Audi A4 cab possible broken spring
Discussion
Car is 2007 3.0 tdi A4 cab S line with 39000 miles on the clock
So just had a great week touring wales in the car, spent last Sunday, cleaning all the molten tar off it and generally minting it. Whilst doing so thought it looked down at the back right.
Put it on a level piece of ground and measured from the ground to the wheel arch, sure enough RHS is 12mm lower.
I am guessing a broken spring, though surprised at this age and mileage.
So any idea how many hours labour a dealer will take?
Any idea how much springs are, I think the last year they have different springs, will I need to get them from Audi?
Presume I only need to replace the 2 rear springs, I also presume if the shock absorbers look ok I do not need to replace them?
So just had a great week touring wales in the car, spent last Sunday, cleaning all the molten tar off it and generally minting it. Whilst doing so thought it looked down at the back right.
Put it on a level piece of ground and measured from the ground to the wheel arch, sure enough RHS is 12mm lower.
I am guessing a broken spring, though surprised at this age and mileage.
So any idea how many hours labour a dealer will take?
Any idea how much springs are, I think the last year they have different springs, will I need to get them from Audi?
Presume I only need to replace the 2 rear springs, I also presume if the shock absorbers look ok I do not need to replace them?
Normally changed in a pair as you say and if the shocks are ok no real need to change them.
Pop your reg number into euro car parts website and you should see the parts needed, go for the premium option if its listed.
Cant help with the labour time as i dont know the setup on the back of these.
Pop your reg number into euro car parts website and you should see the parts needed, go for the premium option if its listed.
Cant help with the labour time as i dont know the setup on the back of these.
Me too, broken spring on near side rear, Audi want £410 to change both sides. I raised the matter with Audi Uk as I don't expect this sort of failure on the car, springs never used to break until they changed the design to reduce costs.
Audi Uk basically said tough luck and refused any goodwill, basically classed the spring as a wear and tear item. My argument to the officious audi drone was if it was wear and tear then why isn't it excluded from their warranty but it was almost impossible to have conversation as she never shut up long enough to listen to what I said, terrible customer attitude. All I can say is their reputation is absolutely terrible when it comes to dealing customers and it is very well deserved.
Sure they don't behave like this to their German customers I.e. They don't s
t on their own doorstep just ours...
Audi Uk basically said tough luck and refused any goodwill, basically classed the spring as a wear and tear item. My argument to the officious audi drone was if it was wear and tear then why isn't it excluded from their warranty but it was almost impossible to have conversation as she never shut up long enough to listen to what I said, terrible customer attitude. All I can say is their reputation is absolutely terrible when it comes to dealing customers and it is very well deserved.
Sure they don't behave like this to their German customers I.e. They don't s
t on their own doorstep just ours...gottans - age and mileage of car?
Springs do corrode and are in direct contact with road salt fairly regularly in the UK. We replace a fair few.
Spring change should be no more than 2 hours, you can probably get away with one if the other side is in good condition. If it looks a bit sorry/cracked/corroded then do the pair.
Springs do corrode and are in direct contact with road salt fairly regularly in the UK. We replace a fair few.
Spring change should be no more than 2 hours, you can probably get away with one if the other side is in good condition. If it looks a bit sorry/cracked/corroded then do the pair.
It is a 2005 car i.e. 9 years old with 85k miles on the clock. My previous B5 A4 did 132k miles and was older and didn't break a spring running around on the exact same roads so the only conclusion I can draw is reduced quality parts/design between the B5 and B7 platforms.
There is obviously a design flaw in the spring mount that is allowing the spring to remain in a corrosive environment that leads to early failure.
Over the years cars in general have had all sorts of design problems but springs hasn't to the best of my knowledge and experience been one of them and is a recent phenomenon.
There is obviously a design flaw in the spring mount that is allowing the spring to remain in a corrosive environment that leads to early failure.
Over the years cars in general have had all sorts of design problems but springs hasn't to the best of my knowledge and experience been one of them and is a recent phenomenon.
gottans said:
Over the years cars in general have had all sorts of design problems but springs hasn't to the best of my knowledge and experience been one of them and is a recent phenomenon.
