Quote:
Originally Posted by Bodih
Sorry I won't be able to make it tonight. I have to bring the car by Watson and have Ziv take a look at it. I discovered a lug bolt sheared off the front left wheel today.  |
Looks like I have some work to do tonight. I discovered the sheared lug bolt this morning as I started to leave the house. The car is always garaged, and I'm in a restricted military area when I drive it to work. All five were there and tight when I washed the car last week (the other three wheels were fine).
I took it to Watson to have them check it out and make sure there wasn't other damage. They said they couldn't cover it under warranty because through their expert analysis and calibrated eyeballs, it appears the bolt has been sheared by over-torquing rather than material failure. Besides, if the wheel has ever been removed, or attempted to be removed, by someone other than their service department, it "could" have been damaged by human error. I've not removed the front wheels since I bought the car, and there's never been a reason to remove them during a service call. We can't rotate the staggered tires, and I can clean them all the way thru without removing them, so I've had no reason to remove them.
Ziv checked the price; $3.49 for the stud, $3.53 for the lug nut, and about $120 for the labor. They don't even have the bolt or nut in stock!
So they sent me packing over $130 worth of warranty work. I picked up the parts at another store for less than $10. My biggest fear is that I'll discover further damage once I remove the tire and rotor, and it won't be covered because I'm the one that pulled the parts off. I hope this doesn't go South on me.
Enough of my rant. I understand their rationale (as irrational as it is). I'm just disappointed that they would let $130 stand in the way of customer service and a potentially very dangerous situation.