dangp

Friday Jan. 26th, drove home from nacogdoches to dallas, the drive was good, nothing out of the ordinary. skies cloudy, temp. a little chilly, car working/driving like it should.

Made it home around 6 something, grabbed a few items and prepared to head to austin for the weekend, i was pretty stoked about it, my boy Vinhs Bday celebration.

Called my friends, peggy & tasha to see where they were at to see whether i would have to rush to pack or just take my time.

Finished packing, girls on their way, everything was going as planned.

The plan was to get on the road by 9pm in order to make it down to atx around 11'ish to start the weekend of partyin'.

Started off on George W. Bush Highway, going the speed limit, chillin, talkin, textin, the usual in car stuff

connected to 635W, everyone settling into the car ( peggy in front seat, tasha behind me, and new friend kim behind peggy) they had all just finished eating so the car smelled like taco bueno, *pukin*, lol. the drive still going smooth, got into the H.O.V lane ( High occupancy vehicle ) for those who dont know, just to pass up the slower cars on the highway

soon enough connected to 35E south towards Waco, soon after merging onto 35, the car started to shake, but i figured it was just the road because 35, the roads arent really smooth, minor shaking not that bad, but as we traveled further, the shaking started getting more vigorous, everytime i would let off the gas the car would start to shake/wobble, still i thought it was just the road, but to make sure i decided to exit early and check the car out. mind you, we were in the far left lane, on a 4 lane highway, as soon as i started to switch lanes, is when it happened.

the car slumped in the back, we grinded to a halt, in the middle of the frickin higway.

at this point, i said " we have to call 911," all the while saying this, i hopped out of the car, in moving traffic, ( what was i thinking ?) i WASNT thinking, i just got out of the car to see what happened. the rear right wheel had completely fallen off the axel, but to my suprise the wheel was tucked under the fender, since i figured that wheel wouldve flown off away from the car, the rotor was no connected anymore, the 5 bolts to hold onto the wheel was GONE. nothing left.CRAZY.

all the while, dodging cars, yelling at 911 dispatch to tell them where i was, tasha talking to chris telling him to come pick us up.

about 5 minutes after the car stopped, dallas police car came, one at this time, he got behind me in order to alert on coming traffic that there was a stopped car, he got out and yelled " care you crazy, do you wanna die?!"....my reply was " i was just seeing what happened" soon there after, three more dallas police cars came and blocked off the right lanes in order for the first cop car to push me to the side road, since my car was not drivable.

soon after i was on the side of the road, the cops had another calling to attend so they left me and my friend there, since i was already on the phone with AAA. while on the phone with AAA, another cop was there asking us if we wanted to wait there or head to a place so that we could be off the busy highway. we decided to go ahead and find a place to sit and wait while my friend chris came to pick us up and the tow truck was on its way.

http://sfasu.facebook.com/album.php?...bc&id=38700766

those are the pictures

rest of the story:

tow truck came, towed the car to sewell lexus body shop, dropped it off.
today went up there to discuss matters about the situation, called my lawyer, they advised me to take pictures, dont let them start on repairs, and to make sure that i have all paperwork regarding the car and any repairs that were made. so in the meantime, im just gonna have to let the two parties handle it.

llamaboiz

i thought court was traffic court... i assume court is someplace in tx

AND...

THATS THE END OF THE STORY??? waiting for the tow truck? what did the shop say happened? AND... were the 3 girls cute?

*edit* ok story now fixed

weesped

iTrader: (8)

:O...scary stuff. do u know why that happened?

wolverine

iTrader: (9)

going to court? have you even talked to the dealer yet?

mets858

sounds like you didnt torque the wheel lugs.

acl15

was it because your lugs weren't on tight or because the axle had broken?

wolverine

iTrader: (9)

sounds like the wheel wasnt torqued down and the wheel vibrated until all of the studs broke.

dangp

i had the car for alignment two weeks ago, they "checked" everything.

my bad, i didnt copy the entire story. lemme re-do it.

weesped

iTrader: (8)

i have a feeling their going to bring up how u have after market rims. =/

Kreuzer

how is this the dealers fault or lexus/toyota corp?

You have aftermarket rims, who swapped them, when was the last time the lugs were messed with and by who? Where is the break? Did a suspension bolt break? I mean im sorry this happend but there are 1000s of diff ways this could have happend and none of them being the fault of the company who made the car.

Little more info would be great.

d

Kreuzer

ok after reading all the way down, who did the allignment?

D

Zanorath

By your title, do you mean going to court against Lexus? If so you won't get far. I doubt they were the last people to touch your wheels, and seeing as you have aftermarket rims I'm guessing you have aftermarket lugs as well. So not only are you not using the Lexus supplied parts, but I assume you had your alignment done because you had your car lowered which requires wheel removal. If I were you I'd go straight to the last place that touched your wheels. Wheel-offs do happen as scary as that sounds, and from what I know, a reputable shop will cover all damages for you if it was their fault *without* you needing to pay a lawyer, but I suppose that depends on how long ago it was touched and if they didn't think you messed with things yourself.

Anyways, crappy situation!

Evitzee

Another person quick to jump to legal action first. Lexus will, correctly, point to aftermarket wheels and work done by non Lexus personnel. Sorry to hear of your problems, but this is probably NOT a Lexus issue. You modified your car and things weren't done right. Your problem, not Lexus'. Keep us posted on what happens.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

Aftermarket equipment and installation..
Lexus has high priced lawyers on retainer and in the end ,the cost of your lawyer fighting them will probably be much higher than the repair itself even if you somehow win.

ng123ray

i notice you got an aftermarket wheel.. probably means you got the car lowered.... like kreuzer said...it may not even be the dealer's fault... my guess is that from taking on and off the wheel so many times.... i'd say over torqued leading to weaked studs... and thus it all snapped off.. probally 1 or 2 at the first sign of vibration but after riding it for a while all of the studs came off... if it was under torqued... the wheel would have actually flew off and the studs would be intact... just the threads would have been completely gone..... thats just my guess...