Car failed catastrophically on the motorway

[CakeMake]

Hey

Just wondering what others think of this.

My parents have a car that is 11 months old. Three days ago when my father was driving the electrics completely cut out without warning. Nothing worked and the car had absolutely no power. Luckily my father was just about able to glide the car to the hard shoulder where it came to a stop (not even the hazard lights were working).

It was purchased directly from the manufacturer. When it was towed to the manufacturer they ran some diagnostic tests for a couple of days. He received a call from them this morning saying it was fixed. The guy said that is was a “well known issue” with this model and has something to do with the software and the hybrid mechanism.

My issue is this: it’s a nearly brand new car. This shouldn’t happen. He could have been seriously injured or killed had the motorway been more busy or there was no hard shoulder. If it’s a well known fault shouldn’t it be publicised or maybe recalled so other owners can have their cars looked at?

I’m just worried someone is going to get hurt. It’s a very common car and in the top ten most popular.

What do you think?

Well that's simple as they'd have the paperwork for the car being attended to on the hard shoulder of the motorway. I dint think there's much point OP posting without the make and model tbh.

*Edit to say I didn't get the car from Mazda but through a well-known organisation.

Oh Jesus, even reading this terrifies me! I can just think of this happening while I've got my baby in the car with me. Surely with even one report like this, a manufacturer should be doing a thorough safety investigation?

But regardless of if she has her own genuine email address or unused email address registered on MN, surely they would be able to PM her? Which she'd get when coming on to the site.

Is it a citroen?

They are famed for electrical issues, its something that came up again and again when I was researching cars.

The same happened to my stepson. Top of the range Tesla from his company. Electric care and some/most hybrids are buggered in the case of electrical failure and many can't be towed either.

Vardy v Rooney [2020] EWHC 3156 (QB)

But regardless of if she has her own genuine email address or unused email address registered on MN, surely they would be able to PM her? Which she'd get when coming on to the site

I have mine switched off but anyway I'd just treat anything like that as spam and delete.

is it a Cupra? I have heard they have had a lot of problems.

Could you please tell us the make and model so we can be aware? I have a brand new car and I'm on the motorway a lot with a pre schooler so it is very worrying especially if something can be done about it before it's too late

It would be very easy to prove that you broke down at a certain time on a certain day in a certain year in a certain make and model of car. I don't think the OP has any worries on that score.

And in any event, one story on MN isn't going to cause serious damage to eg BMW (chosen because they actually did do a recall for this exact issue).

You can safely ignore threatening emails if your review is honest. Any attempt to sue you for defamation would fail.

Unfortunately with cars getting more and more high tech this kind of thing is bound to happen , which is why I buy cars that are as low tech as possible , which is quite difficult nowadays .

Google "Car name car year service bulletins". The manufacturer will notify dealerships by sending out a service bulletin for problems like this, even if there is no recall or government action.

I'd bet a months wages it's a Mercedes

My guess would be a Kia Sportage

I've googled car forums there you get the truth from the unfortunately people who have experienced whatever issue/fault a particular car has. Put up your own post explaining the fault if it's a particular problem it will generate replies

Quite a lot of different cars being named here. Makes you wonder and worry

"Kia Sportage Shuts Down While Driving (Common Causes) | Drivetrain Resource" www.700r4transmissionhq.com/kia-sportage-shuts-off-when-driving/

Wow that's true

You can't libel (or defame) a company, and you really really can't libel a product. Even if you could, 'honestly-held opinion' is a libel defence. The term sometimes gets chucked around as a scare tactic. I'd have told them to go ahead – and then wait while nothing ever happened.

If you nearly give people a factual account of what happened to your parents without malice the company could have no case against you..

Mearly

My low-tech 2001 old banger is currently looking like a safe option!

Do some google research. There have been instances where for example an issue had been acknowledged in NA but not UK. (Mini)

Google for other people complaining about the same issue.

I had a Renault where the electrics went while I was driving on the M4, my brand new car lost power and I had my dc’s in the car; and it was without exception one of the most scariest days of my life.