The passenger door of my Galaxy was caught by a strong gust of wind today
(didn't hit anything, just got caught in the wind)
and, long story short, I have just received a quote for £500 to replace the
two damaged hinges and fix the door and wing!
The hinges cost £16.68 and are 'heavy duty' ones as the Galaxy does not
have the restraining straps on the doors that all other cars I have seen, have.
I'm pretty sure that the straps are there for exactly this kind of thing.
Needless to say I'm not too happy and have contacted Ford to get this
fixed under warranty - don't think I'm wrong to expect not to have to pay
£500 for each gust of wind - especially as I live in Edinburgh.
Not sure if the S-Max has the same 'strapless' doors!
Let's see what Ford have to say ...
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Is it a new ford only model Gal? We have a Sharan and have considered new Gal as replacement - mainly due to the folding seats. How are you finding it?
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Hi,
It is the new model Galaxy. It has been very good. We have the 2.0 diesel
and it is very easy to drive, quick or economical ... I got 67mpg on a 30 mile
run on the the M8 from Edinburgh to Glasgow at 60mph.
One problem is the lack of spare tyre. It comes with repair goo which costs
£37 per puncture and some places won't fix a tyre if it has been goo-ed
because it is too messy.
Hope that helps.
Let me know if you have any specific questions ...
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I very much doubt that Ford will accept liability for what is clearly not a manufacturing defect. If you're determined not to pay for the damage yourself then the only other option is to claim under your insurance but the excess and the prospect on a sharp increase in your renewal premium could make this uneconomic. By the sound of things, you're car is still under warranty and you will want to keep the bodywork guarantee (such as it is) intact.
Good hunting :-)
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I think you are right about it not being a manufacturing defect.
I'm going down the design defect path - heavy duty hinges that aren't
heavy duty enough and no restraining strap.
I realise my chances of a win are quite slim!
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So in a nutshell, you're expecting Ford to pay under warranty for accident damage? Good Luck! lol
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I don't think many people would expect to have to pay for damage caused by rain?
If rain damaged your car, would you call it an accident ?
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I don't think many people would expect to have to pay for damage caused by rain? If rain damaged your car would you call it an accident ?
Quite possibly, yes.
But we are talking about wind here, not rain! By your logic I suppose you are thinking that Ford should pay for flood damage as well on the grounds that the 'door seals were not up to the job' etc.
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I guess we have different viewpoints - hey, and that is allowed!
I think that this is a design/fit for purpose issue. If a gust of wind can cause
500 pounds of damage, then I think that the design/testing is at fault.
When I said rain, I meant in normal circumstances, just as it is normal to
open the door of a car on a windy day - in my case, there was no indication
that it was windy until the door was opened.
It seems to be the norm in the motor trade to attempt to wriggle out of
any real responsibility for a car as soon as it is sold.
For example, when is a fault not a fault, oh yes, when it is a 'characteristic'
Funny how these 'characteristics' are never mentioned on the spec sheet :-)
C'est la vie
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If rain damaged your car would you call it an accident ?
My car was damaged by a hail storm in France 5 years back - complete re-spray required - covered by the Insurance - that's what its for, You can't expect the manufacturer to pick up the bill for weather damage
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I have never worked in a body repair shop before. However when you consider that when the wind took the door, just like a sail, the force on the hinges must have been terrific. They could also have twisted the inner wing panel upon which they are mounted.
To carry out a satisfactory repair it sounds like the door itself will have to come off, the panels straightened and resprayed, and the door rehung. There is also the labour cost at goodness knows how much + vat. Therefore it seems like a very labour intensive repair.
Having the job done at a Ford bodyshop will mean the corrosion warranty is not compromised.
As previous correspondents have indicated, this does not appear to be a manufacturing issue also any insurance claim could well adversely affect your no claim discount unless you have paid extra to have it protected.
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If there's a lot of wind about I try to remember to lower the window to reduce the sail effect.
Yours in hindsight....
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You've pretty much summed up what happened.
Once the door was closed after getting caught, I had to take it to the Ford body
shop just to get it opened again. Both the front wing and the door have been
bent.
My issue here is that there is no restraining strap on the door and that to me
is a design fault - the restraining strap would have taken most of the very large
force that caused the hinges to deform.
Interestingly, I know that Ford share parts across the Galaxy, S-Max, Mondeo
etc. I would like to know if there are different hinges for cars with different
size doors.
I'm just annoyed about a big bill I guess :-)
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Maybach to a clapped out Mondeo that Ford will suggest that you go forth and multiply. I'd save yourself the embarrassment...
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Is there anything in the driver's handbook about taking caution when windy?