They break now as the stuff they used to be coated with years ago is hazardous and the treatments now aren't as good.I think I'm hard-faced, but I can't believe you called Audi on a 9yr old car! I did get Renault, of all companies, to do them FOC on wifey's Clio at 4yrs - and that was in days of 1yr warranties. Springs breaking was still fairly unheard of then, it was only the dealer telling me they had 10 in stock which made me realise there must be an issue.
Just had a front go on my 10yr old Merc - very common on Mercs. Warranty Direct picked up the cost - kudos them, they could have easily said it was due to corrosion.
Yes I did really just to see if they would contribute something I.e don't ask don't get and also to let them know what happened, if we the customer don't feed these things back to them they will carry on cost reducing parts and it is the customer who ends up footing the bill for inadequate parts through expensive repairs, Audi want over £400 to fix.
My understanding of why the springs break is because the ends are just chopped off and not finished to a flat termination, the new mounting method on the car leads to the spring sitting in a far more corrosive environment which leads to premature failure. If has obviously become acceptable to have springs break on cars even though it can cause serious accidents and this puts everyone's life at risk on the road, no doubt the MOT will start checking springs for corrosion before long.
Anyway what is the expected service life of a spring?
My understanding of why the springs break is because the ends are just chopped off and not finished to a flat termination, the new mounting method on the car leads to the spring sitting in a far more corrosive environment which leads to premature failure. If has obviously become acceptable to have springs break on cars even though it can cause serious accidents and this puts everyone's life at risk on the road, no doubt the MOT will start checking springs for corrosion before long.
Anyway what is the expected service life of a spring?
It doesn't mean it's a broken spring. Check them before you order any parts.
I once had a problem like this (on the rear of a different car) replaced springs (no change) swopped springs side to side (no change)
Turned out the problem was the front causing the rear to sit awkwardly and never did manage to cure it.
I would suggest that a datum point (maybe sill, chassis member etc) could be a better place to measure. Measure front and rear. 12mm (6mm down on one side and 6mm up on the other) is not that much measure again and you may find that measurement has changed as the suspension settles at a different point.
If you don't find a damaged spring I would be inclined to live with it.
I once had a problem like this (on the rear of a different car) replaced springs (no change) swopped springs side to side (no change)
Turned out the problem was the front causing the rear to sit awkwardly and never did manage to cure it.
I would suggest that a datum point (maybe sill, chassis member etc) could be a better place to measure. Measure front and rear. 12mm (6mm down on one side and 6mm up on the other) is not that much measure again and you may find that measurement has changed as the suspension settles at a different point.
If you don't find a damaged spring I would be inclined to live with it.
http://www.vagpro.co.uk/convertible-roofs.html
Use this guy or call him at least.
He fixed mine the other month and we had a 'mini' Audi meet too.
Say the guy with the light blue S4 recommended you call him.
Use this guy or call him at least.
He fixed mine the other month and we had a 'mini' Audi meet too.
Say the guy with the light blue S4 recommended you call him.
Car now sorted.
Can not recommend ABC in Leeds highly enough ;- http://www.abc-carservice.co.uk/
Booked in for 12.00 and waited while it was done, been told it would take about 4 hours including 4 wheel alignment.
It was on the ramps within 2 minutes of me getting there, I drove away at 4.00 with 2 new OE springs fitted, and 4 wheel laser alignment done.
It probably cost me about half what an Audi garage would charge and they dont even possess the ability to do 4 wheel alignment.
Car drives great, I am going to get the 4 wheel alignment done every year from now on, cos its a big improvement!
Still not impressed the spring broke after 38000 miles though! Never had one break before on any car I have ever owned, and some of them have been a lot older and done a lot more miles!!!
Can not recommend ABC in Leeds highly enough ;- http://www.abc-carservice.co.uk/
Booked in for 12.00 and waited while it was done, been told it would take about 4 hours including 4 wheel alignment.
It was on the ramps within 2 minutes of me getting there, I drove away at 4.00 with 2 new OE springs fitted, and 4 wheel laser alignment done.
It probably cost me about half what an Audi garage would charge and they dont even possess the ability to do 4 wheel alignment.
Car drives great, I am going to get the 4 wheel alignment done every year from now on, cos its a big improvement!
Still not impressed the spring broke after 38000 miles though! Never had one break before on any car I have ever owned, and some of them have been a lot older and done a lot more miles!!!
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