real Lancia story (incredible)

[jensked]

This is a real story...

A friend of mine got a car for her graduation: a Lancia Ypsilon.

That was 3 months ago. This week, she was driving on the motorway.
One moment, everything was fine, the next moment, she had only 3 wheels.

How is it possible a car that is 3 months old loses a wheel???? It could have ended worse...

That's criminal. Funny thing is that I warned her about Italian cars.

[/edit: she said she had a bump in the rim from driving against the border of the street]. But could that result in the falling of of a wheel?

[bartboy9891]

that is unpossible!

[stapler123]

was the wheel not on right, or did the whole hub just come off

This sort of thing happened to my uncle when he was barrowing my 181. He went to a bar for the superbowl, but he was the only packer fan there (and an annoying one at that). when he left his wheel myseteriously fell off.

[pdanev]

my 1st though to the question how is that possible: "italian craftsmanship"

[zeroSignal]

Well, italians have generally become better at putting their cars together. They no longer use bread dough to assemble parts.

However, it's not unheard of. A friend of mine's father drives an Alfa Romeo 156. At one point, the dashboard spontaneously caught fire.

And my next door neighbour is the importer for Fiat, Lancia & Alfa Romeo in Macedonia. I've heard some interesting stories about things going wrong with FIAT group cars.

The funny thing is, the Punto is gonna be assembled in Kragujevac now (where old Zastava cars were made). I take it quality is not gonna get better.

[BlaRo]

Originally Posted by zeroSignal

However, it's not unheard of. A friend of mine's father drives an Alfa Romeo 156. At one point, the dashboard spontaneously caught fire.

If Alfa is going to make any headway into the American market, they're going to have to take care of that niggling detail. Hell, we complain about the seat pattern in GM cars.

[astroboymoto]

Originally Posted by BlaRo

If Alfa is going to make any headway into the American market, they're going to have to take care of that niggling detail. Hell, we complain about the seat pattern in GM cars.

yeah, the quality is too far above and beyond the capabilities of the GM, Ford and Chyrsler... there'd be angry riots

[lamcdonald]

Originally Posted by zeroSignal

A friend of mine's father drives an Alfa Romeo 156. At one point, the dashboard spontaneously caught fire.

Sounds similar to what happened to my Elantra. Parked it, switched off the engine, after the engine stopped the tacho went off the scale and smoke started pouring out from under the dash. I had to disconnect the battery to get it to stop burning, luckily it didn't catch fire properly, but it was close... Probably 5 more seconds and it would have gone up! Turned out it was the EMC $800 later it was working again. Still has a toasty smell 3 years later...

[asthenia]

So did the wheel itself break around the lugs, or did the lugs break, or did the hub break, or the balljoints, or what?

I've seen easily half a dozen Hondas/Acuras where the front suspension comes apart on one side, and the wheel flies off into a ditch. Seen it on VWs a couple of times too. Not three months old though.

Maybe the wheels were put on by an idiot with an impact wrench?

[Z Draci]

A wheel will usually fall off when the lug nuts aren't torqued down properly.

I don't think it has anything to do with build quality or anything like that. It's something that is EASILY overlooked when doing some work on your car. You do have to torque up your lug nuts as routine maintanence anyways.

So, when was the last time you checked your lug nuts?

Since your friend actually bumped the wheel and caused damage, I think she broke the hub loose and road vibrations finally snapped it off. It's an Italian car so I wouldn't be surprised if anything happened.

[zeroSignal]

So, when was the last time you checked your lug nuts?

This morning. Several times.

[jensked]

Well, I guess I'm obliged to tell the real story now...She overreacted on the phone when it happened. Here's the real story, told by another friend who was with her at the moment:

Her tire got flat, really flat and the they were driving on the actual rim...and of course, the rim cut the tire apart. And most of the rubber dissapeared...

So we owe Lancia an apology

[Lilleput]

There was a big story about a guy who bought a 156 and the engine, the whole thing fell out in a roundabout, he got it fixed but shortly after something else fell off, he then wanted his money back or a new 156 but Alfa wouldt do it so he made Alfasuck.dk or something and sold bumper stickers ect... He got a new 156.

[BlaRo]

Originally Posted by Lilleput

There was a big story about a guy who bought a 156 and the engine, the whole thing fell out in a roundabout, he got it fixed but shortly after something else fell off, he then wanted his money back or a new 156 but Alfa wouldt do it so he made Alfasuck.dk or something and sold bumper stickers ect... He got a new 156.

Did it fly out the side and take the fender out with it? How'd it get loose? What the fuck?

Well, it's part of the joys of owning a great Italian car: little stuff can happen, like major fires and engines falling out...

In a country that is lightning-quick to lambast a company because the gear knob is vaguely loose, this sort of thing amazes me. I'll be the first in line to buy a Brera, fires or not!

[zeroSignal]

Well, the 156 did top the list of Europe's most unreliable cars, back in 2001 or 2002, I'm not exactly sure.

But still, I think the 156 is gorgeous, and those 'extreme' mishaps are luckily isolated. Hell, I'd sign up for the Brera aswell, if I could afford it.