Boma

iTrader: (4)

Hey guys it's been a while since I've posted anything here in CL. I still have the ISF, just had a lot of stuff going on in the real world like work and our wedding planning.

Here's the TL,DR version, read on to get more details:
Had front tires changed at a shop. Next day I was driving normally, heard a loud bang under my car and the steering wheel started vibrating like crazy, thought it was a flat tire but was actually my wheel being loose due to improperly torqued lug nuts, and one of the wheel studs is missing. What to do next?

Anyway, here is my situation. Last week I had to get my front tires replaced because of wear and tear and so I can pass my state inspection. I went with RE-11s since they were on sale. The place where I normally take my car to be inspected couldn't replace them, probably because they didn't have the proper machine to do it. Ok whatever, so I took it to a different shop where I had my rear tires replaced last summer, knowing they had the capability to help me out. Note that all I needed was to have them change my front tires replaced, nothing more.

Fast forward to picking it up afterwards and I inspected it before going inside to pay. I noticed my rear wheels were now in front and my new tires are in the rear. WTF right? I have the stock, staggered set up so it surprised me that they managed to make this mistake. I went back in and brought it to their attention and they corrected it. The lady I spoke to implied they didn't know I had staggered wheels (even though all I needed were the fronts to be replaced, not to mention that I've been there before no less than 7 months earlier) and that they just had a seminar about putting the newer, fresh tires on the rear of the vehicle (???). Talking with the owner just shooting the breeze, he said one of their guys took it out to "test the wheel balancing" AKA took it out for a joy ride and was impressed with the car and with how fast it is (pretty much admitting they really did take it out for a joy ride). I was like whatever.. when I got it back I checked the gas level and noticed it was almost down a quarter (I dropped it off with almost a full tank) and my tank's MPGs was an abysmal 10MPG. It wasn't too big of a deal to be honest, but this issue would pale in comparison to what happens next.

The next day (yesterday) I took my car out with my fiancée to get groceries. When I drove I noticed the car was riding a little differently than normal, but I attributed that to my new tires needing to be broken in. Going to the grocery store I had to make a U turn to get to the entrance. In mid turn a loud CLUNK came out from under my car and it felt like something started to drag underneath. At first I thought I ran over a huge nail and it popped my tire (just my f'ing luck..), but the TPMS didn't trip and the steering wheel started to vibrate wildly, scaring the crap out of us. On top of that my brakes felt softer than usual and took an extra distance to stop, talk about an OH S#!T!!! moment! I pulled into a nearby neighborhood to take a look and lo and behold my lug nuts on the front passenger side were loose, and apparently the loud THUNK from earlier was one of the wheel studs breaking/falling off, I'm thinking the U turn caused too much strain and caused that to happen. There was a slight gap between the wheel and the rotor so it had to be pretty loose to begin with. I felt so dumb not double (triple?) checking before leaving that day, but isn't it reasonable to believe they wouldn't let me have the car back with lug nuts that loose? I managed to back track and find the lug but the wheel stud is long gone. Needless to say we called a tow truck and brought it back home since the shops are closed around the area already.

Now I'm in a predicament. What do I do next? Should I take it to the Lexus dealership to have them inspect the possible damage and make the necessary repairs and hope the tire shop foots the bill? Do I complain first to the tire shop? I'm the type of person who makes sure the place I take my business to is reputable and has a good rating on sites like Yelp, so the shop that f'ed up has a near perfect rating and like I said I took it there last year with no issues. I already have pictures and the receipt from the shop for the tire change. I will try to put pics up later on today. Thanks in advance guys, any feedback and advice will help a lot.

JDMV8

iTrader: (6)

Go to the shop right away. 1/4 gas down with 10mpg is a joke.
You have to really play a lot with the car to get that, unless the shop let it idle for a while. This is already a big, red flag.
To top it off, imagine your wheel coming loose while going 80 on a highway. Your car was mistreated in the hands of incompetence.
I think the shop should do more than reimburse you.

BluStreak1

iTrader: (4)

For a "reputable" shop, it sure doesn't sound like they have a clue what they're doing. The back tires up front would have raised a HUGE flag for me. Then all that talk of joyriding...no way! I'd take it right back and make them fix the wheel stud first. Then I'd take the car to lexus and have the car inspected for any other damages and let the tire ship know they'll be on the hook for any other repairs that arise from this incident. Make sure you get stuff in writing from the shop on what they are going to do or be responsible for. Good luck with that!

vbb

iTrader: (3)

What a horror story Chris. What shop was this (PM or text me if you don't want to mention it publicly) so I can make sure to avoid this place at all costs.