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My van got caught like that several years ago. New van then. Big burly Builder nearly in tears, but my own fault. I was surprised that the door stayed attached. Damage to door, hinges, wing etc etc etc. Don't embarrass yourself. Learn from it and more importantly, educate or indeed SHOUT at your passengers as I have to do to save it happening again, which I know it will.
VBR......MD
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To OP. The restraining strap would only have twisted the same parts of the car as were twisted anyway.
I think you have to take some responsibility yourself for looking after your car, sorry.
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So when my motorbike blows over in the gales, that's the fault of Honda for not designing a side stand properly?
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didnt it have a centre stand?
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Surely a centre stand would make it even more likely to fall?
Thinking about the shorter distance it protrudes from the side of the bike and the fact it's bolt upright that way.
Maybe N_C can do some clever equations...!
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I spent my childhood in Edinburgh Galaxian. You are right it can get very windy. I remember as kids standing at the top of the Waverley steps, coat open like makeshift wings daring each other as to how far forward you could "lean" on the updraft. We used to reckon 45 degrees was possible if the conditions were right.
Also on George Street, which as you will know is wide, high and exposed there were designated motorcycle bays every so often down the centre of the road. I remember one occasion when an old Vespa or similar with big fairings must have been caught by the wind and managed to topple the rest of the bikes parked there like dominos. Wouldn't have liked to have been the scooter rider if some of the bikers were there trying to sort out the mess when he returned !
Sorry to hear about your door. Must be really irritating. Can't help feeling it's just bad luck though.
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I have an S-Max and it has the same design doors as the Galaxy.
Yes, the doors really can catch in the wind and on a downhill slope but in fairness to Ford, the doors are huge and what do you really expect. Wind is wind and it's one of those things, when I open a door, I hold onto it.
Good luck anyway.
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My Passat uses this design too.
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"So when my motorbike blows over in the gales, that's the fault of Honda for not designing a side stand properly?"
Good point, interestingly Ducati's are also well known for having self-retracting side-stands which are not to be trusted! Not everything is perfectly designed as your door proves, some years ago my sister's 2 yr old Renault 5 suffered a bent tailgate after being caught in the wind, the hinges & tailgate were distorted requiring a new tailgate, paintjob & hinges to fix. My thoughts at the time were that this was a combination of poor design and metal made from nougat! If I were you I would complain to Ford HQ as this is quite obviously a design defect, some Ford accountant probably costed out these door restraints during development.
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What planet are you on ???
Why would Ford pay for your carelesness ??
Is this thread a wind up ??
Take responsability for your actions and dont come on here to blame Ford when its quite cleary your fault .
I would love to see the face on the bloke at your local Ford Dealer when you ask him to submit a warranty claim plus what they say about you when your not in earshot.
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And you say the motor trade has a bad name for itself
Why would you expect Ford to pay YOU for damaging your own car?
Get a life, pay up and move on
I can tell you what Ford will say..........It will include the vernacular ending in off
The-Nark
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This sounds like either you claim on your insurance or just bear the cost. To keep that cost down don't put it in to a main dealer (I'm sure a competent body shop could deal with it).
Edited by UncleR on 25/03/2008 at 14:03
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Galaxian - if you think your car has a poor bit of design then shout about it to FORD and your dealer, it all about expectations, you quite rightly expect a car door to be able to stand up to a bit of wind, the fact that you have to use your car doors to get in and out of the car means they should be fit for purpose and not fold back on themselves whenever Mr. Weather decides to blow. On the other hand no one would seriously expect a car bonnet to survive a windy gust and as such the last couple of replies posted here would then be accurate.
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Galaxian - if you think your car has a poor bit of design then shout about it to FORD and your dealer, it all about expectations, you quite rightly expect a car door to be able to stand up to a bit of wind
Always some one elses fault these days ...
Im sure all other Galaxy owners (and other car owners for that matter) throughout the UK and the world realise that if you open your car door in the wind it will if caught by a gust of wind blow back on its self and cause damage like what has happened here.
NO modern design of car has strong door straps that will withstand a strong gust of wind if they door have straps fitted then all that happens is they get ripped out of their welds or the metal splits (have seen it in our bodyshop a few times)
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Taking the same issue with wind and taking the opposite wind direction.... stayed in north Wales at the end of Jan and wind blew the door back onto my wife's hand. It trapped her thumb and it was badly hurt.....
Nothing broken but the nail was damaged and finally cmining away and a new one appearing. My point is who's to blame for her physical injury? Me? Mazda? The cottage owner? God? My employer who own the car? But she has suffered due to the wind. No damage to the car but damage to my wife.
