Major Service Mishap

[Quicksilver32]

Had this happen to me in a Miata about 20 years ago. Fun times...

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[dolsen]

That crazy, but it’s not the first time I’ve seen it. I worked at a place where we had two techs get fired for a wheel coming off. Also, while working at the same place, Al Sarven (AKA Al Snow) brought his truck to us after someone forgot to tighten his lug nuts and his wheel came off (it was a different place that left his lug nuts off)

 

[bfastr]

saw the same thing happen here in TN at the dealer. poor guy got to the traffic light out front, came running back to the desk and told them what happened, the guy at the desk said " well pull it around and we will take a look" he says did you hear me? the tire came off and the truck is in the middle of the road. needless to say that was the last time I went to the Quick Lane at the dealer. apparently they work a little too quick.

 

[thebigdu]

My dad ordered a 2003 Cobra ('Terminator') back in June 2002. He waited patiently for months for that car to come in, and it was the first nice toy he was able to afford after busting his ass for years to keep a roof over our heads. When the car finally came it, it had a convertible top button where the coin holder should've been (it was not a convertible), and it had a non-functioning boost gauge for the supercharger.

When the new gauge cluster came in a few weeks later, my dad nervously dropped his new baby off to have these few items corrected. He got a call from the service manager a few hours later asking him to come down to the dealership. The tech working on the next car over was raising a lift and didn't see the notoriously long Mustang door fully open and sticking out over top of said car lift. We never knew if he got the Mustang up off the ground at all, but the back bottom corner of the driver's door was bent up pretty badly. My dad was none too happy, and I'm quite sure he gave them a piece of his mind. Of course they made it right, but the luster of a new car really takes a hit from something like this.

Anyway, sorry for the long aside. OP - I hope they make this right for you.

 

[Rineland]

I appreciate all the empathy. I'm going to call today and get an ETA and add your suggestions to the list of things to check/replace. I did get a look at the wheel studs and they looked unscathed, although I did see some thread fragments that must've pulled out of the lugs so those should also be replaced.

On a related note, is it normal for the truck to enter "Deep Sleep Mode" when in for service? I received an alert in my FordPass app. I looked up the requirements for the mode and while I have parked in the cold (-30F) for several hours while snowmobiling, I have never seen this notification before. Is there enough residual juice in the connectivity module to send out this alert if they disconnected the battery? It triggers at 9.5V, that's a pretty dead battery and at risk of heavy sulfation and reduced capacity.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

So this happened today. The truck was in for a routine oil change and for the underbody insulator recall. As I was pulling out of the dealer lot the front wheel came off and rolled out into the ditch. The front quarter panel landed on the tire and got a bent up into the A-pillar which nicked the paint. The wheel sustained some damage from the bolt at the bottom of the lower control arm so that is getting replaced along with the lower control arm (which you can see ground into the pavement) and the quarter panel. As they pulled it into the garage the rear wheel was also ejecting lug nuts onto the floor, so those weren't tightened either. Aside from the rim, lower control arm, and quarter panel, is there anything else I should be concerned with and have replaced? Are the wheels hub or lug centric? I'm wondering if any damage was sustained to the rear wheel while it wasn't tight and potentially caused issues with it that will result in excessive vibration later on. If hub centric, maybe not a big deal.

Hi there, I'd be happy to look into your F-150 concerns on my end. Will you send us a message with your VIN and dealership info? I can look into things on my end.

 

[Jesse-Infotainment]

Hi there, I'd be happy to look into your F-150 concerns on my end. Will you send us a message with your VIN and dealership info? I can look into things on my end.

I think the issue is his wheel fell off.

 

[MillstoneF150]

Free oil changes for life from this dealer, if you go back hahaha.

 

[Jaysonics]

Complimentary torque wrench perhaps?

That is a terrible thing that happened to your new truck. Glad they are stepping up to take care of it. Had a few issues with my local dealer as of late that has definitely put a dent in my trust for going back. It's all unacceptable. Good luck

 

[crazywayne311]

damn man! sorry this happened...

wait a minute?!
i got my first oil change and tire rotation on tuesday...CRAP!

