you had another car to drive.
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A low tire pressure indicator was not on.
Thanks, Iâll look up the number and give a try to explain to them. I hope they are understanding people.
I know, I shouldnât have rushed to fix it. But , can not go back now. I am just trying to find out what my options are.
As I said I do not know much about cars other than driving it, and that was the reason I bought a new car with extended warranty and additional warranty for tires, windshield, paint etc. I did all that so did have to deal with mechanics. Now, I realize that I was wrong.
As a non-professional, I still think it makes more sense that a front end part failed, causing the tire to go. I find it a little hard to believe that a blow out would cause that king of problem. I had a tie rod end break on me on the freeway and the front tire just flopped sideways and squealed quite a bit. I only had a few feet to go to pull over but it put quite a strain on the tire. I can see that folding a tire over, depending.
âŠwhat your options were. You chose to pay for the repairs and not file an insurance claim. Had you filed an insurance claim the inspector should have been able to recognize the difference between a part failure and collision.
You stated that the wheel and tire were covered by the warranty, that seems fair. Last month a sports car was towed in with damage to the right side, the owner had wheel and tire insurance. Unfortunately there was major damage to the chassis, the right front spring mount was pushed up 2", this required a fender apron replacement that would have to be performed by a collision shop. The right side wheels and tires would have cost more than $5000 if approved by the tire insurance company however the customers insurance company will pay for the entire claim.
I remember as a child in the 1950s adults discussing auto insurance. consensus was: Never file a claim unless itâs a big one. They will âjack up your premiumsâ! This is all âwater under the bridgeâ for OP including the tow. My towing and roadside assistance insurance is very inexpensive.
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_I think you can only fight this situation with a service bulletin or a recall.
The road, when the tire blew.
It wasnât mechanical failure, it was a tire blow out and things got destroyed before coming to a stop.
You werenât wrong, you were impatient and wanted it fixed now.
There are so many possible causes for the damage that was done.
If you donât know anything about cars, its going to be even harder for you to understand what happened here.
Since your car is a 2016, it has a tire pressure system.
I am assuming that you must have checked your tire pressures before the trip.
What did you set them to?
When was the last time you checked your tire pressures, and set them to something?
Was your carâs steering wheel still perfectly straight when you would drive down the road before the blowout?
In the past few weeks before the blowout, were there any strange shimmies or vibrations in the steering wheel when you would make turns, apply the brakes, or accelerate down the road?
Have you hit any big potholes, or debris on the road in the past couple of months?
I have video footage of a long 2x4 that flew off of a vehicle traveling on the opposite side of the highway from me, that landed in my lane, and I ran over with my right front tire, that caused a sidewall bubble to form that very same day on one of my cars.
It is possible that if the tire was the cause, the damage was done to the tire long before that day, and you never knew it. Unless you look over your car on a regular basis, you would never know that you have a sidewall bubble forming. They can form either on the inside or the outside of the tire. When they pop, things go bad real quick, and are even worse if you are at highway speed.
If it was a ball joint failure, there were most likely warning signs that were not paid attention to.
Unfortunately, you said that you donât know anything about cars, and you donât care much about them.
You should care a bit more, but thatâs up to you.
BC.
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Bladecutter, thanks for the response, but I think you misunderstood me. I said I do not know anything about a car, I meant I do not have any mechanic skills. I take my car to the maintenance service regularly as recommended. In fact, a maintenance service was done 2 weeks prior to the incident. I did not notice anything unusual prior to the incident.
the dealer totally ripped you off; pay no attention to these dudes who say the dealer did not rip you off; I donât know what theyâre smoking; you probably had the tires underinflated and that caused the blow out; also; make sure you consistently check the depth of the tread on the tire; also; donât allow your car to be towed to a dealer; they will rob you blind; have it towed to the nearest independent shop; even if all those parts actually did break, $3000 is an outrageous charge for that work;
Without being there you are making statements without facts. The person had to get the vehicle off the highway and may have made the best decisions they could have at the time . Also saying â you probably had the tires underinflated â is also uncalled for.
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