As to what to do, easy. Contact the place that did this right away and explain what happened. In addition to the most obvious problem with your stud/lugs, mention that they first put the wheels on the wrong corners and 2nd that it was obvious that someone was driving your car REALLY hard after the tire install. Then demand that they fix the situation for free. Inspect the car yourself to see if any damage at all was done to your rim or brakes, and also get the car realigned. If they refuse, take it to either Lexus or your usual shop to get this work done and then tell the shop that screwed up that if they don't make this right, you're going to file a lawsuit against them.

They are likely to say that it is the car owner's responsibility to check the torque on the lugs after 25 miles or less of driving just to make sure. That's one of the things I always read in the disclaimers when I get new tires and/or wheels, and I've had almost the exact thing happen to me on a previous car (they didn't tighten the lugs and my wheel almost wobbled off on the drive home). Because of that experience, I make it a habit to recheck my lug torque after I bring my car home and then again 50mi later just to be sure. But this sounds like it goes far beyond a failure on your part to check and I would not let them shove this off on you. They have to make this right. Good luck.

yjk1975

Doesn't this mean they took it for a joy ride with the lug nuts loose and the back tires on the front. Idiots. I would not trust them to correct anything. Broken studs are an easy fix just time consuming. Dobit yourself or take it else where.

Boma

iTrader: (4)

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I'm feeling a little better about the situation and I'm hoping they will do the right thing. This particular business is only open Monday through Friday so I'll be dealing with them tomorrow.

Most likely they "tested the wheel balancing" when the wheels were on the wrong way. When I had them fix it the guy working on it likely neglected the problematic wheel. I wished I did a triple check on the wheels but it was getting dark and it looked ok from a glance. I wouldn't trust them to fix this problem either but if it ends up being a costly repair they will need to be involved financially.

PatrickISF

I've noticed if you are not careful mounting the wheels against the hub it's possible to have some play in the wheel as you are bolting the wheel down. They probably just mounted up the wheel without properly checking to make sure it was against the hub and due to their carelessness the stud snapped. Either way, I would talk to the owner and get your money back and have them pay Lexus for the repairs. I wouldn't have tolerated them beating on the car either!!!!

Defratos

wow sorry to hear about this, just be thankful it didn't happen while you were on the motorway.

I always torque up my lugs myself, even after a shop has installed new tires because of this very reason, but I live in a 3rd world country and I wouldn't have expected something like this happening from a "reputable" shop in the states or Europe even.

As others have mentioned take it back and get your money back for any damages done. I know in this country I wouldn't be able to do anything even if the dealer was at fault but you guys have some strict laws so I'm sure you could sue their *** if they refused to own up to their negligence.

Good luck

I8ABMR

I hate to hear stuff like this. In the end these performance cars are very tempting for techs to take out and joy ride. Makes me sick. I would go ape **** on the owner/manager. No way I would let it go.

Fsport2UR

HAHA Same here!
All sports cars now should have a Limp Mode feature. Where the car is disabled running off 4 cylinders, or cannot go past a certain RPM.

Meraki Autoworks

iTrader: (8)

risking the lives of many people.. the shop better compensate for your losses.

v8sedan

A tiré shop who don't know how to properly screw a wheel is ridiculous, I would call them, send photos of the broken stud and tell them that they will receive the bill from a real garage after they fixed my car and the towing fees that goes with it, I would not let them touch my car again if I where u, hope you get it fixed soon

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Best $200 I ever spent was on a SnapOn 1/2" drive torque wrench...of course that was some time ago. Same wrench now is a bit more expensive.

I'd ditch all my lower line stuff and buy SnapOn if I found the right deal. Their stuff rocks.

The sad news is, I could put this wrench in the hands of a careless tech and it won't matter how good it is.

There is no possible excuse for a car leaving the shop with loose lugs. None. Ever. That is gross negligence.

Vitveet

Def don't let them touch the car again. If they inspect it and see something majorly wrong, they'll more than likely try to sweep it under the rug since they know they'll be 100% responsible. And for the manager to pretty much admit they torched tested the car pretty much tells you what kind of employees they have there. Employees follow suit to what the managers do/allow....and obviously they allow neglect on the test drive if he is boasting about it and you're down a quarter tank of gas with 10mpg average.
Go back and be professional but be strict and angry. Get upset and get your point across with remaining as professionally as possible. You won't get your way if you go in the being too nice.
I've worked at "high end" wheel/tire/audio shops and I can tell you that there was a lot of carelessness involved with your car. I've seen customers come back angry with the owner with the EXACT same situation as you....lugs not tighten and wheel comes off, rolls down the road and damages the vehicle. A job was lost and I feel the same needs to happen with your situation. People could've gotten seriously injured, possibly killed..all from carelessness. I honestly don't feel you are upset enough right now!!!! Best of luck with the situation and thankfully no one got hurt.

V.

F_Throttle

On a similar note, how often do you guys check your lugs? And is it worth investing in a torque wrench?