Fault in steering raises questions

Press, 28 July 1989, Page 38

Fault in steering raises questions

By

SUE BAKER

in Britain

It is the kind of thing motoring jokes are made of, but it wasn’t funny when it happened to Phillip Hetherington. He was adjusting the steering wheel on his brand new £21,000 ($60,000) Ford Granada 4x4 (with just 300 miles on the speedometer), when he felt It come loose in his hands. Although still attached to the steering column, the wheel could be moved to left or right with no effect whatsoever on the driving wheels. Fortunately it happened while the car was stationary, but Mr Hetherington, a partner in a management consultancy firm from Bromley, Kent, had just driven up the Al at 110 km/h with his wife beside him, on his first long journey in the two-week-old car. Before pulling away after a coffee stop, he decided to reset , the steering wheel, only to find it turn into a useless appendage with no control over the car. He discovered that the critical bolt which should have held the steering column on to the steering box was missing. “I was flabbergasted. It just wasn’t there and we couldn’t find it anywhere,” said Mr Hetherington. “The mechanism was held together simply by friction, so it could have become disconnected at any time. You can imagine my feelings, having just driven a long distance at motorway speeds.” The car was put right under warranty, and Ford has confirmed that a pinch bolt in the steering system had “come adrift,” in the words of a spokesman. “There is absolutely no excuse for it, and we are carrying out an investigation at our Cologne factory.” Ford insists that this is ' the first time the fault has occurred in more than 400,000 Granadas built. But Mr Hetherington, . whose car has since been j thoroughly checked ands§ given a clean bill of § health, has been told that because he incurred neither injury nor financial loss, no claim can be made on the manufacturer or retailer for supplying a grossly unsafe vehicle — despite the inconvenience of a two-hour delay while the fault was repaired, and the fright he suffered. “Is this fair?” he questions. He also wonders how many unexplained accidents may be caused by mechanical failures.— The Observer.