[s-cars] Ever heard of this? - Lower control arm 'snapping' in traffic

Mon May 5 20:54:52 EDT 2003

Hi Dave;

Been following your saga with the control arm - hope things work out OK with
the insurance.

This is, of course, of interest to those of us with the UrS cars. One thing
I would be interested to know is whether a new control arm was installed
(complete with bushings and ball joint) or if new bushings were installed in
the old arm. If there is a bad batch of new arms out there it is well worth
knowing and watching out for - it would tip the scale towards keeping the
old arm and replacing the bushings.

Fred Munro
'94 S4

-----Original Message-----
From: s-car-list-admin at audifans.com
[mailto:s-car-list-admin at audifans.com]On Behalf Of David Glasser
Sent: May 4, 2003 11:02 AM
To: Daniel Hussey; s-car-list at audifans.com; CyberPoet; Robert Myers
Subject: Re: [s-cars] Ever heard of this? - Lower control arm 'snapping'
in traffic

Well, I am claiming under my insurance but I doubt they will give me what I
have in this 2 month owned car (about $19k).  I took a real liking to Dave
and his son Pete and don't want to bring misfortune to them.  What I'm
trying to sort out here is exactly what to do.  Are Dave and Pete at fault?
I don't know.  I'm not a mechanic and I don't know exactly what broke or
how.  I am merely repeating what the mech at my Body shop (whom I trust)
told me.  He has taken photos and is as shocked as we at this occurrence.
He doesn't know Dave but is typical in his understanding of what it means to
be at fault as a repair shop and gains nothing by suggesting foul play.  He
also would gain more by fixing my car than by asking the insurance company
to total it.  He told me he doesn't feel he could make the car 100% safe
again and that is his reason for totaling it.  I can't argue with that as I
could have been killed if I'd hit the brakes going faster.  Not to mention
my wife, child and any others involved.  I'm very thankful nobody got hurt
here and do not want to bring harm to Dave in any way but I do think that
questions need to be answered here and I appreciated all of you piping in to
help me decide what those questions are so that I can try to take action to
have them answered.  I am not a vengeful person.  If this was a freak
occurrence that had nothing to do with anyone then so be it but I think we
all have a responsibility to find out.  If someone was negligent (whether it
be Dave or the manufacturer or the result of a previous owners incident or
repair that nobody could see) or an act of god, the puzzle deserves to be
solved so that this doesn't happen to you or your family or anyone else.
The most I would ever try to get from a negligent party was the difference
between the insurance settlement and what I have in the car.  Whether or not
that is possible is a question I will ask a lawyer at which point I will
make a decision how to proceed from that point.  I assure you I am not
getting over excited here or vindictive.  I'm very grateful to have my life,
health, and happy family but I put my heart and trust and hard earned coin
into a 7 year old Audi and within 2 months peoples lives were at stake.
That shouldn't happen.

I appreciate all of your input and will keep you posted as this all plays
out.

Dave Glasser
95 Black S6
www.daveglasser.com
Louis, Duke, Bird, Diz, & Trane live on through
the work and efforts of today's jazz musicians.
Please continue to support the future of this great
American art form.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Daniel Hussey" <danh at s-cars.org>
To: "David Glasser" <divad at rcn.com>; <s-car-list at audifans.com>; "CyberPoet"
<thecyberpoet at cyberpoet.net>; "Robert Myers" <robert at s-cars.org>
Sent: Sunday, May 04, 2003 2:38 AM
Subject: Re: [s-cars] Ever heard of this? - Lower control arm 'snapping' in
traffic

