Hello,
Has anyone had heard of a 2010 Sport Tech (6 years old at the time) with less than 60K miles having springs so corroded they are snapping under normal driving conditions?
Not unusual for springs to break on UK roads at that age at all, the corrosion is likely to be surface and mainly cosmetic though it may have penetrated a crack.
Springs are considered consumable parts in this country… Wouldn’t worry me in the slightest.
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Would still think that if you had had the car less than 10 days and it was sold with a fresh MOT with no advisories?
If you had a 2010 that was 6yrs old when the spring snapped are you telling us this happened 4/5 yrs ago and you haven’t got over it yet?
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Because of delays with the ombudsman it’s only just gotten into the court.
You’re going to court over a broken spring and asking for advice on a public forum?
'Kinell!
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6 years and 60k you would not be surprised at broken spring coils on a modern car. It’s unfortunate and rare that you bought 10 days prior to failure but I would expect the selling dealer to exchange springs at cost on a goodwill basis to be the best outcome you could reasonably expect.
I work in the motor trade and have known springs to go when bringing them off the forecourt.
I had one go on a test drive and it took the tyre out as well. Customer still bought it
MK375: Actually, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives the consumer an absolute right of rejection within 30 days of purchase if a fault, not present at the time of of purchase, occurs. Goodwill doesn’t come into it.
Langleyparkmackem: I assume they were used cars? The dealer tried to argue that even new cars can snap springs at anytime for no reason, which is nonsense.
I think you should have told the whole tale right at the start instead of drip feeding info in.
So from what we can gather now; you bought a car, the spring then broke on it less than 10 days after that. Then what happened?
You are confusing new goods and a 6 year old car. It is unreasonable to expect a 6 year old car to either a, not have faults or b, not develop faults.
You would have to prove that the spring was broken at point of sale.
In answer to the original question, yes, as others have pointed out, coil spring failures are now a fact of motoring life. From the ones I’ve seen (I recently replaced a pair on the back of a friends VW) they are brittle failures, and there is no prior warning of failure. My friend actually actually heard the spring break when the car was stationary at a set of lights! Yes, they probably start from surface corrosion, which an MoT or inspection at service time might note, but only a forensic inspection could predict failure. A local garage recently mentioned that replacing broken coil springs was one of their most common repair jobs.
JS
I am well aware that springs break. The only ones I have had break were on a very high mileage 98 Passat. They broke well after 180K miles and in excess of 15 yrs old. The KYB replacements didn’t last long unlike the OEM ones.
My question is not about springs in general, but about the Bilstiens used on the Sport Tech. Have any of you had them break?
There are comments on this forum about springs lasting a lifetime. Also, 2 main agents have told me that snapping springs on MX5s is rare. A mazda tech told me he had only every changed one on an MX5. This car broke 2 in quick succession, the 2nd one whilst it was parked. I would expect “uprated” Bilstien springs to be more durable than generic aftermarket springs.
I am not confusing new with used. The CRA applies to used cars as well. This has been confirmed to me by solicitors and the Ombudsman. The dealership just refused to comply, that’s why it’s in the court. Also, I don’t have to prove when the spring broke, as it is the dealership’s contention that it broke after sale. I know it didn’t, but that is moot.
Everything is designed to fail after ten years (or with some cars just after the Warranty period), but not often before. The Chapman philosophy applied to modern mass production.
A few years back my mechanic was showing me which bottom ball joint on my Vextra’s rear suspension was seized and making a noise, and not the driver’s side as I had thought, and as he moved the wheel up and down that spring broke right in front of us with a sharp “Tang!” noise. But it was twelve years old… and had done about 70K miles.
We replaced the spring on both sides.
Maybe the question isn’t about the reliability of Bilsteins but rather why they where so corroded…
I don’t believe the vehicle history was honest. “1 owner from new FSH”. They did the MOT themselves less than a month before sale. They kept shtum about the corroded springs, the pitted discs(on the inside) and the pads being down to 3mm.
None of those are MOT failures though.
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No they are not, but the corroded springs are supposed to pass and advise as are the pads as the pads wouldn’t make to the next MOT. You can be sure if it was a routine customer MOT they would be mentioned in the hope they might get the work.