brakes failed while driving 80km/h.....

Sunny_Dublin

hi all...

i posted here a few weeks ago with questions regarding a car dealer who sold a faulty car. honda cr-v, about 10 years old, faulty prop shaft.
the dealer finally agreed to fix the car which was ok, he replaced the prop shaft with a different one which is not the one intended for the car but it seemed to be working fine. he stills waits for a part from ashbourne (he is in lusk, so are we btw) which was supposed to be delivered a few weeks ago, still no word about when the repair is going to happen.

today i drove the car back from work when i had a to brake due to a truck pulling out in front of me onto the main road.. and nothing happened. hitting the brakes harder didn't help and luckily the truck was fast enough so we missed each other by milimeters.
couldn't believe what happened and drove on thinking that maybe this was my fault and i hadn't really paid attention (full license, driving since 12 years, never an accident and never any problems while driving, simply couldn't understand this was happening...). but every attempt to use the brakes failed...
so baically.. i made it just about home driving 20kmh and less.
talked to the dealer tonight and he refuses to take the car back, used car and all... and basically told me to get on to my solicitor...

is there anything i can do?
oh, want to know name and address of the dealer? pm me, am more than happy to share with the world what an a** he is....
consumer affairs say goods have to be fit for the purpose their sold for. this surely is not the case with a car that has been in repair most of the time and now nearly causes an accident due to being in an unfit state???
am sooo furious and still shaking...

colm_mcm

so are the brakes working or not?

ismynametoolong

You have not given too much detail ie is the car still under his warranty are the brakes still inop what cused them to fail etc .if you are thinking of taking a case against him then you need to get the car independently assessed and a report stating the problems. if he was interested in his good name he would take such issues seriously and try to appease you but if he told you to go to you sols he obviously doesnt give a sh1t

ismynametoolong

and i probably should have mentioned your best bet is to put it down to experience trade the car else where and be rid of it and the hassle a legall case would cause

VeVeX

(2) Without prejudice to any other condition or warranty, in every contract for the sale of a motor vehicle (except a contract in which the buyer is a person whose business it is to deal in motor vehicles) there is an implied condition that at the time of delivery of the vehicle under the contract it is free from any defect which would render it a danger to the public, including persons travelling in the vehicle.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/ZZA16Y1980S13.html

If you can prove the problem was there when the car was bought your covered.

Sunny_Dublin

the brakes are still not working, i don't know why tho.
i know that 4 days after buying the car we discovered the drive thing which powers the back wheels was not working (the car is one of those 4wd yokes). the dealer replaced this thing with a different shaft thing which "works fine" even tho is not intended for this model but confirmed he will definitely get the car in again to swap it for the correct part (which has yet to be delivered). this is 4 weeks ago now, the correct part still has not been put in.
wondering now if these two things belong together.... meaning that only the front brakes work anyways if the connection between front and back wheels which is supposed to be there is missing...
used car, hence no warranty. nevertheless unfit for driving and therefore possibly covered underconsumer affairs?
we get the car over to a mechanic tomorrow evening when the roads are empty... and we hopefully know more on thursday evening...
am still fuming...

mike65

Check for fluid loss by each wheel, that said I think you'd need a have a failed servo for total loss.

Mike.

Eoin

ismynametoolong wrote:

and i probably should have mentioned your best bet is to put it down to experience trade the car else where and be rid of it and the hassle a legall case would cause

I do not agree with this at all. If the windows stopped working, and the dealer acted the prick about it, then maybe you could chalk to down to experience.

This was a case of the brakes failing, which could have directly caused a fatality - there is no way I would let the dealer away with this.

To the OP: Please stop driving the car; have it towed - at best it may not be helping your case if you admit that you drove the car after you knew the brakes were gone, and at worst you could be involved in an accident.

ninty9er

you could have died. sue the bastard for negligence. Any mechanic or their employer in the case of a garage is duty bound to make sure a car is roadworthy before leaving their premises. ~If not it don't leave

VeVeX

Sunny_Dublin wrote:

we get the car over to a mechanic tomorrow evening when the roads are empty... and we hopefully know more on thursday evening...
am still fuming...

DO NOT DRIVE THAT CAR !

unkel

Sunny_Dublin wrote:

honda cr-v, about 10 years old, faulty prop shaft.
the dealer finally agreed to fix the car which was ok, he replaced the prop shaft with a different one which is not the one intended for the car

:eek:

You're obviously dealing with a cowboy. Demand your money back. If the crooks won't entertain you, you can deal with it through the small claims court. No need for a solicitor and many claimants win their case. Cars are the second most common subject in that court. I take it your car isn't worth much more than about 2 grand, which is the limit for the SCC?

