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ball-joint failure caused my car to crash!

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Old Oct 11, 2004 | 08:25 PM
  #1  
Mr900's Avatar
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Car Info: 05 STI
Exclamation ball-joint failure caused car to crash!

about 5 weeks ago coming home I lost control of my STI when it suddenly jerked violently to the right. I tried to correct but it was too late. The car went off the road into a concrete gutter 2ft wide 2ft deep. Theres about 21k+ in damage. The insurance company said that the ball joint came out of the control arm with the threads intact. My car is a 2005 STI with only 2300 miles.

If theres a silver lining in this, the insurance is calling it a no fault loss and is picking up the bill. In the meantime they put me in a new 2005 outback until my vehicle is repaired.


Has anyone ever heard of this happening?

Jordan
05 STI ( at the car hospital )


10/28/04 SOA said it wasn't their fault that the ball-joint came out, despite what the field engineer found.

Last edited by Mr900; Nov 7, 2004 at 08:30 AM.
Old Oct 11, 2004 | 09:50 PM
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wow sorry to here about this, call SOA man they should be respsonsible and look into this, as a recall issue maybe
Old Oct 11, 2004 | 09:50 PM
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you may just save thousands of other owners from fatal accidents
Old Oct 11, 2004 | 10:29 PM
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what I've been told....

The insurance company is going after SOA for reimbursement.
who knows maybe this is the start of another recall?? or just a freak accident??

I wonder when I'll see my car again.......
Old Oct 11, 2004 | 10:37 PM
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i think it is SOA all the way, hopefully u can get an invetsgative company to look into this kind of stuff, sorry for your misfortunes man hope it allworks out, were u hurt at all?
Old Oct 11, 2004 | 11:15 PM
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so true

The important thing is that I'm ok and my passenger is ok; Aside from sore backs for a couple days

The accident engineer from my insurance company determined that it was a mechanical failure and Subaru is liable.

I want a new car.

what ever the outcome, It's not being held against my record.

Its just a weird situation, it's not every day that something like this happens.

Last edited by Mr900; Oct 12, 2004 at 06:57 PM.
Old Oct 13, 2004 | 12:09 AM
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$16k in suspension damage? Is this being estimated at Steven's Creep? Anyway, have yo had any alignments performed (like you probably should have actually)? If so, whoever did that is actually liable.
Old Oct 13, 2004 | 07:31 AM
  #9  
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nothing

The vehicle has only 2300 miles, I purchased it 3 months ago. The car drove great up until the accident. I have never had a alignment but was looking to get one eventually.

I'll go by the body shop and take some picks today.
Old Oct 13, 2004 | 12:07 PM
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That sucks to hear man, at least no one got hurt bad.
Old Oct 13, 2004 | 09:45 PM
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Pict's of damage

Field inspector from SOA came out today. From what he said, he hadn't seen a failure like this before.
Attached Thumbnails ball-joint failure caused my car to crash!-img_3242.jpg   ball-joint failure caused my car to crash!-img_3247.jpg   ball-joint failure caused my car to crash!-img_3250.jpg   ball-joint failure caused my car to crash!-img_3246.jpg   ball-joint failure caused my car to crash!-img_3248.jpg  

ball-joint failure caused my car to crash!-img_3244.jpg   ball-joint failure caused my car to crash!-img_3245.jpg  

Last edited by Mr900; Oct 14, 2004 at 05:42 PM.
Old Oct 13, 2004 | 11:33 PM
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Call me crazy, but I don't see $16k worth of damage there... do you have more pics, I would assume that the front frame is bent for the bill to get that high. All I see is the subframe bent, and that's a bolt-on piece.
Old Oct 13, 2004 | 11:49 PM
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Originally Posted by BAN SUVS
Call me crazy, but I don't see $16k worth of damage there... do you have more pics, I would assume that the front frame is bent for the bill to get that high. All I see is the subframe bent, and that's a bolt-on piece.
But his roof seems to be a bit rippled, right? Maybe some frame damage is the cause of the high bill. Man, that would be really bad.

-Chris
Old Oct 14, 2004 | 12:05 AM
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Ah, I didn't catch that. that'll do it.



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