[revver]

Hi All,

I would like to share an incident that happened to my friend after he took delivery of a brand new Scorpio N. As he is not a member here, I am posting this on his behalf.

Here's the summary of events that happened in his own words:

SCOPRIO-N. MANUFACTURING DEFECT?

Wish I could say that I am a Proud Owner of the "Big Daddy of SUVs". It took only seconds to feel that it was not a great decision. Would like to bring to all my fellow owners and Mahindra Group about a recent incident with my Scorpio-N. Got the delivery of my much-awaited Vehicle on 8th August. Since then, have been driving within City limits, specifically for office commute & weekend shopping that too in just 2 weeks.

On 16th Aug evening, had to step out for a casual shopping nearby. Once done and back to my Apartment parking lot, dropped my wife and kid and then was all set to park the vehicle inside the parking lot. Moved the vehicle with this intention and all I could hear was my wife & daughter screaming "STOP. STOP.. THE TYRE CAME OUT". Literally applied the brake that second and came out of the vehicle.

Shockingly I see that my Left Front wheel was hanging out. The Suspension mount (nut-bolt connection from the mount to the frame and lower arm) has fallen off and the tyre is hanging at almost a 45-degree angle. I am in no position to move my vehicle. Tried reaching the dealer and as expected none were available for a visit (fair enough as it was around 8:30PM).

Cannot imagine this happening on a highway. In fact, we had a road trip planned on 19th Aug. Thanks to the almighty for the blessings, this happening in a very safe place. Considering this happened in a very odd (blocking vehicle movement in & out) place in the parking area, after 2 hours of big struggle, we managed to manually push the tyre back and move the vehicle very slowly to the parking lot.

The next day began with phone calls to my dealer who is 30 kms away. I requested a mechanic to be sent for fixing the same to have the vehicle moved to the service center. The dealer confirmed that no mechanic can be sent to such a distance and I should contact the nearest SC (Service Centre). RSA was suggested as the only option. While the dealer was helpful in making calls and providing contact, would have expected immediate assistance given the criticality.

Contacted the nearby SC and same result. NO mechanic can be sent and the only option is RSA (Road Side Assistance). I reached out to my dealer for the GM/Zonal manager contact. The dealer also agreed to speak to the GM. Sent a detailed message to the GM. Simultaneously contacted RSA, and made multiple calls for informing the details. CRM from my dealer calls me and informs me that they are in discussion with the nearby SC for a mechanic to be arranged. Finally, in the afternoon the mechanic is assigned to come. GM calls me to inform the person at my gate. Temporarily fixes the issue and takes the vehicle to the service centre. They are now replacing the parts and will be delivered in 3-4 days. I am waiting to know the root cause of the issue.

This is a VERY VERY serious concern. How can such a thing happen to an automobile group who has been in the industry for such a long time and who emphasises a lot on 'SAFETY'. If this was to happen while travelling at a higher speed then there could have been causalities. VERY DISAPPOINTED CUSTOMER NOW. Looking forward to getting answers from Mahindra.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=utPMe8JbNg4?feature=share

If this happened while he was driving, it surely would've caused an accident. Fortunately, this happened in his parking area.

What I could understand is that the nut that fastens the Knuckle to the upper Control arm was not tightened properly. Don't know how this happened. If the tightening torque was not verified after the assembly line, how did it pass so many quality checks and PDI. I Hope Mahindra finds out the root cause and ensures that this does not happen in the future to any of their vehicles.

[rajesh2812]

Originally Posted by revver

If this happened while he was driving, it surely would've caused an accident. Fortunately, this happened in his parking area.

Very scary! Thank god this didn’t happen at some other place. My wife made me cancel the Jimny booking after seeing a video of a Jimny accident in Kerala. She wants me to go for the much safer Scorpio N. Now after learning about your friend’s expierience, I wonder which car we can trust.

[Aditya]

Mahindra Scorpio-N : Suspension mount falls off within 2 weeks of delivery - Posts moved to a new thread.

[supertinu]

Certainly a scary incident and not expected. This should be tweeted to Anand Mahindra and also escalated directly to Mahindra officials in addition to dealership. Dealer will downplay it.

[ashivas89]

The title should read: Scorpio Suspension Upper Wishbone Joint Failure

There is no such thing as a "suspension mount"

This seems to be a case of fastener failure. Cannot get a good look at the alloy steering knuckle/ upright to see if the pocket that holds the ball joint shank has failed. If it hasn't, then clearly the nut that is supposed to hold the joint in place has come off, possibly due to not being fastened properly during assembly. If that is the case, then it is some scary QC by mahindra.

Ruling out fastener failure due to metal fatigue and loss of bolt pretension as a consequence of durability limit loading because the car is brand new and the owner's claim that it has only been driven in the city.

[BrakeDancer]

Imagine christening yourself as the 'Big Daddy' and then having the damn wheels come off. Funny and sad at the same time. Maybe if they focused a bit more on the basic quality of their products and less on the infantile jingoism, such incidents can be minimised.

[purohitanuj]

Is this a new incident? I recall an exact same incident happened and was shared either here or on the whatsapp group. It was exactly the same failure.

[Hemi6.2]

Either the the knuckle broke from the upper joint or the fastener came loose, both are very serious QC issues.
Attaching a picture from the official review, encircling the area of concern.

