Garage damages shock removing seized top mount nut - who is liable for new shock?

[16vMK2 to 172Sport]

My Mrs took her 1.2 2007 Clio in to her local garage as the front o/s spring had snapped. She goes to pick it up at the end of the day and is told, oh it also needs a new shock - won't be ready untill tomorrow. She wasn't told any more info then that.

I thought this was a little strange on a car of this age so I called the garage this morning to get more info.... it turns out the shock it's self was fine, but the top mount nut was seized and the thread was totally destroyed trying to remove it.

Who is liable for replacing the shock in this scenario?

Many thanks for reading

 

[jenic]

Customer I would say.

You can't expect the garage to pay for it if it was seized when it got there, and it would be hard to prove it was down to negligence that they damaged it (although i doubt it would be)

Oh, replace in pairs too, both shocks and both springs.

 

[Goodj]

Old part, OP's problem.

+1 replace in pairs.

 

[16vMK2 to 172Sport]

I reluctantly thought as much, thanks for the quick confirmation.

I will probably do the otherside myself in the next month or two.

Does anyone know if you need spring compressors when doing the springs / shocks on a 1.2?? I didn't need them when doing the springs on my 172...

 

[Goodj]

I always thought spring compressors were par for the course on any suspension work.

so that shows what I know :/

 

[Addicted]

I imagine it depends on the springs, Eibach Sportlines tend to not need them because of how much shorter they are, but standard springs I imagine would be a lot harder!

 

[Chip-mk1]

Customer pays IMHO, that isnt their fault, so not something they should be expected to foot the bill for.

As per above, I would replace in pairs generally, although if the other shock works fine and its only a 1.2 daily driver then I suppose you could just replace the one, unlikely to cause any problems TBH

 

[Chip-mk1]

I imagine it depends on the springs, Eibach Sportlines tend to not need them because of how much shorter they are, but standard springs I imagine would be a lot harder!

If you use a set of spring compressors you are less likely to damage the thread on the top nut too, as it takes the pressure off the nut as you are undoing it, so even when they arent required, its still a good idea to use them.

 

[Ryanj]

Spring compressors aren't 100% nessisary but from my own experience, I'll be using them the next time after almost loosing my head lol

 

[Chip-mk1]

Spring compressors aren't 100% nessisary but from my own experience, I'll be using them the next time after almost loosing my head lol

If in doubt and you are trying not to use them, when you get the nut almost to the end of its thread, press down on the top mount and see if much pressure is required to move the spring, if it doesnt move very easily then it shows there is a lot of compression still and you need the spring compressors to stop it firing off. A compressed suspension spring is a hell of a lot of energy ready to release very quick so there is a real risk of injury.

 

[mantis946]

Not required for 1*2 springs but 100% needed for 1.2 springs, make sure you get some decent compressors too - nearly lost my knee on the last pair that failed on me.

 

[Wests Renault]

The customer would be liable but the garage should have informed as soon as they knew rather than when it was collected. I wouldn't expect to pay any more labour as it has already been stripped once.

We only ever recommend replacement in pairs on heavy cars (Laguna/Espace etc)

 

[Gally]

Interesting to hear people say they don't use spring compressors. Nice.

 

[Chip-mk1]

Interesting to hear people say they don't use spring compressors. Nice.

In some cases you really dont need to.

Last friday we put some new cup shocks on our 172 which has eibach springs as one of the existing ones was past its best and we had a trackday on saturday, we didnt use spring compressors I just leant on the top mount to relieave the tension while the mrs whipped the nut off with a swan neck spanner, utterly no need to walk over to the tool cabinet and get the spring compressors out and fit them etc when its so easy to do without in that instance.

As I have mentioned above though, NEVER release the nut while there is still tension under it.

 

[16vMK2 to 172Sport]

If it was my 172 I'd definitely do both (had to do it to the rears a few years back) but seeing as it's my Mrs' 1.2 we probably won't bother going to that expense.

Would anyone know if a broken spring would be covered under Renault's extended 1 year warranty on 2nd hand cars?

Thanks

 

[lemonnobby]

yes i expect it would have been

 

[16vMK2 to 172Sport]

yes i expect it would have been

I don't suppose we could go to Renault and claim back the money for the work? Or even just the parts??

 

[Stu172cup]

Your Kidding Right , the Shock wasnt at fault - The Spring was , they have caused the damage in the process of repair

How have they Damaged the thread removing the "siezed" nut ??

Personally id have tried EVERYTHING else before causing damage to a part - Did they try heating the nut , Penetrating fluid , a big feck off Air gun ??

Id get them to pay for it - if not least a contribution

 

[16vMK2 to 172Sport]

Your Kidding Right , the Shock wasnt at fault - The Spring was , they have caused the damage in the process of repair

How have they Damaged the thread removing the "siezed" nut ??

Personally id have tried EVERYTHING else before causing damage to a part - Did they try heating the nut , Penetrating fluid , a big feck off Air gun ??

Id get them to pay for it - if not least a contribution

I asked if they tried heating it - they said no as you can't heat something if it's surrounded by rubber....

