>To have failed in this manner, it would have needed to go un-noticed for some considerable time - I've had ones which have had a year of abuse in extreme circu

>To have failed in this manner, it would have needed to go un-noticed for some considerable time - I've had ones which have had a year of abuse in extreme circumstances and still been nowhere near as bad as this, so I think you have to ask about the servicing that had been done on this car - whether or not it had been inspected. In addition, this would have had significant play in it for some time, leading to noise which would be noticeable to most drivers when on the road... Take a gander at the carnage over at reddit's /r/justrolledintotheshop . You'll see a complete ball joint failure about every other day, and that's faaaar from the most egregious offenses. There is a segment of the population that is some combination of amazingly ignorant, lazy, and/or cheap. Don't underestimate people. ;)