Snapped rear coil spring on Renault Clio

My Renault Clio went in for its MoT recently. It failed due to what they called "snapped rear coil spring". The garage said they would need to replace both as they have to be done in pairs. Quote of £291.32 for both. The car has only done 15000 miles and is four years old.

I complained as I did not feel this was fair were and tear on the car and expensive. The AA advised that this should not have happened in such few miles, perhaps at 50,000 miles and that I should get the parts for independent evaluation.

Renault has offered me 60 per cent off the work. Apparently now they are paying part I can no longer have the old parts, only pictures they have taken of them. They told me that I am the first person they know to ask for the old parts and if I want the parts I would have to pay in full as the dealership needs them as Renault are contributing.

What should I do and are Renault allowed to do this?

Asked on 23 August 2016 by Jayne Tweedie

Answered by Honest John

You're caught between a rock and a hard place and it simply isn't worth a battle. If you paid the full price for the springs and obtained the snapped remains for checking, your costs for a technical report would be far greater than you could hope to recover in court. So my advice is to take the expedient route and take the 60 per cent offer from Renault, which leaves you paying about £120.

Tags: legal and consumer advice technical issues

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