So as I seem to thoroughly enjoy p!ssing in a force 10 wind I thought I might as well send a reply....
Hi John,
Thank you for your email.
We have spoken to Maserati and they say that an MOT inspection is suitable and visual inspection without dismantling is sufficient to check for potential wishbone failure.
Considering all these cars had valid MOT's at the time the faults were found, it suggests an MOT type inspection is not sufficient to guarantee safe use of the car between service intervals (which can be annual, or more).
Therefore..
1) If I take my car to a government approved MOT station today and it passes, as per Maseratis communication, who is at fault if the wishbone then fails causing an accident. Is it the MOT station for not doing a good enough job? Is it me because I shouldn't trust a government approved MOT station to check if a car is safe to use on the public highway?
2) You have also not answered my question regarding cars that have full Maserati service history which have this fault. If Maserati's own network of garages can not spot the problem then what chance does anybody have?
3) Maserati's suggestion that the bush is the cause of wishbone failure can only be true if the bush has expanded through contamination. Considering the bush is contained within the wishbone could you please enlighten us (as a qualified engineer) how we measure bush expansion during an MOT type inspection where the bush is not removed from the wishbone nor the wishbone from the car?
The only 100% sure way to guarantee that one of these cars is safe to use on the road on any given day is to remove the wishbones and then remove the bushes and inspect for any kind of contamination that could lead to an expansion of the bush and therefore cracking of the wishbone.
This kind of procedure is not documented in any Maserati service scheduling anywhere, nor is it covered in Maserati's letter to owners.
I repeat, you have been provided evidence from cars with full up to date service history and failures that can only be seen by removing the wishbones from the car yet you accept Maserati's position that it's through lack of maintenance, even though in a number of cases it was their own service agents that failed to spot the problem.
Personally I find the DVSA's and Maserati's response to this potentially fatal problem embarrassing and disgusting on many levels.
Mark