Another MOT failure story

[666bxg]

Another quick rant.....

My '03 CLK240 cab failed its 'only' 2nd MOT due to a cracked front coil spring at 50k miles. And this was after the car receiving a 'health check' at the dealers prior to the MOT. And I'm so glad I took out service contract on this car :bannana:

Is this a common problem? Anyone had similar experience? Will the car need an alignment after both coil springs are changed?

Since I got the car 1 year ago I've had these replaced:

gearbox and torque convertor
alarm siren/module
cracked high level brake light
2 new coil springs

not to mention a B service too..... all on service contract plus

Glad I took service contract = YES
Happy with the car = ....but I may just be unlucky

 

[fuzzer]

2003 doesnt sound like a good year.
I had a lot of bother with my W203 2003 model too

 

[Dieselman]

I think more cars are suffering broken road springs now as the roads are rougher, drains are now sunken, too many speed humps and lower profile tyres.

 

[Dryce]

I think more cars are suffering broken road springs now as the roads are rougher, drains are now sunken, too many speed humps and lower profile tyres.

Agree totally.

The standard these days is to resurface a road and leave a two inch drop to the drain covers at the original pre-resurfacing levels.

 

[MangoMan]

Low-Pro's are the biggest culprit here, even more so when they are not standard fitting on the car.

 

[television]

I think more cars are suffering broken road springs now as the roads are rougher, drains are now sunken, too many speed humps and lower profile tyres.

I think that you have covered it all, the rain will make the roads worse if thats possible

 

[barryj]

I agree to an extent with the road thing, I had 2 cracked rears on a 40k mile TT and two on an M3 before that with less miles, however a friend works for a large manufacturer of automotive suspension springs and he reckons that the testing tolerences keeps being reduced along with the material spec by the car makers to reduce cost.

 

[tintin]

My 2000 Carisma had a snapped front spring this year - the dealer said they rarely see them, but I put it down to the vast number of speed bumps I have to negotiate on a daily basis.

 

[andy_k]

low profile tyres make a huge difference as do alloy wheels - there is less "flex" in an alloy rim than a steel one and because they are lighter more of the impact is transferred to the suspension to sort out. Heavy steel rims actually provide a degree of damping

tee hee - what price vanity?

Andy

 

[Carrotchomper]

My 2000 Carisma had a snapped front spring this year - the dealer said they rarely see them, but I put it down to the vast number of speed bumps I have to negotiate on a daily basis.

It's definitely a factor. I routinely work out of 2 police stations- At the first we have a relatively large patch, with long runs but NO speed bumps to routinely cross. The other station covers a large estate with a big car crime problem, which has huge speed bumps everywhere which need to be crossed daily.

Guess which station's cars feel awful to drive, baggy in every way and regularly need fixing?

Similar age cars, but the ones going over the speed humps get hammered. It affects everything- Gear linkages, steering, suspension...

 

[recycled]

It's definitely a factor. I routinely work out of 2 police stations- At the first we have a relatively large patch, with long runs but NO speed bumps to routinely cross. The other station covers a large estate with a big car crime problem, which has huge speed bumps everywhere which need to be crossed daily.

Guess which station's cars feel awful to drive, baggy in every way and regularly need fixing?

Similar age cars, but the ones going over the speed humps get hammered. It affects everything- Gear linkages, steering, suspension...

Hmm now you have given the councils a perfect way to reduce the car population in the country .