An Arizona college student was given quite the scare when she claimed to have felt an explosion under her car while driving to work at 60 mph. Based on what she heard and felt, she guessed her tire had popped, but “turns out my entire wheel fell off,” she wrote in r/mildlyinfuriating. Fortunately, she processed the shock in a rather humorous way, claiming she couldn’t help but laugh at what looked like “straight out of a cartoon.”
Going by the Reddit username EveryEffect2726, the 20-year-old explained that her car “gave very little warning” up until the wheel broke. She claimed that it made an abnormal noise while in reverse and added how the car also felt like it was always in 4-wheel drive. “I was told to ignore it by my father,” she wrote as an excuse.
Reddit Claims The Arizona Woman’s Wheel Predicament Is Actually Common
It might come as a surprise to some that many Redditors commenting in EveryEffect2726’s post claim this sort of issue is pretty common, especially with her car model. “Not totaled, common issue,” wrote a comment. “Ball joint broke. That happens,” pointed out another. A third chimed in, saying how there’s an entire Facebook group dedicated to Toyota Lower Ball Joint failures.
Others shared stories, confirming that this was indeed a Toyota-specific problem. “Believe it or not Toyota issued a recall over 10+ years ago for this- it was a common failure on this gen of Sequoia, had it happen to my brother in law’s,” wrote a Redditor. EveryEffect2726 even updated her post in the comments, saying that her mechanic said the dilemma is Toyota-specific and doesn’t make a noticeable sound of concern, unlike other cars with the same issue.
One less sympathetic commenter criticized the Arizona woman for not checking her car often enough to notice the issue beforehand. She responded, saying, “I am a woman, and I’m really bad at car stuff,” blaming her dad for his poor advice. The Redditor threw tough-love remarks in response, “That absolutely changes nothing I said. It’s going to be up to you to keep yourself safe and situated. Start acting like it.”
While OP’s dad might have allegedly given her bad advice about the car, the harsh comment wasn’t wrong. Any driver is still responsible for their own safety when it comes to their car’s upkeep.