> I don't know the full story, but I know Dave Flagg.  He's a pretty good
guy,
> and definately knows his sh!t when it comes to Audis and Audi maintenance.
> If it was just about anyone else I'd say, yea, they probably f-'d up, but
> these guys really know their stuff.  That isn't to say they didn't f'up,
but
> in that business your repution is EVERYTHING, and I'd hate to see anyone
get
> hurt until the true cause of the problem (cause of how the control arm
> broke) is discovered.
>
> BTW, what exactly broke?  I was staring at my brand new set of control
arms
> yesterday and those are pretty beefy pieces!!!!
>
> Also, my advice (and I'm not a lawyer... again, THANK GOD!) is to just
claim
> this under insurance and if it is discovered that there is fault, they
will
> go after whoever they can or think might be responsible.  Going after
> someone on your own (especially when fault may be hard to prove) is
> particularly dangerous and it is illegal to claim insurance AND try to sue
> someone for the same incidence.  That is what insurance is for.  Unless
you
> want to "take someone to the cleaners" (and, I can't imagine any of us
> standup S-car listers would want to do that), and all you want is your car
> replaced and damages settled, my advice is to just claim under insurance.
>
> Later,
> Dan
> '95 S6 Avant (Europa/ecru)
> '87 Jeep Cherokee 4x4 (aka "ski bitch")
> Seattle, WA
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Robert Myers" <robert at s-cars.org>
> To: "David Glasser" <divad at rcn.com>; <s-car-list at audifans.com>;
"CyberPoet"
> <thecyberpoet at cyberpoet.net>
> Sent: Saturday, May 03, 2003 11:26 AM
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] Ever heard of this? - Lower control arm 'snapping'
in
> traffic
>
>
> > --
> > [ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
> >
> > Ouch!  Dave Flagg?  Dave <DFAUTOHAUS at aol.com> is (Or used to be? Haven't
> > seen a post from Dave in quite a while.) a q-list member.
> >
> > At 10:13 AM 5/3/2003 -0400, David Glasser wrote:
> >
> > >The shop is a father and son operation in Burlington VT called
AutoHaus.
> > >
> > >I appreciate your advice and am seriously thinking of taking some sort
of
> > >legal action.
> > >
> > >Dave Glasser
> > >95 Black S6
> > >www.daveglasser.com
> > >Louis, Duke, Bird, Diz, & Trane live on through
> > >the work and efforts of today's jazz musicians.
> > >Please continue to support the future of this great
> > >American art form.
> > >
> > >
> > >----- Original Message -----
> > >From: "CyberPoet" <thecyberpoet at cyberpoet.net>
> > >To: <s-car-list at audifans.com>
> > >Cc: <divad at rcn.com>
> > >Sent: Friday, May 02, 2003 10:59 PM
> > >Subject: RE: [s-cars] Ever heard of this? - Lower control arm
'snapping'
> in
> > >traffic
> > >
> > >
> > > > Lower control arms do not simply 'snap', especially under
> > > > such a light load. The first bit of advice: Immediately
> > > > contact a civil liability attorney specializing in lemon
> > > > laws and vehicles, and go after the shop/dealership which
> > > > sold you the vehicle. The accident, the damages, the car
> > > > and your peace of mind are all worth $$$ and a torte action
> > > > is probably the only way that such a facility will feel the
> > > > pain enough to not perform such shoddy work again. Do not
> > > > attempt to contact the dealership directly in any case
> > > > what-so-ever, and if you can't control yourself enough to
> > > > do that, tape every conversation with them, with their
> > > > attorneys, and make sure you get the adjustors' comments on
> > > > tape as well when the car is inspected by the insurance
> > > > agency.
> > > >
> > > > Oh, and please, for the sake of the rest of us, tell us
> > > > which shop/dealership you obtained this nightmare from...
> > > >
> > > > This kind of thing is very unlike Audi's and it needs to be
> > > > explained that it is obviously the fault of human error at
> > > > the local shop/dealership, and not the type of products the
> > > > Audi factory puts forth. Whether the car was in a bad
> > > > accident previously, and was not repaired correctly, or if
> > > > the parts installed were used and questionable, or if the
> > > > repair simply wasn't carried out, either way the full
> > > > liability needs to lie with the responsible party.
> > > >
> > > > Usually I dislike attorneys, but for cases such as this, it
> > > > is the only way to make a corporation (such as a
> > > > dealership) feel the pain adequately to prevent them from
> > > > repeating this kind of carelessness before it actually
> > > > kills someone.
> > > >
> > > > Sorry about your misfortune,
> > > > =-= Marc Glasgow
> > > > www.cyberpoet.net
> > > >
> > > > DAVID GLASSER WROTE:
> > > >
> > > > Last Friday I'm driving to a job at about 4:30pm on the Henry Hudson
> > > > Pkwy in
> > > > NYC.  Stop and go traffic.  I'm moving about 25 mph in the right
lane
> > > > when a
> > > > van cuts into my lane from the center lane (which was stopped at the
> > > > time).
> > > > I hit my brakes to slow down (no danger, plenty of time to stop)
when
> I
> > > > hear
> > > > a clank and my car suddenly lurches uncontrollably to the left,
> > > > scraping the
> > > > right front of a blue escort along my two drivers side doors and
then
> > > > hitting the right front quarter panel of a limo in the left lane
with
> my
> > > > drivers side front quarter panel and scraping along the limo's
> > > > passernger
> > > > side doors.  Noboby hurt, thank god.  Turns out the passenger side
> lower
> > > > control arm snapped causing the car to lurch to the left.  I've
owned
> > > > the
> > > > car two months (just received the title in the mail today).  The
lower
> > > > control arms were supposedly replaced by the dealer I purchased it
> from.
> > > >
> > > > End result is the car is a total loss.  I don't know yet what the
> > > > insurance
> > > > co. will give me for it.  I have nowhere to keep the car to part it
> out
> > > > or I
> > > > would.
> > > >
> > > > Anyone ever heard of such a mechanical failure on these cars?  Kind
of
> > > > scary.  Thank god I wasn't driving 70mph with my pregnant wife or
> > > > newborn
> > > > son (12 days) in the car.  I'm fighting hard to feel good enough to
> > > > purchase
> > > > another Audi.  Just though I'd share.  Any BTDT's or advice most
> > > > welcome.
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >_______________________________________________
> > >S-CAR-List mailing list
> > >S-CAR-List at audifans.com
> > >http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/s-car-list
> > >
> > >
> > >---
> > >Incoming mail is certified Virus Free.
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> >
> > ____
> >
> > I've been wondering...  Who would Jesus bomb?
> >
> > Bob
> > *****
> >   Robert L. Myers  304-574-2372
> >   Rt. 4, Box 57,  Fayetteville, WV 25840 USA  WV tag Q SHIP
> >   '95 urS6 Cashmere Grey - der Wunderwagen   ICQ 22170244
> >   http://www.cob-net.org/church/pvcob.htm
> > *****
> > --
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > S-CAR-List mailing list
> > S-CAR-List at audifans.com
> > http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/s-car-list
>

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