Wheel comes off vehicle while driving, Honda Fit

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Originally Posted By: JustinH
My question is do people really want to steel 15 inch honda wheels? I an see 19 or 20, but pretty much every car on the road has 15 inch wheels..


They are a direct bolt-on to every Civic, del Sol, CRX, CR-V, and Integra made since 1988. That's a LOT of cars.
 
Originally Posted By: dparm
Originally Posted By: JustinH
My question is do people really want to steel 15 inch honda wheels? I an see 19 or 20, but pretty much every car on the road has 15 inch wheels..


They are a direct bolt-on to every Civic, del Sol, CRX, CR-V, and Integra made since 1988. That's a LOT of cars.


The VX came with 13s"!
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http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=1315423
 
My question would be why would you want a huge wheel for a car like this heck the there is NO practical benefit at all in larger wheel sizes. It adds unsprung weight to the suspension (decreases handling ) and increases braking distances as well.

No ordinary passenger car has any need at all for anything over a 16" wheel. Even most performance cars actually have degraded handling with wheels over 16" not to mention the weight it adds.

The only positive thing about them is the huge extra profit they make for the manufacturers.

I still say that the girls father should have known better than to trust a parts store with touching the car. Firstly it is involving the safety of his daughter and secondly almost everybody knows about the incompetence of auto parts chain stores! Even this guy should have known.

I think they were being extremely cheap!

I bet that if the buyer would have simply gone back to the dealer and asked for locking lug nuts they would have installed them for free only charging for the parts. Sadly I bet the Honda Geniune locks would have only been a few bucks more than the junky autp parts store product.
 
It is the auto parts store employee's fault. He was the last one to touch the lugs. This is why people sue oil change places when their engine blows from the oil leaking out on the drive home, or when a tire shop doesn't tighten the lug nuts and the wheel falls off. Ever notice that sign in the store parking lot that usually says "No repairs to be done in parking lot"? They put that there so they aren't liable if something happens to you on their property.

Parts counter guys are there to sell you parts and maybe install air filters or windshield wipers. My buddy worked at Autozone and he said on some cars you couldn't even change the wipers for fear of breaking them and being at fault.

This has nothing to do with turning down the dealer locking nuts. You can still buy them elsewhere but having someone who is a technician install the CORRECT ones is key.
 
Not trying to be a jerk here but you really can't blame someone that works at an auto parts store for not being an expert. They pay very poorly and hire people with GED's and no actual training or education. It sucks what happened to your friend but honestly you pay for experience. Auto part stores are for people that know what they are doing, everyone else should go to mechanics or dealers.

I feel that people expect so much from people working an awful dead-end retail job. I've been given 1 quart fewer than I ordered, the wrong filter, and I've also sat there twice while the employees called corporate for help with how they are supposed to refund a core charge and the other time I forget what it was about.

I would recommend pursuing legal avenues as negative publicity for the auto parts store may be worse than paying for your friends repair.
 
Originally Posted By: Kestas
Originally Posted By: ltslimjim
To clarify: All lugs on all wheels were replaced, with 1 locking lug nut per wheel. It was a pack that included replacements for each wheel.

I still don't see why all lug nuts were replaced. I'm sure there was nothing wrong with the OEM lug nuts. Was this for appearance?

Yes, there are appearance kits that provide dressier nuts.
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I just borrowed a 1/2-20 lug nut off my dodge dakota and attempted to thread it on a 12x1.5 hub assy I had laying around.

Sun of a gun, it's kind of close. I bet I could force it all the way.
 
Good call cmf!

If this was the young girls doing alone I would have been quite sympathetic, but when I know that this kids father who IS old enough to know better about such things, I have no sympathy at all. You don't let some kid behind a counter at a chain parts store mess with your child's safety.

I'm glad the girl is alright but I hope they lose any lawsuit. Disregarding common sense should bring ZERO compensation to an adult that had enough brains to know better.
 
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Originally Posted By: urchin
Even most performance cars actually have degraded handling with wheels over 16" not to mention the weight it adds.



If that were true than Corvette, Porsche and other drivers who race their cars would be replacing their larger wheels for smaller 16 inchers.
 
Originally Posted By: cmf
Not trying to be a jerk here but you really can't blame someone that works at an auto parts store for not being an expert. They pay very poorly and hire people with GED's and no actual training or education. It sucks what happened to your friend but honestly you pay for experience. Auto part stores are for people that know what they are doing, everyone else should go to mechanics or dealers.

I feel that people expect so much from people working an awful dead-end retail job. I've been given 1 quart fewer than I ordered, the wrong filter, and I've also sat there twice while the employees called corporate for help with how they are supposed to refund a core charge and the other time I forget what it was about.

I would recommend pursuing legal avenues as negative publicity for the auto parts store may be worse than paying for your friends repair.


I don't expect a lot from parts store guys, I know they aren't experts. I would find out what the store policy is though. At the store my friend worked at they specifically said NOT to mess with anything mechanical on someones vehicle for this very reason. Was the father there when they were installed, or did the parts guy offer to help the young girl since she was by herself?
 
Originally Posted By: GMBoy


If that were true than Corvette, Porsche and other drivers who race their cars would be replacing their larger wheels for smaller 16 inchers.