Didn't ask what else they used as I assumed they would have tried everything

 

[Chip-mk1]

Your Kidding Right , the Shock wasnt at fault - The Spring was , they have caused the damage in the process of repair

No, the nut caused damaged in the process of removal by the sounds of it, quite possibly because of corrosion.

Personally id have tried EVERYTHING else before causing damage to a part - Did they try heating the nut , Penetrating fluid , a big feck off Air gun ??

your solution to not damaging a shock is to heat it, and to not damaging a thread is to use a big airgun? lol

Id get them to pay for it - if not least a contribution

I cant imagine why they would do that if they are not in anyway at fault.

 

[Chip-mk1]

I don't suppose we could go to Renault and claim back the money for the work? Or even just the parts??

What after you have been somewhere else without even letting them look at it? LOL

No mate, they might have fixed it, but they wont be up for paying for someone else to do so.

 

[Scrooge]

Everybody wants a free lunch.

 

[Stu172cup]

Hell , Must just be me on the Recieving end , i run a HGV workshop , if we damage something in the process of removal , our customers are the first ones jumping up and down claiming they arnt paying for it

Careful heat applied correctly wont get near the suspension rubber

if it was that bad id have cut the nut off using a die grinder or something like that - The first sign of difficulty id have rung you and made sure you were aware of the fault

 

[16vMK2 to 172Sport]

What after you have been somewhere else without even letting them look at it? LOL

No mate, they might have fixed it, but they wont be up for paying for someone else to do so.

Was a bit dangerous to drive the car to Renault with a broken spring and the car vering to one side...!! If they wont pay for the spring I'll leave the broken one for them to dispose of! They can have the 3 year old corroded shock too lol

 

[Chip-mk1]

Hell , Must just be me on the Recieving end , i run a HGV workshop , if we damage something in the process of removal , our customers are the first ones jumping up and down claiming they arnt paying for it

Careful heat applied correctly wont get near the suspension rubber

if it was that bad id have cut the nut off using a die grinder or something like that - The first sign of difficulty id have rung you and made sure you were aware of the fault

Getting a diegrinder in there would be pretty awkward, there isnt much space, and in doing so you'll almost certainly mark the thread, not an issue on big HGV stuff im sure, but personally I'd then be looking to bin the shock anyway if it got damaged, and even half an hours labour is the value of the shcok, so you have to decide how long its actually worth spending on it just to try and salvage 30 quid of shock!

I really dont think it sounds like the garage have done anything wrong TBH

 

[Chip-mk1]

Was a bit dangerous to drive the car to Renault with a broken spring and the car vering to one side...!! If they wont pay for the spring I'll leave the broken one for them to dispose of! They can have the 3 year old corroded shock too lol

Are you not in the AA or RAC?

If not im sure renault could have arranged collection.

If it was under warranty the first thing to do if you want to claim on that, is to contact the dealer.

 

[Goodj]

How is this argumetn still going on?

OP has old car
Bits break
OP doesn't like that motoring costs money
OP shouldn't have bought Clio
Toys being removed from pram.

 

[16vMK2 to 172Sport]

How is this argumetn still going on?

OP has old car
Bits break
OP doesn't like that motoring costs money
OP shouldn't have bought Clio
Toys being removed from pram.

lol prat!

OP posted about his Mrs car
Car in question is 4 years old (corroded top mount obv. not acceptable!)
OP wondered if possible to save his Mrs some money
OP accepted the fate after the first couple of replies
OP owns a 172 so knows the cost of motoring

Apologies must go out to the 'forum police'! Next time I shall hold back from starting a perfectly reasonable discussion. I suppose I should have first spent hours searching to see if someone else had posted the exact same problem? Jeez, some people on here....

 

[Scrooge]

Lol at getting all 'what the fcuk di he say about me?!' on the internet.

Have a suck on your thumb and crack on with it.

 

[Chip-mk1]

Lol @ goodj too though, he is a right miserable sod on here, and yet so pleasant in real life.

 

[16vMK2 to 172Sport]

Lol at getting all 'what the fcuk di he say about me?!' on the internet.

Have a suck on your thumb and crack on with it.

It's not what he said, it's the way he (and many others on here) think they have the right to control what others talk about. It's quite annoying. They should get a life TBH

 

[Donny_Dog]

2007 and corrosion? poor.

and spring compressors? peh. VICE FTW.

 

[Scrooge]

You use the phrase 'get a life' is your real name Latisha? It's the internet ffs.

 

[Luke.]

Health and Safety FTW..

Spring Compressors are a must IMO..

 

[Chip-mk1]

You use the phrase 'get a life' is your real name Latisha? It's the internet ffs.

 

[16vMK2 to 172Sport]

^^^ Winner

 

[Donny_Dog]

Health and Safety FTW..

Spring Compressors are a must IMO..

Not up North. I used my teeth on the sportlines.

RAW.

 

[Goodj]

goodj ..... is a right miserable sod on here, and yet so pleasant in real life.

I calls 'em like I sees 'em