What exactly is a vendors Responsabilty on parts??

amy - well said..... a lot of times it comes down to "who you know"....... especially with the increased usage of the internet and forums such as this, consumers can bolster their cases and expose issues to a much greater audience. this often will be the vendors to step up and do the right thing. not always, but it helps to have a venue such as this. the other side of that sword is the person that bashes a vendor WITHOUT just cause. either way, aftermarket parts leave a customer on their own from a legal standpoint. you have to pay to play........

 

Very well put Dave.

I don't see any other more benign option for this vendor. I think it's very fair to offer this to them. On the flip side, some have ranted to every single person on every lx forum about their dealings with a particular vendor. AAC comes to mind. Even the name Kelly surfaces to memory. It's happened before and it'll happen again. A lot of the times, the dispute gets resolved, albeit in an ugly way. In situations where several manufacturers are involved, the blame game starts and clutters any hopes of a negotiation. I hope your bud gets things worked out. It's quite a financial hit to take at one time, especially if it's his daily driver.

 

I can see where it might be tough for a vendor to say whether there is a "known" problem or not and pull the plug on the product or change it. Is it true that there is always the chance of a random bad spring? or are springs individually tested and the assumption is that they are ALL good with little to no chance of a defective one leaving the manufacturer? If it's the latter case then it would seem that the first failure would raise an alarm that heavier duty springs are called for. In that's the case then I would at least expect a vendor to recommend upgraded springs "I think the included springs are sufficient but there have been a couple of failures and I'd recommend the upgraded springs if you want to be very safe". If not, then it's a tough call. Even tougher with people tuning and tweaking their cars themselves. Hard for a vendor to say if it was ever over revved, etc. The remote shop/install also makes it harder for a vendor to rectify. Easier to absorb doing the work yourself in your spare time rather than paying cash to someone else. Replace the heads? I'd lean towards that (I'm assuming the heads and cam were the product sold?). Were upgraded springs an option? Did the vendor recommend that? After the failure did the vendor say "No" or did the vendor say "No, because ..."

You mentioned that it failed at 40mph (as did another?). Is that relevant? Isn't it just as likely that it was stressed/fractured some time earlier and just happened to let go at that time?