SouperComputer

Check for fluid loss by each wheel, that said I think you'd need a have a failed servo for total loss.

Mike.

Servo failure just means that the brakes require more effort, not brake failure.

I prefer brakes without a servo TBH.

Anyway, has the "feel" of the pedal changed? Ie has it gotten stiffer, softer or does it travel further than it used to before the incident?

It could be somthing as simple as a vacuum pipe working loose, meaning the brakes feel a little stiffer and require more effort to stop the vehicle.

I dont think its related to the propshaft, all depends on what they did while replacing it. In any case, if shouldnt affect the balance between front and rear brakes. If the pedal is still hard then it could be contamination.

Interesting one tho...

Bluetonic

Sunny_Dublin wrote:

full license, driving since 12 years, never an accident and never any problems while driving

so baically.. i made it just about home driving 20kmh and less.

You should be shot if you continued to drive a car home at 20 Kmh knowing right well it was faulty and has no brakes. Have you ever seen what a 20kmh impact can have to a kid who might have ran out infront of you? Shame on you.

MercMad

I think we need more information here !

couldn't believe what happened and drove on thinking that maybe this was my fault and i hadn't really paid attention (full license, driving since 12 years, never an accident and never any problems while driving, simply couldn't understand this was happening...). but every attempt to use the brakes failed...

.........you appear to be stating that you have a doubt as the whether they worked or not !

As the others have asked, DO they work at all, how is the pedal !

Either way I find it very strange that someone could fit a driveshaft (what was wrong with the original one) that wasn't quite suitable ?
More details here too !

What oither repairs have you had done ?

Why is there a doubt about him fixing it and why was a solicitor suggested ?

I am just guessing now but your vehicle is a 4wd with possibly an electronic centre diff, which has failed and they have fitted some other driveshaft or possible removed the centre shaft completely. This could affect the brakes if the ABS also has a sensor on the centre shaft !

I would get an AA inspection ASAP and under NO CIRCUMSTANCES bring it to any other mechanic !

Sunny_Dublin

to clarify: the brakes are very very very soft and react only on the last cm. which while driving 80 kmh means that there is no impact at all.
and no, of course i am not driving that car again!
i'll get the aa to come out and have a look and maybe they can advise what to do. or else get it to a mechanic with a tow truck.

the only repair i am aware of is the driveshaft which was removed and replaced with one that has no connection to the back wheels. the car also was supposed to be serviced at that time, which probably didn't happen if missing brake fluid caused the problem.

i called the dealer straight away when i came home and he only gave me bs about "second hand car and problems can happen" so i said consumer affairs state goods have to fit for the purpose they sold for and that probably every solicitor could confirm this. to which he answered "well, then call your solicitor" and hang up.

bluetonic.... no point in commenting on your "you should be shot" thing there, but i do that anyways. i was a mile away from my house when this happened, i was in shock and didn't fully realise what was going on until i was home. as i pointed out already, after the incident i still thought the mistake was with me, not with the brakes and it was only more or less in front of my house that i realised that the brakes really were not working.
had i understood immediately that the car failed like this i had stopped there and then.

SouperComputer

You should be shot if you continued to drive a car home at 20 Kmh knowing right well it was faulty and has no brakes. Have you ever seen what a 20kmh impact can have to a kid who might have ran out infront of you? Shame on you.

:rolleyes:

Im wondering if this is a troll though.

Because using the brakes is the ONLY way to avoid a child running from behind a blind spot suddenly? At 20 kph you will have plenty of time to look for potential hazards. If someone runs out from the back of a parked car for example and you dont see them at 20kph, they would have been mangled at a higher speed and never stood a chance anyway. Also, the handbrake applied properly would scrub off 15Kph very easily and quickly.

Im not saying driving with dodge brakes is a smart plan, but FFS stop being so redicuously dramatic. Its an incredible contradiction that drivers with these kind of over-exagarated views drive at all!

to clarify: the brakes are very very very soft and react only on the last cm. which while driving 80 kmh means that there is no impact at all.

Ok so you had brakes that may have been good enough to avoid this invisible, suicidal child @ 20Kph!

Sounds like either a leak or a busted seal in the system. Also, if the fluid level was low, the system may have just taken in air.

The are two hydraulic circuits, one for rear and one for front. If one fails for whatever reason, the other will work, albeit not ideally.

If you held pressure on the pedal did the small braking force stay constant, or did it just brake for a couple of seconds and then stop working?

Sunny_Dublin

hi soupercomputer, wouldn't know if it stayed constant or worked only for a few seconds... i would think it stayed constant on this small braking force but i am not 100% sure...

MercMad

Sounds like they may need to be bled !

This car has ABS I assume, did your last car ?