Hi all. 

Long story short. After getting some work down at a local garage today as I drove away at about 10 MPH my front nearside wheel flew off down the road. The mechanic had got distracted and forgot to tighten the nuts up. 🤣. They put the wheel back on with many apologies  and I went on my way. Want damage if any might of happened and what should I be looking for? Its is pulling over to the left a lot more than it was..  👍

Edited 26 September, 20241 yr by neilybs6369

Don't tell us, tell them!

1 hour ago, sepulchrave said:

Don't tell us, tell them!

I'm telling you or anyone on here, I am asking advice!! That's what this forum is all about. 

If vehicle is now pulling to left after loss of wheel, it is very likely that, at the very least, the front alignment has been affected - the wheel hub/brake disc or lower suspension arm will almost certainly have contacted the road surface too.

Strongly suggest you have an independent inspection for any damage caused by the mechanics gross negligence.     

Edited 27 September, 20241 yr by Warrior193
added information

1 hour ago, Warrior193 said:

If vehicle is now pulling to left after loss of wheel, it is very likely that, at the very least, the front alignment has been affected - the wheel hub/brake disc or lower suspension arm will almost certainly have contacted the road surface too.

Strongly suggest you have an independent inspection for any damage caused by the mechanics gross negligence.     

I agree. An independent inspection by a Skoda dealer or a Skoda specialist and then speak to trading standards or even consider taking legal action.

13 hours ago, neilybs6369 said:

fter getting some work down at a local garage today as I drove away at about 10 MPH my front nearside wheel flew off down the road.. Want damage if any might of happened and what should I be looking for? Its is pulling over to the left a lot more than it was..

 

The only likely damage would be a kink and maybe some metal ground off the bottom of the disk backplate, also bodywork damage to the wheelarch but you would have mentioned that.

 

Regarding the pulling to one side, highly unlikely from losing a wheel at 10 mph, you have not said what the work was that was carried out, that could be a more likely suspect. "pulling to the left more than it was" is the clue.

 

Have a suspension alignment check done and if it throws up anything then the garage would I'm sure correct it and refund the alignment cost, as for the comments about legal action and gross negligence, have neither of you ever made a mistake working on your own vehicle or doing your employed job? I have lost count of how many of my wheels have overtaken me, flown over the sunroof or parted company over the years and that was without being distracted every few minutes by phone calls from customers or requests from colleagues.

Edited 27 September, 20241 yr by J.R.

You are obviously just careless but a garage has a duty of care to the customer and their car. If it had come off on the motorway at 70 mph and people had been killed or injured, do you think the court would say. "have neither of you ever made a mistake working on your own vehicle or doing your employed job?". I don't think so, as the judge hands out a £40,000 fine.

 Take the car back to the garage that did the work and  explain the situation of the car pulling to the left since the issue with the wheel comimg off, disc  and backplate needs checking for damage chips cracks etc, then bottom wishbone needs to be checked to see if it's at all slightly bent most of these type of issues land up with disc, strut wishbone damage in rare conditions the chassis could also be damaged or slightly misalined, you need them to perform a full tracking and degree setting, sometimes a simple messure from the centr hub on the wheel to the end of the wheel arch gives you a pointer at any thing not quite right (messure both sides in front of hub and behind hub to the arch and compare ) a few mm out is ok but if you are talking 10mm plus you have a problem. As a garage they have the responability to ensure the work done is correct and safe which in this case was not. Every one can make a mistake but you need to own it and put it right at no cost to the customer

4 hours ago, neilybs6369 said:

I'm telling you or anyone on here, I am asking advice!! That's what this forum is all about. 

 

My advice to you is to take it back and tell them it's pulling to the left and you want the alignment checked.

Thanks all. I just got back from a professional garage. They did a laser wheel alignment and had a good look while up on the ramp. The work I had done yesterday was new back bushes and two front wishbones with ball joints. The only damage he showed me was one of the nearside wishbone bolt ends had sheared off where it had landed on the road. Also the inside of the nearside alloy wheel had some deep scratches were the disk had hit after the wheel came off the hub. The car is running true again and all seems well at this point. The only annoyance is I seem to be noticing a lot more road noise after the new bushes. Maybe I getting paranoid or they will settle in soon?

Thanks for your support guys.. 🙂 

Edited 27 September, 20241 yr by neilybs6369