Shock Absorber Life

[dimexi]

Morning Guys,
Have a question about how long suspensions generally last; I am aware this is probably heavily dependent on driving conditions etc, but it would be good to see if anyone has encountered what I have.

Took my 'roc in for its 40k service (currently, the car is at 36,000 miles), and I got a call telling me one of the shock absorbers at the back has began to shows signs of wear/leak. This confused me a bit, as I have never had a car that starts to show signs of shock wear so early on (4 years).
I quizzed the tech who called, and she said it's no cause for alarm, but it might need changing in the next 6 months. I felt she was reluctant to say if this was normal or not, so as not to get into any trouble. What is more puzzling is that it's only one of the rear shocks that is showing the signs.

My question is: is this normal?! Should I really need to be changing my shocks after 40,000 miles? I most drive within towns and the motorway, no uneven terrain etc.
If she said it was damage caused by a pothole, perhaps I might have backed down a bit, but the fact she said "wear", just didnt sound right. That must come under the category of unusual wear (in my experience).

any help appreciated

[Deagol]

Hi Dimexi,

Not sure if this is much use in the way of an answer. As well as my Roc, we have a 2007 Touran. The shocks themselves still appear OK after 80,000 miles (mainly local driving, occasional motorway holiday travel). However, the external "tube" on the top half of the nearside rear shock has perished a bit and slid down, revealing the shiny chrome strut underneath. I would not call that wear, just old age ?

Maybe on the Roc the parts manufacturer is the same one responsible for leaky struts on the tailgate?

Sorry I cannot be mnore relevant.

D

[dimexi]

Thanks for your reply.

Got a quote from them yesterday and it will cost £304 in total. A bit much, but not as bad as I initially thought. Still wondering whether to take it up with VW hq. they'll probably ignore as they'll say its wear and tear. With the winter roads as well, might be hard to disprove

[skippy]

Thanks for your reply.

Got a quote from them yesterday and it will cost £304 in total. A bit much, but not as bad as I initially thought. Still wondering whether to take it up with VW hq. they'll probably ignore as they'll say its wear and tear. With the winter roads as well, might be hard to disprove

Yes - I am afraid you would be wasting your time with VW on a component like a shock absorber. I am not aware of any particular faults regarding shock absorbers on the Roc so must just be down to wear and tear and the terrible state of the roads. Harsh I know.

[dimexi]

Was thinking that too! Ah well, I will swallow up the cost; will see what state it is in when I go in for the MOT. They have given it 6 months for monitoring.
Thanks skippy

[skippy]

No worries mate, I remember some years ago we bought a used Fiesta with 23K on the clock and shortly afterwards we discovered that had a leaky shock absorber.

We had to meet the cost of it unfortunately as they (Ford in this case), will always claim it must be due to wear and tear. In this case we picked up the bill from the previous owner!

[skydemon]

Cars are amazing. I had a gold GTTDi with 270k on it and still with the original shocks and exhaust. Luck of the draw sometimes ;-)


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[rm0rgan]

Thought it was best practice to change shock absorbers in pairs. Is that price for a pair or each?

[dimexi]

It's for each I think. The price quote I got only referred to one side of the vehicle.

I guess it makes sense to change them in pairs, but I don't think it would make a dramatic difference if I just did one of 'em; that's except the other one is well on the way to being knackered too

[Gray170TDI]

I priced up a set of DCC shocks from VW and it was around the £600 mark

Normal shocks are around £300 a set.

[dimexi]

Hmmmmm - they probably made a mistake on my quote :/