No they wouldn't because the profit margin and style over rules this even on today's so called performance cars.

The worst thing that has happened in recent car styling history was the trend towards ...." Looook at the Wheeeeeelsss!
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Fact is unsprung weight destroys any benefits made by putting large wheels on a car. Even the light weight metals used in the huge "dubs" on these sports cars today can be really heavy .
 
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Originally Posted By: urchin
Originally Posted By: GMBoy


If that were true than Corvette, Porsche and other drivers who race their cars would be replacing their larger wheels for smaller 16 inchers.


No they wouldn't because the profit margin and style over rules this even on today's so called performance cars.

The worst thing that has happened in recent car styling history was the trend towards ...." Looook at the Wheeeeeelsss! :whistle:

Fact is unsprung weight destroys any benefits made by putting large wheels on a car. Even the light weight metals used in the huge "dubs" on these sports cars today can be really heavy .


I agree, especially in places that salt the roads. Then all you see is people driving around cars with huge corroded wheels.
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Originally Posted By: eljefino
I just borrowed a 1/2-20 lug nut off my dodge dakota and attempted to thread it on a 12x1.5 hub assy I had laying around.

Sun of a gun, it's kind of close. I bet I could force it all the way.


Interesting, thanks for going through that. I figured it must be close enough to dupe the parts guy into putting them on.

Originally Posted By: cmf
Not trying to be a jerk here but you really can't blame someone that works at an auto parts store for not being an expert. They pay very poorly and hire people with GED's and no actual training or education. It sucks what happened to your friend but honestly you pay for experience. Auto part stores are for people that know what they are doing, everyone else should go to mechanics or dealers.

I feel that people expect so much from people working an awful dead-end retail job. I've been given 1 quart fewer than I ordered, the wrong filter, and I've also sat there twice while the employees called corporate for help with how they are supposed to refund a core charge and the other time I forget what it was about.

I would recommend pursuing legal avenues as negative publicity for the auto parts store may be worse than paying for your friends repair.


I'm not ripping the guy for not being an expert.

The issue is he took it upon himself to do something he should not have.

Saying the girl should know better is making excuses for the counter person IGNORING the FACT his own company had NO PARTS listed and attempted to go with 'the closest' thing.

Sure, her dad takes some of the blame(IIRC, the dealer wanted $100 for the lock nut lug set?)...

We may as well blame the system and not the parts guy, anyone but the paid person that has clear instructions(or should have, if not even more reason to blame the company).
 
Originally Posted By: ltslimjim



The issue is he took it upon himself to do something he should not have.

I have to say that it must be darn rare to have a parts counter genius actually touch mechanical items, I am sure they specifically instruct these employees to never personally install related items at least as the chains for liability matters. I wonder which chain this was? Name?

Quote:



Sure, her dad takes some of the blame(IIRC, the dealer wanted $100 for the lock nut lug set?)...

I'm sure that included installation too. I knew this guy was being cheap! So I wonder if saving 50$ on a brand new 25k vehicle and risking his daughters life was worth it. What a dumbo.

Quote:

We may as well blame the system and not the parts guy, anyone but the paid person that has clear instructions(or should have, if not even more reason to blame the company).


Sure the system is not great, but I still put all the blame on the father, he should have known better that is the bottom line. You did mention that the father was at the parts store with the daughter right? That was the impression I got.

I know I might sound strident but seriously hearing this story just stuns me, it really does show a decided lack of common sense.
 
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Whilst we are on this topic, it seems that not many aftermarket lug nut manufacturers actually make the correct nuts for Honda vehicles.

The mating surface of the nut to a Honda wheel is a ball/acorn type surface, other makes use a straight tapered nut which is not suited for Hondas. The tapered nuts tend to loosen themselves with time.
 
Originally Posted By: ltslimjim
The issue is he took it upon himself to do something he should not have.


I totally agree it's the part's store guys fault. And the company probably has some policy against him doing exactly what he did. I was just commenting that many people seem to be of the opinion that parts store guys are somehow experts on automobiles because they sell parts for them. That leads to people being in circumstances similar to this.

I will say again that I hope they pursue legal action or at least contact the company about it. If the company has some agreement that employees have to sign that rids them of all liability in circumstances like this it will be very hard to get any money from them. But if they don't they will probably settle very quickly for the damages cost.
 
We got an aftermarket set of lugs for our Fit's winter wheels from Discount Tire for $45, and they fit the aftermarket wheels perfectly. Getting a set of OEM lugs is cheap online. A simple search would have revealed online parts places to buy OEM locking nuts.

It sounds like it's the counter person's fault for installing the wrong lugs.
 
Originally Posted By: ltslimjim

Saying the girl should know better is making excuses for the counter person IGNORING the FACT his own company had NO PARTS listed and attempted to go with 'the closest' thing.


Perhaps the parts counter person should have realized that a Honda is going to have metric studs.
 
Originally Posted By: brianl703


Perhaps the parts counter person should have realized that a Honda is going to have metric studs.


Why this person , most likely not over 25 and making 8 or so dollars an hour that used to work at McDonalds couldn't possibly be expected to have any real knowledge except for what is on a computer terminal or in a parts book.

You get what you pay for. If you're going to be dirt cheap you get no service or poorly trained help. This is common sense that "Daddy" should have well known.
 
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