Hey guys,

Took my car into the dealer for an oil change and mentioned that I just wanted a quote to correct the front alignment. Car drove perfectly and had no indicator lights at all. Long story short after 5 hours of having the car they call me to come pick it up and it now has a broken clock spring and the steering joint on the rack and opinions input shaft is stripped. Now abs light, srs light and vdc light are on. When they gave me the invoice they had inky charged me for the oil change and then told me you have to get this fixed and the rack and pinion is aftermarket so you need to take it back to whoever did that work.

Well my rack was replaced with pretty much all my other suspension components on March 18 2014. I have been driving the car since then and have put at least 6k on it since.

The story from the tech was, after he changed the oil, he drove the car out of his bay and the steering just failed..... They are claiming this is my responsibility for everything even the clock spring which was broken while in the dealers hands..

Short story: got there for an oil change with no problems or indicator lights, now I have 2 broken parts of the steering system and several indicator lights and on top of it the car is deemed unsafe to drive.

What should I do and why does this stuff keep happening to me ....

 

They do a pre and post inspection each service. Do you have that document? If so they would have noted issues beforehand with steering. After they would have marked a problem.

This comes down to the agreement between you and the dealership that you signed. Does the agreement say if wear and tear items fail under their testing of the vehicle it is not their fault? Were there signs of a bad rack that they should have noted before the test drive? Did the mechanic follow the proper procedures to not damage the car when he noticed the clock spring issue?

Go find that document, a copy of the agreement between you and the dealership, and go to an attorney to see if you have a case worth worrying about.

 

Plus, I've read a Christmas tree effect pops up on the dash if your clock spring is bad.

 

Man you have the worst luck don't you. So you went to the dealer after that other place messed up your bumper and failed to fix the off center of the steering wheel?

 

no lights no problems as i went in for an oil change. the document says the pre inspection was good, with tired brakes, etc, etc. then it says oil change... ef it... here it is






WHY DO I NEED A NEW STEERING SHAFT??

how could that have been damaged from their story???

I just got this estimate by the way

 

Don't forget guys, I drove this car around and in to the dealer with no problem at all

 

Your luck is like my life story. Man. Take this one all the way. Higher management if you must.

 

call headquarters

 

I did they are opening a case again the dealer.

Does anyone think I'm wrong tho??

 

Always do what's best for you and your family... don't worry about what others think... my .02

 

Yea for sure, thanks man. I have a tendency to admit when I am wrong but this incident sounds so far fetched and over the too that I simply do not believe the dealer that my steering just "fell apart" and in that case why they wouldn't call me to make me aware right away that something was wrong

 

Lawyers, Guns, and Money

 

man... this one is 50/50.. we love you and all..
but it's a possibility that it's a coincidence..

maybe take it back to the shop that did the original repairs for warranty? Maybe they'll say that it was touched.. then you have a better case with infiniti

 

yea, the shop that did the rack also did the entire suspension. The issue that I am having trouble with is i have driven the car 6,500 miles since the rack was replaced... so for this rack to come apart when the tech was driving it out of the bay its strange.

Also they never notified me, they simply said that a vdc light came on and they were looking into why, then around 5 hours after i initially dropped it off they mentioned the steering came apart, thats when they asked me about the rack and i stated that the other shop had done it and it would be under warranty.

They told me that they would put it back together as safely as possible and i could take it back to that shop.... but the only broken parts that infinity is saying that i need are parts that were not broken at all before the car got to the dealer, as a matter of fact, they are not even saying that the rack needs replacing or anything. its basically the steering joint and the clock spring, but the only way to damage the clock spring is to over turn the wheel once the steering has been disconnected and the wheel is free to move completely. Even if this happened to the tech, why would he even need to rotate the wheel enough to break the clock spring just simply pulling out of the bay from the oil change?

Thats my major issue, plus they gave me a loaner vehicle until monday when they "talk" to the general service manager of suburban infiniti when he returns from vacation.

My thoughts there are, if they did not do anything wrong at all, then why would they give me a complimentary loaner and run it by the final manager?? wouldn't they just stone wall me period and say straight up NO!

also, wouldn't they have charged me for whatever they did during the entire 7 hours that they had the vehicle..

Thing just aren't adding up and its going to end up costing me a lot of money for what i truly believe someone else has done to my car.

 

Do you have exactly equal turns with your steering wheel to the left and to the right? You can damage the clock spring and rack if the rack was installed off center. Did you notice any sloppyness when turning? Was your steering firm and easily return to center after a turn?