[svsantosh]

Originally Posted by revver

Attachment 2493776

To begin with, my eyes can see the fastener/thread is intact. Which means the nut was not torqued at all.

There are two ways to handle this case. I am not going to suggest which one you have to choose, it is upto you(r friend) personally.

1) Go Legal/Social Media; the usual and try to push against a hard wall. I will stop here.

2) Sit with the GM Workshop & GM Sales & if possible the Director/Owner of the showroom which sold you the car, explain your experience in person.

In the meeting, the agenda will be below...

-> First get the car totally checked as much as possible in a lift by the top most technician they have. There is always one master/ustaad which any organization has, trust me.

-> Use a torque wrench and retorque any and all visible fastener.

-> Check engine health using a M&M scanner, take detailed print outs and log all this data on a paper.

-> Same applies to the GB if it is controlled by the ECM, I am not sure if M&M GBs show up on the scanner. If not, get it checked out by any means the workshop deems Ok.

-> Brakes, electricals, suspension, shocks, the others - full check up

You had a stoke of bad luck, sorry to hear that. But if this were an road accident (even if you did not do any mistake) how would you handle it? Be rest assured that this was only a one human made an error and thankfully the overall car is not a lemon (you will know once the showroom checks it totally and signs off on it).

Do try to get an additional 2-3 year warranty on the car. Do not push for a cheap monetary compensation, more often than not, many other options are out the door as soon as money enters the conversation. The showroom also would not want to pay up for M&M screwing up. They are the middle men here. It is not like they are covering up a PDI time scratch/repainted door or sold you a test drive car without your knowledge.

Yes, last but not least get these replaced FOC (free of cost)

Upper arm
Knuckle
Lower Arm
Axle + Wheel Hub
Link Rods
ABS/wheel speed Sensor
Steering Tie Rod
Brake hose (this is for sure!)
Rim (cannot see if its scratched)
Tyre (not clear as well)

If the showroom says insurance, politely tell them you have a 1% chance of suing the showroom for doing a shoddy PDI (its a very distant & loose legal cause, but negotiate and push for a FOC, they should easily get warranty).

Keep us informed what happens...

[100Kmphormore]

Get the car replaced, if possible. A new car cannot have this happen. Repair only fixes an issue that happens due to wear and tear but this is outright carelessness on the companys part - deliver a vehicle that is robust.

[ferrarirules]

Originally Posted by revver

What I could understand is that the nut that fastens the Knuckle to the upper Control arm was not tightened properly. Don't know how this happened. If the tightening torque was not verified after the assembly line, how did it pass so many quality checks and PDI. I Hope Mahindra finds out the root cause and ensures that this does not happen in the future to any of their vehicles.

It is really sad to see what happened with your car. Upper wishbone mount breaking in parking (at crawling speeds) means a big lapse in tightening of bolts. You should take Mahindra to task on this. Ask for minimum free extended warranty.

Having said that our forum is recently getting filled with new car breakdown complaints. I think the reason for all this is
- The manufacturers having big order backlogs and running round the clock operations to clear them as quickly as possible. But in the end the person doing quality checks is a human, defects start to creep in when you are overworked. I am not defending Mahindra here but this is the reason of the sorry state of affairs.
- Lack of consumer supporting laws are worsening the situation. Cases against manufacturers drag on for years, they have legal teams on payroll to delay the process as much as possible. Anywhere outside India, manufacturer will be dragged to courts for such substandard cars and manufacturers will have to pay hefty compensation and replace the car as well.

According to me, our forum should work with other forums/automobile review sites to make a representation to govt for implementing lemon laws. If we can have BNCAP, we should have lemon law as well, all the developed countries have it. Example of UK's lemon law - link

[Comrade]

Aren’t suspension nuts suppose to have split pin aka cotter pin to prevent this failure? Doesn’t Mahindra use them?

[Turbanator]

Is that Ball Joint the only place where this assembly is supported? I have doubts as this cannot carry all the load. Need to have a better picture for the first image.

[ferrarirules]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

Is that Ball Joint the only place where this assembly is supported? I have doubts as this cannot carry all the load. Need to have a better picture for the first image.

HEMI6.2 already added the picture of the unbroken suspension from the TEAM BHP official review - link to official review pic. From the pic, it is clear that there is only one point where upper wishbone connects to suspension. I found another image of the suspension setup alone from Autocar India. It also shows a single joint on top - link

As the OP was turning the car right, the upper wishbone came undone and the tyre swung out from the top. The whole suspension setup is still intact (even steering arm is connected), only hub lost the upper support to stay upright.

[NomadSK]

Not sure from the picture, but it looks ball joint at the upper control arm of the double wishbone suspension has failed or sheared off. Probably while turning suspension may be going beyond the articulation limits of the ball joint. These things don’t wear off so soon. Shouldn’t happen in almost new car. So if that’s the case, then definitely QC of that ball joint is questionable.

Any chance this happened while sharp/full turning ? That would have stressed the weak ball joint (assuming material defect and existing weak condition).

Also, if one ball joint is damaged then others (both wheels) will also need to be inspected or rather changed. And finally wheel alignment to be done.

Seems this is the failure location. Pic is just to highlight the location of failure (as per my understanding) and not related with the OP’s vehicle.