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[News Feed]

Chrysler vehicles are the most frequently damaged in encounters with British and Welsh potholes, according to new research by Potholes.co.uk. The research indicates Hondas fare best. The road maintenance campaign website, set up by the UK warranty provider Warranty Direct, analysed 150,000 policies over a three-year period to identify the cars most and least susceptible to potholes, which are a major problem. One in three British motorists has had pothole damage. This winter, UK roads are set to become the worst ‘in a generation.’ Honda, Toyota and Hyundai are the most ‘pothole-proof’ manufacturers: fewer than 2% of those brands suffering axle and suspension damage attributable to road defects. Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz and Land Rover vehicles are the most vulnerable: more than 10% are damaged each year. While the average payout for pothole-induced suspension damage is £309 (about $485), Warranty Direct and Potholes.co.uk have indentified recent claims as high as £2,420 (about..

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[UN4GTBL]

I suspect that a lot of the issues with my suspension were due to a road that I had to drive on to get to work. Actually calling it a road is an exaggeration...

Thankfully it has now been re-paved and widened.

[PCRMike]

Interesting.  Then why here in the US have I seen Hondas and Acuras with a wheel laying sideways where a ball joint failed on the road?  My neighbor has a Hyundai that the lower ball joint failed on and it made it into her driveway where it fell apart, blocking the drive.  I live out in the country.  She is gonna have to have a tow truck come in thru the field to get to it.  LOL.

[Erik Latranyi]

So, the British producers who already pay massive taxes should now pay more for their automobiles so they can withstand the unmaintained roads because the tax money is wasted elsewhere?

Makes perfect sense in Bizzaro-World!

[LXbuilder]

PCRMike, on December 21, 2011 at 09:28 am, said:

Interesting.  Then why here in the US have I seen Hondas and Acuras with a wheel laying sideways where a ball joint failed on the road?  My neighbor has a Hyundai that the lower ball joint failed on and it made it into her driveway where it fell apart, blocking the drive.  I live out in the country.  She is gonna have to have a tow truck come in thru the field to get to it.  LOL.

I've seen that failure on Chryslers a couple of times. (And at much lower mileage than what should be considered normal)

[DaveAdmin]

"So, the British producers who already pay massive taxes should now pay more for their automobiles so they can withstand the unmaintained roads because the tax money is wasted elsewhere?"

Let's not get into complex issues of where tax moneys are spent. Then we would talk about health care overall costs (half what they are in the US, though rationing is evident), military forays and their costs (UK was in Iraq and Afghanistan with us) and benefits, etc. I assume you mean "VAT" when you say "massive taxes."

We attempted in the US to make taxes fair and progressive. I would not bet that we succeeded any more than the UK with its VAT. That's another long story and discussion as to why and what the solutions are and we will absolutely not, as a group, agree on solutions or even desired outcomes.

[CherokeeVision]

Quote

“With last year’s road damage barely dealt with, a repeat of those harsh winter weather conditions could see our highways deteriorate to the worst state they’ve been in for a generation."

Impossible. The Met office has been predicting mild winters for three years due to global warming. There is simply no way the British roads can be in bad condition. The Met office spent millions of dollars on a new computer system in order to make more accurate forecasts. Those harsh winter conditions can't be real. Elves, or Gnomes or Fairies must tear up the roads at night.

http://www.thegwpf.o...ish-public.html
http://www.telegraph...st-weather.html

[DaveAdmin]

"The Met office has been predicting mild winters for three years due to global warming."

Then they don't understand the theory of global warming, which predicts harsher, less predictable weather.

And the pundits who wrote those articles don't understand the problems of long term weather forecasting, or the implications of chaos theory (okay, the latter is part of the former.)

The Met. has no business making blanket statements about a whole season's weather. ...

US Weather Service seems surprisingly accurate, but AFAIK they only predict around two weeks into the future, other than their general overviews of hurricane activity. I could be wrong about that, I don't follow them that closely.

[MoparNorm]

DaveAdmin, on December 21, 2011 at 10:39 am, said:

Then they don't understand the theory of global warming, which predicts harsher, less predictable weather.

The theory predicts continued government research grants at higher levels...

[Jeff2KPatriotBlue]

The thing about warranty claims from an aftermarket supplier is that they are skewed by (1) the OEM's recommended service schedule (i.e. Honda may call to replace parts, where Dodge says "check"), warranty policies, and secret warraties and (2) the market of the individual vehicle.

[trumpet12345]

I dunno, when I lived in Rhode Island, my brother up there drove more than I did-and dang that old minivan took Heck-of-a beating. Never failed, went nuts the one time he landed on the gear box, and it didn't like rear ending that pole, or the vacation rear ending. That thing was a trooper if I had ever seen one!

[cd36]

CherokeeVision, on December 21, 2011 at 10:38 am, said:

Impossible. The Met office has been predicting mild winters for three years due to global warming. There is simply no way the British roads can be in bad condition. The Met office spent millions of dollars on a new computer system in order to make more accurate forecasts. Those harsh winter conditions can't be real. Elves, or Gnomes or Fairies must tear up the roads at night.

http://www.thegwpf.o...ish-public.html
http://www.telegraph...st-weather.html

I don't want to get into a global warming debate, but it depends on the definition of harsh I guess.  Strictly cold temperatures can sometimes be better on roads, versus constant freeze/thaw cycles.  I know our roads in Manitoba took a pounding in some spots due to the ground being highly saturated with water, and then repeated freeze/thaw cycles cause the ground to heave, shifting the pavement.  It would have been better if it just froze and stayed cold, and then warmed up and melted.