 

[wessermgm]

Classic rookie mistake that I’ve also seen old timers make. I even knew an owner of a tire shop that would go out and check every wheel himself with a lug wrench and have the managers do the same when he wasn’t there.

I’d also take a look at the threads on the wheel studs and make sure that they weren’t marred, pulled or stripped in any way.

I’ve bent wheels before and you pretty much know immediately. Still it wouldn’t hurt to have them throw it on the tire balancer to see if there’s any runout from the pavement excursion.

I also always torque my own wheels after anyone else touched them, though it’s more because they usually over-tighten them and I don’t want to be on the side of the road changing a flat with the shitty emergency tools loosening lug nuts welded down with a pneumatic impact wrench running WOT.

Good luck!

This. The wheel studs are the primary concern here. I would triple check the threads.

 

[KBKEITH]

It’s stories like this, albeit rare, that has me going back to doing my own maintenance.

My dealership’s service department is pretty good and I’ve never had issues; however, the time it takes to get an oil change done these days is way too long, even with an appointment. Sometimes 2 hours. Off topic but wanted to bring it up.

Anyway, I’m really sorry about your truck. Makes me bummed just looking at it. ?

 

[HCFX]

You probably told the wife you'd drive it till the wheels fell off. Now you get to trade it in for a new one.

 

[Severdog]

Some of these are built so that the front doesn't fall off.

 

[Pedaldude]

...I did get a look at the wheel studs and they looked unscathed, although I did see some thread fragments that must've pulled out of the lugs so those should also be replaced.

On a related note, is it normal for the truck to enter "Deep Sleep Mode" when in for service?..

Honestly, other than the body damage; I’ve seen plenty of instances where a wheel came off at low speed and the wheel was just put back on like nothing happened. Obviously that’s not how it should be handled but it happens like that when it’s the owner’s fault and they only have liability insurance.

It’s hard to tell with just a quick look if the stud’s threads are damaged but if the wheel goes back on the hub easily and the lug nuts thread on by hand without too much effort it’s likely that they are fine.

The comment suggesting to ask for an extended warranty is spot on because you have a good chance of getting one. The picture with the missing wheel is something that no dealership wants circulating. The only thing that I would have done differently is taking a picture from an angle where the dealer’s marquee was fully visible.

Hopefully someone else is more familiar with the deep sleep scenario; it’s possible that the bodyshop left the keys in the car or left a door open.

It’s stories like this, albeit rare, that has me going back to doing my own maintenance.

...the time it takes to get an oil change done these days is way too long, even with an appointment...

Sadly, they’re not as rare as one would think and the stories that we hear about are just the tip of the iceberg.

OP is lucky it happened while he was driving, if the wheel fell off when a lot attendant was driving to the car wash or something, there’s a 50/50 chance that they’d make up a story to keep the truck for a few days to fix the bodywork. I’ve seen some shit man.

Yeah people; even the RWD trucks have enough clearance to crawl under and do an oil change. It takes less time than driving to the dealership. If you don’t trust yourself from getting distracted, make a check list and use it. If someone else uses the truck, keep all the keys on your person so that nobody can start the truck while the oil is draining.

Unfortunately, the Toyota dealer near me needs to step back from their doctor’s office format of appointment with their free oil change. Don’t have me show up for 8:30AM and then tell me that the oil change will be done by noon. Three dickhead salespeople also called offering to buy the SUV while it was being serviced because they didn’t have any cars to sell other than Supras and Landcruisers.

Rotating the tires myself is a little more trouble than I would like and I have two tire shops less than a minute away but I still do it myself because, again; then I know I can loosen the lug nuts by hand myself if I need to.

I tried helping a family change a flat tire, the lugs were so tight that I had lifted the car up off the ground with the emergency jack underneath one side of a four-way lug wrench while I jumped on the other side and the nut didn’t budge!

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