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There have been a lot recently particularly on VW.
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In 2002 both rear springs broke on a 1998 Clio that we had from new, and had been very lightly used. I was suspicious it was a common fault as the dealer had loads of them in stock. This was in the days of 1 yr warranties and the dealer just shrugged. I called Renault and they agreed (without any argument) to do FOC.
To me, this is another 'fit for purpose' issue. You wouldn't expect the spring to break after 3yrs 3mths, so get the job done then sue the original supplying dealer.
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Two weeks ago I had to change the o/s rear spring on my car.
Yesterday the n/s front broke. Shame the spings aren't the same size or I could have used the othet half of the pair I bought and didn't get round to fitting the other side (which I am doing today, seeing the car is immobile and earliest I can get the front springs it Tuesday).
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In 2002 both rear springs broke on a 1998 Clio that we had from new, and had been very lightly used. I was suspicious it was a common fault as the dealer had loads of them in stock. This was in the days of 1 yr warranties and the dealer just shrugged.
Our 98 Clio had a 3 year warranty from new.
>>I called Renault and they agreed (without any argument) to doFOC.
Thats the main thing though.
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I would be vary wary of doing this, the broken ends may decide to catch the tyre side wall and rip it. Without seeing exactly where the spring is broken and the possibility of the spring doing the above damage, I honestly don't see how anyone can judge this over the "net".
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Not really a new thing. Merc 190E rear springs were quite well known for breaking.
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Not really a new thing. Merc 190E rear springs were quite well known for breaking.
chevette fronts were my favourite................not :(
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\"a little man in a big world/\"
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Was talking to my KYB rep the other day and apparently on the Clios its due to Renault trying to save money. Apparently normal springs have 5 turns but Renault decided it would be better to use 4 and therefore less metal so less cost but as we now see, more likelihood of failure.
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just had the same problem on wifes 4 year old golf. VW doing plenty of business on springs, they blame it on speed humps and poor road surface. Mind your fingers if using spring compressor.
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I had an old Audi 80 that had a broken front spring which I didnt notice when I bought it. When turning steering onto full lock it would make a comical "boinnng" noise. Luckily that one had broken right at the top at the spring seat, so didnt really affect driving.
The Audi was 11 years old, it surprises me they can fail on 3 y.o. cars!
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I have just taken the Focus to my local garage for repair, I could not face my local Ford dealer, they are useless.
The boss at the local garage said that just lately he had alot of Ford's with broken springs, he reacons that Ford are using cheap parts. This is pretty good as I once had a 1987 Escort, which rusted away to nerely nothing. They said then that it was some cheap steel which they used.
It will not happen to me again.
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I just had to do my wifes Citroen C3 o/s/f last week. Three years one month old and 17,000 miles.
I had the same problem with my 406 2.1 when that was under 4 years old, but the springs I put on that are now 4 years old and still OK! (I hope).
I didn't bother going to the dealer with the Citroen as I have serviced this car from new myself, and doubt that I would have got anywhere with a freebie. I am just pleased that about 6 months ago, I took the car in for a "recall" which was to fit large cups below the spring seats to stop the spring dropping down the strut and doing more damage in the event of the spring breaking. This probably saved me a few pounds, but presumeably, this has been done due to a high number of failures on C3s?
Reggie
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I have just taken the Focus to my local garage for repair, I could not face my local Ford dealer, they are useless.>>
That is just plain daft!
The car is only 4 months out of warranty, I would bet that Ford would cover this repair without any question, at the very least they would provide a significant contribution towards the cost.
My Mondeo had done nearly 80k miles and the dealer informed me that Ford would pay 75% of the cost of a new steering column, because it was creaking, I was not even aware of a problem! The dealer adjusted it instead and it has been fine since, now 105k, so although I did not take up the offer the offer was there.
I have had experience of three Ford dealers in the last four years all of which have been infinitely better than my previous experience with Vauxhall dealers, if you dont get on with the dealer go to another one.
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That is just plain daft!
It might be daft but the next Ford dealer is 20 miles away, and I didn't fancy driving the car there with a broken spring.
It took my local Ford main dealer 5 days to repair a faulty oil pressure switch when the car was 2 weeks old,and I had to go back because they did not fit the engine cover (it was on the back seat), so I certainly didn't fancy their efforts.
The local garage, which is called Technicar, delivered the car back yesterday. It only took them 2 hours, so I am quite pleased with their service. I have not had the bill though!
I'm still cross with Ford for using poor quality parts, I keep thinking Golf, not the game the car.
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Focus springs are now quite a good seller. We sell a fair few these days, today we sold one for the front of an A3,and ordered one for a VW Sharan. In this months CAT magazine (trade mag)it is stated that suppliers now sell 3 springs to every shock absorber. It is not just ford's problem.
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Just thinking out loud - has there been an enforced change in the way that springs are processed - a treatment chemical banned or some such? Poor quality steel is another obvious possibility.
If it is the speed humps that are the root cause, then the manufacturers need to accommodate this by changing the loading spectrum they use during fatigue testing of suspension components.
For aerospace parts, restrictions on the use of Cadmium plating are becoming a bit of a headache, and new alternatives will have to be identified and qualified.
Number_Cruncher
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For aerospace parts, restrictions on the use of Cadmium plating are becoming a bit of a headache, and new alternatives will have to be identified and qualified.
I thought cadmium went out with high button boots. The last thing I came across in automotive parts that was cadmium plated was in the early 1960s.
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L\'escargot.
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I thought cadmium went out with high button boots.
Yes, you're right about the general use of Cadmium, but it still has its specialist uses; which are still allowed. A380 has some cadmium plated parts - I'm not sure whether the new Boeing Dreamliner has, or not.
Number_Cruncher
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It might be daft but the next Ford dealer is 20 miles away, and I didn't fancy driving the car there with a broken spring. It took my local Ford main dealer 5 days to repair a faulty oil pressure switch when the car was 2 weeks old,and I had to go back because they did not fit the engine cover (it was on the back seat), so I certainly didn't fancy their efforts. The local garage, which is called Technicar, delivered the car back yesterday. It only took them 2 hours, so I am quite pleased with their service. I have not had the bill though! I'm still cross with Ford for using poor quality parts, I keep thinking Golf, not the game the car.
You could have a go at sending the bill to Ford Customer Services, they are pretty good, worth a try.
These spring failures have been common on BMWs so not a Ford issue, the fact is that regular stats say that Foci are more reliable than Golfs and Ford dealers are better than VW dealers.
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Thanks for all the replies. I will try sending the bill to Ford customer services, I will let you know the result.
You know what they say, statistics can prove anything. I don't know how good or bad VW dealers are, the Passat has never gone wrong yet. I keep saying this, and I know one day it will let me down bigtime. In fact I am going up the M1 tonight, so if anyone sees a silver Y reg Passat with a fuming driver on the hardshoulder, you will know it's me!
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