[Powdered Toast Man]

My experience is that Chrysler suspensions are notoriously un-durable. I had to do tie-rod ends and bushings on my 07 Caravan with only 30,000 KM on it (18750 mi). I recall having to do similar suspension work to my 01 Neon at low mileage and my mom had to do the same thing to her 06 Sebring. Every ChryCo vehicle I've ever owned has needed suspension work.

I have no idea if this is an issue of design or if it's part quality (cost cutting) that is to blame.

Edited by Powdered Toast Man, December 21, 2011 at 01:45 pm.

[UN4GTBL]

Powdered Toast Man, on December 21, 2011 at 01:45 pm, said:

My experience is that Chrysler suspensions are notoriously un-durable. I had to do tie-rod ends and bushings on my 07 Caravan with only 30,000 KM on it (18750 mi). I recall having to do similar suspension work to my 01 Neon at low mileage and my mom had to do the same thing to her 06 Sebring. Every ChryCo vehicle I've ever owned has needed suspension work.

I have no idea if this is an issue of design or if it's part quality (cost cutting) that is to blame.

Whats interesting with that, is our '07 Caravan had no suspension issues at all. Nor the previous 6 vans. The '04 had other issues, but none were suspension related.

My Caliber on the other hand...

[PCRMike]

My 99 Dak had to have ball joints at 120K.  Too early IMHO, but I have not had any other issues with any of them.  I wonder also, noted the MB vehicles were high onthe list, didn't we (gag--urp) share some suspension parts with them?

[JRS200x]

hehe.. all these stories of ball joints failing reminds me of a night earlier this summer where I was following some guy in his riced out VW Golf (old model year not sure which) that he had lowered and put rims and a loud fart can on.  Anyhow we are driving down the middle of Jefferson Ave (a busy 6 lane main road here in Hampton Roads) me behind him when suddenly his front two wheels collapse in and the nose of his car slams in to the ground.  He actually managed to somewhat control it and get it to the far lane and stopped but I imagine he pretty much shat himself right there... Good thing I was paying attention behind him as he came to a stop rather quickly.. though my laughter continued for a good long while.

[gforce2002]

Although I've no outright failures of suspension, every Chrysler vehicle I've had of the last four have had some kind of suspension issues.  My 2003 Liberty ate ball joints like popcorn - it was on its fourth set by the time I traded it in at 80,000 kms.   My Caliber had it's rear toe links and control arms replaced (under warranty, thanfully), and my 2009 Patriot was starting down that same road by the time I traded it on my current 2011 Journey.  The Journey needed a new front suspension bushing at 5000 kms, but since then (and hopefully from now on) it will be okay.  A friend's daughter has a 2007 Caliber which is costing her about $1000 every two months in suspension repairs.   I have to admit when someone asks me lately about what kind of car to buy, I basically tell them to buy what they like (and so they should anyway).  I really can't go as far as recommending any of the Daimler era designs to them at all, until time proves otherwise.  I really hope it will.

Edited by gforce2002, December 21, 2011 at 04:22 pm.

[Marauder_Pilot]

I think it's just a matter of coincidence. The roads are awful up here, and ALL cars and CUVs have suspension problems. The only things that really fare well overall are 2500 and 3500 trucks and off-road oriented SUVs and pickups (Wranglers, Cherokees, 4Runners, ect)

[jerseyjoe]

I always thought that European roads were superior to ours cause their suspensions fall apart here! And I thought our roads were bad. Friend had a TR6 and the front and rear suspension was ripped from the vehicle in a few years. Back in the 70 people could fabricate suspension parts for affordable price, The Triumph parts would not last. Guess its still good to live in America.  

Chrysler suspensions are getting better but can still use some work. Had to do front tie rod ends at 30K miles because of noise. Part of the issue is lack of grease fittings on these parts. At one time it was normal to get suspension parts greased every 5k or so. The company Ford work truck went 60K before tie rod ends needed replacing, more acceptable but more expensive! Neon went 11 years with only slight suspension noise when I first start out in the day. Think the urethane bushings had to warm up. That is still the tightest car I've ever owned. My 60 and 70 era MOPARS only had occasional issues, did the greasing myself ( had to install fittings) Occasional tie rod end replacement in the lifetime of the car.did myself for $6. I think they are about $80 now. Too old to tackle this without a lift. I think lifetime sealed bushings and tie rod ends should be just that.

Edited by jerseyjoe, December 21, 2011 at 08:40 pm.

[MoparNorm]

jerseyjoe, on December 21, 2011 at 08:30 pm, said:

I always thought that European roads were superior to ours cause their suspensions fall apart here!

Ha! Ha! When I was building facilities for General Dynamics and Hughes Aircraft, we worked on building vehicle test tracks, A major portion of the test tracks was the cobblestone pavers that predominated most of Europe during the cold war.
Having spent a year in Berlin, at the height of the Cold War, I can tell you, those cobblestones are no picnic. The Autobahn is as fine as any superhighway in the US, but the locals roads....

Some punk NCO...