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Wow!
I didn't mean to get so many people (from the motor trade?) so angry!
In answer to the question about the bike stand, the answer is in the question.
It is called a bike stand, not a bike sometime-stand, or a bike maybe-stand.
Also, I'm pretty sure I paid for my car, don't think Ford gave it to me out the
kindness of their hearts. I guess I'm being a but old fashioned when I expect
to get something in return for payment. As I said earlier, the motor trade is
very interesting in what it expects to have to provide for the second most
expensive thing most people buy.
I've taken a further look at the hinges on the Galaxy and they are not of equal
strength. The lower hinge is much weaker and this is the one that buckled
and consequently twisted the door and caused the damage. I really don't think
that straps in doors provide NO use, as that would make them worthless.
In the line of work I do, there is an important thing called testing that gets
done to make sure that things are correctly designed - I guess testing a door
probably isn't as sexy as testing the peak power in the latest engine, but
it is still important.
So thanks for all the comments, it's been good fun!
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Galaxian,
Do you have some kind of problem that doesn't allow you to use the full width of the message box and you have to press the enter key when you reach half way across with your words?
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DD,
Problem? No. It's a habit I've developed. It makes it easier to read as your
eye does not have to scan so far across a column.
Is it a problem ?
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I would guess DD means do you have a technical problem with using the forum e.g. browser issue?
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Looks a bit like a poem !
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DD Is it a problem ?
Only in that if everyone else started doing it threads would be twice as long as they are now and people would have to scroll further down the page to read them. We would have to start reducing threads like IHAQ & Comp related from approx 100 posts down to approx 50.
It makes it easier to read as your eye does not have to scan so far across a column.
That only applies to your posts though.
End of the day it's up to you, but your posts look out of place compared to everyone elses.
PU - Looks a bit like a poem !
Yeah! That as well ;o)
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 26/03/2008 at 00:44
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Ok, I see your point. I guess I can 'go-wide' to help save space.
One thing that might be worth looking into is the way messages are formatted. The other way to make a column narrower is to make the browser less wide. When I do this, the text gets chopped off, which defeats the purpose.
If you take a look at www.metafilter.com it behaves better when the page is resized horizontally. The layout of both sites is quite similar though.
Regards
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"One thing that might be worth looking into is the way messages are formatted"
It works just fine for me. Perhaps I`m just too respectful and appreciative of the Moderators efforts and HJ`s site to go looking for little imperfections.
Regards
Edited by oilrag on 26/03/2008 at 07:51
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I now find myself in the same position as Galaxian.
new Mk3 Galaxy, this time it was rear door got caught by the wind and folded itself against the edge of the front door resulting in a severe crease in the rear door.
I agree its a deffo design defect, a peg has been placed as a stopper on the hinge and the restraining strap removed, this peg is not up to the job of stopping the door when its gathered momentum, a proper restraining strap would stop the door.
I am also going to pursue Ford for the cost of the repair £460....Stands by to be flamed !!
Galaxian....Did you ever get anywhere ?
If not do you want to join me in a joint claim against Ford ?
Edited by hp4020 on 24/08/2009 at 19:38
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hp4020,
although I am not aware of any other cases like this (I no longer have my S-Max), put a post over on the S-Max owners club forum to see how common this is.
www.smaxownersclub.co.uk
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I'm not trying to be flippant, but a good tip is to wind down the window in windy conditions to reduce the sail effect.
Fairly easy, too, if you have leccy windows.
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Fairly easy, too, if you have leccy windows.
unless you own a toyota?
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=77...0
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 24/08/2009 at 21:48
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Will try the Smax owners.
Thanks for the tips guys, but on the Galaxy they are huge doors and do need a better restraint. Mine is an 07 and I am going to dealer tomorrow to see have their has been any modification on new vehicles.
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I have now found this post
www.fordownersclub.com/forums/index.php?s=fa6e5679...0
This makes me more determined to pursue this. My local dealer has no Galxys in stock, so I am travelling further afield this weekend to see if any mods have already taken place.
Thoughts at this stage, pay Ford full price for repair, then chase through small claims court as a design fault.
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I agree its a deffo design defect ...
If door mountings were designed to stand up to any strength of wind (as they would have to be if users could claim as faulty) a lot of weight would be added and the door would be much more cumbersome in everyday use. Only answer is to keep hold of doors when opening them in windy conditions. As the handbook usually says nowt about the problem, you usually have to suffer once to learn the lesson ...
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Maybe, with respect, it`s the sheer size of the vehicles for some people. I saw a woman get out of one earlier today and she looked like a pea getting out of a drum.
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