Mazda 3 - Brand new ball joint failure caused damage

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Sun 16 Apr 2017 22:10
Mazda 3 - Brand new ball joint failure caused damage - Sammy179

On friday I took my car to the garage for an mot. It failed on a front near side ball joint. The Garage replaced the ball joint and re did the mot. When the car was driven home ball joint failed causing the car to pull hard to the left. Luckily we were only going 15 miles an hour and I managed to avoid ploughing into the parked cars. Drove the car a few metres home and rang the Garage. They came straight out and said the new ball joint had failed. As it was good friday they couldnt get a tow truck so offered to fix it on the drive. They decided to put a new wishbone and ball joint on and send the old wishbone and failed ball joint back to the manufacturer. I have driven the car this weekend just around the area and the car feels wrong. The front nearside wheel has loads of play and the car is making clunking noises. The steering feels unstable and is pulling to the right. I'm going to ring the garage when they next open and ask them to look at the car again. I'm worried that they won't do anything and would like advice on how to approach this with them. I don't have any paper work from the repair on my drive and they took the faulty part away. I am supposed to be part exchanging the car for a new one on Tuesday but feel like there is no way we can do this now. I'm so worried I'm going to end up with no car!! Any advice would be great fully received. Many thanks, Sammy.

Edited by Sammy179 on 16/04/2017 at 22:50

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Mon 17 Apr 2017 10:34
Mazda 3 - Brand new ball joint failure caused damage - elekie&a/c doctor

It is unusual for components like this to fail.I think it more likely that the garage did not fit it properly.Could be bolts left loose or overtightened..If the suspension has collapsed,then it is possible other damage has been done and put the steering/suspension alignment out of tolerance.This needs to be checked.

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Mon 17 Apr 2017 10:35
Mazda 3 - Brand new ball joint failure caused damage - Engineer Andy

A few questions before I at least (and perhaps others) can give some advice:

  1. How old is the car? What model (mk 1, 2 or 3, other details) is it?
  2. Have you owned it from new or bought it second hand? If it is second hand, do you know how many owners were there before you and any of that service history?
  3. Has the car been serviced throughout its life at a main dealer or independent for part of the time (say outside of its 3 year warranty period) and in line with the manufacturer's guidelines (not just the date, but the level of service - some things can get missed)?
  4. Was the recent replacement work done at a main dealer or independent garage? Were the new parts Mazda parts or an OEM - it could be that inappropriate parts (those not compatable with your car) were fitted, or even fake parts (not necessarily done deliberately - they could've been sourced via the internet from what looked like a reputable source but in reality wasn't - a higher possibility if the work was carried out at an independent).
  5. It seems strange why they did the '2nd fix' on your drive - have you since been to their garage (almost certainly a main dealer would not do this, but you never know) to check what is going on?

I personally wouldn't drive the car if it feels really bad to drive (Mazda3s [I have a mk1] are very good handling cars and so should never feel 'wrong' if in good order).

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Mon 17 Apr 2017 11:09
Mazda 3 - Brand new ball joint failure caused damage - Peter.N.

I have never heard of a ball joint failing completely, they are designed to be fail safe. I would like to have a look at the 'failed' joint and see if it actually has.

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Mon 17 Apr 2017 11:16
Mazda 3 - Brand new ball joint failure caused damage - gordonbennet

I too doubt it failed, i suspect it was poorly fitted or the retaining bolt(s) left off/loose, but proving that is going to be impossible now so probably best not start suggesting such things.

Fortunately the garage supplied and fitted the part so it's down to them to sort the car out, you'll have to be firm but polite here.

This is a prime example of the headaches involved if the customer provides parts for the garage to fit, all labour costs would fall on the customer and then the part supplier will blame the fitting garage, and the customer is piggy in the middle, all for saving a few guid on parts mark up, thankfully the OP didn't do this.

Edited by gordonbennet on 17/04/2017 at 11:16

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Mon 17 Apr 2017 11:47
Mazda 3 - Brand new ball joint failure caused damage - Sammy179

In reply to a few questions. The car is an 08 mazda 3, not sure what mk. We have had it for three years and have used the same local garage for the all servicing, mot and repairs it's needed. It is not a mazda garage. The Garage sourced the part and fixed it. It has one previous owner and has full service history. Mazda serviced for the first few years. I have a photo of the ball joint after it failed on the car before it was replaced but I'm not sure how to upload it. Many thanks Sammy

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Tue 18 Apr 2017 01:43
Mazda 3 - Brand new ball joint failure caused damage - Galaxy

You need to upload the image onto an image sharing site, something like www.tinypic.com

Then post the link on this forum. You can't post the image on here directly, I'm afraid.

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