Sachs shock absorbers

[Kris9060]

Hi all


I had a low speed kerb impact at the weekend which resulted in my drivers side front wheel being bent inward. Garage have suggested replacing the shock initially, to determine if hub is bent etc, told today the part is on back order for another few weeks and asked if I could source a second hand one.

Struggling to find anything decent on eBay/breakers but I’ve seen some SACHS shocks for a reasonable price, no experience with this sort of thing but reviews are decent and I know some manufacturers use this brand anyway.

Question is, should I hold out for og Audi part to become available or buy the SACHS and have them fitted?

Car: AUDI S3 8V

TIA

[Krikkit]

If it's a genuine Sachs damper in good condition I'd go for it. There's a reasonable chance the part from Audi would be one anyway!

[Kris9060]

Look genuine and I can return if needed, brand new apparently.

[Olivergt]

I don't mean to be facetious, but can the garage not determine what is bent before just changing parts to see if it's fixed?

P.S. Sachs should be fine.

[wyson]

Sachs is a VAG OEM. Good chance they are probably one of the manufacturers of the ‘genuine’ Audi part anyway.

Look at the shocks on your car and buy the OEM part. My indy does this. Says it rolls off the exact same production line but is cheaper as it doesn’t have the car manufacturers branding nor markup.

[Kris9060]

I thought the same but in all honesty they’re doing me a favour by fitting the car in last minute so I’m trying to keep them on side. I can’t be bothered to get it towed again, to someone I don’t know

[Kris9060]

wyson said:

Sachs is a VAG OEM. Good chance they are probably one of the manufacturers of the ‘genuine’ Audi part anyway.

Look at the shocks on your car and buy the OEM part. My indy does this. Says it rolls off the exact same production line but is cheaper as it doesn’t have the car manufacturers branding nor markup.

Thanks, just wanted to make sure I wasn’t buying something substandard

[Diesel Barge Sympathiser]

As said, you'll be fine with Sachs but I would see if they have a catalogue to double check / cross reference the part number before you order. Even if nothing else, check it on Autodoc.

[E-bmw]

If they can't see if it is bent or not, get it replaced at the same time.

Oh, and I would do the same (shock also) on both sides if were me working on mine.

[JoeMk1]

Leaving aside the debate about whether the dampers need replacing at all, I'm going to go against the general consensus and say source from Audi.

A quick look on the online Sachs catalogue shows they only list one part number against all A3 8V variants (and the equivalent Leon, Octavia and Golf), from the 1.2 up to the S3.

[AI1601]

Sometimes there is a direct aftermarket equivalent and sometimes not. Get the genuine Audi part number and cross ref on the Sachs catalogue. If the Sachs part number cross refs with only the Audi part number, you should be good to go but if it also lists other Audi part numbers then I'd personally get it from Audi. Also worth checking if you have the adaptive electronic suspension (think it's called magride?) and if you do then you'll have no choice but to go to Audi and it'll cost you a fair bit more than a standard shock.

[wyson]

I would actually look at the dampers fitted on your car.

[stevieturbo]

Olivergt said:

I don't mean to be facetious, but can the garage not determine what is bent before just changing parts to see if it's fixed?

P.S. Sachs should be fine.

You would think assessing to see if anything is bent or out of alignment would be the sensible first step...instead of firing parts at it.

[dhutch]

wyson said:

Sachs is a VAG OEM.

Also for the BMW E4Y and likely others.

[dhutch]

stevieturbo said:

You would think assessing to see if anything is bent or out of alignment would be the sensible first step...instead of firing parts at it.

A bend shock, often if not maybe always, is fairly obvious surely?

Certainly anything bent enough to prevent drivability should be clearly the wrong shape!

[stevieturbo]

dhutch said:

A bend shock, often if not maybe always, is fairly obvious surely?

Certainly anything bent enough to prevent drivability should be clearly the wrong shape!

if badly bent yes.....but the OP says it was a low speed kerb impact. It would seem odd for a low speed impact to cause much harm really, especially to a shock.

Unless it wasn't quite as low as suggested, or flat out sideways on lol

[dhutch]

Granted. But then also talks about not wanting to get it towed again, suggesting it's not drivable.