Volkswagen front shock absorber replacement

Front shock absorber replacement

What does a front shock absorber do?

Your shock absorbers are part of the suspension system that smoothes out the bumpiness of an uneven road to provide you with a comfortable ride.

A shock absorber is a gas or oil filled tube that is compressed by a piston to dissipate kinetic energy and regulate the rebounding your car will suffer when driving over potholed, bumpy or uneven ground.

What happens when we replace your shock absorbers?

• Our efficient and fully qualified mechanics will examine or test-drive your car to establish the cause of the problem.
• Wherever required, a shock absorber will be replaced, and you’ll be advised of any other connected or associated problems arising from its malfunction.
• You will also be advised of any other parts that may need to be replaced for the best operation and health of your vehicle.
• Once the faulty shock absorber has been replaced, our mechanics will test it thoroughly to ensure the correct running of the new part and make any adjustments required for its premium operation.

What causes a shock absorber to stop working correctly?

A shock absorber will fail to operate correctly if the fluid leaks. This can be due to poor or damaged seals.

A shock absorber will also fail to function properly if it becomes damaged, bent or broken due to continual wear, general use or accident damage.

Smaller internal parts are likely to wear out in time and cause the improper operation of the complete component.

Symptoms of a malfunctioning front shock absorber

Excessive bouncing and an uncomfortable ride

If your car is bouncing excessively and providing uncomfortable ride quality, then there’s a good chance your shock absorbers aren’t operating correctly.

The car feels unstable

When driving around corners or over uneven ground and the car feels unstable then your suspension could be damaged.

Driving over humps is difficult

If driving over humps, sleeping policemen or raised road elements causes problems, your shock absorbers could be damaged.

If you spot signs of leaking

If you notice puddles of oil-like fluid on the road around your wheels, your shock absorbers could be leaking.

If your wheels leave the ground

In circumstances when your tyres lose contact with the road going over bumpy surfaces, sharp bridges or raised ground, your suspension isn’t working properly.

How often should shock absorbers need replacing?

You can expect shock absorbers to last at least 50k miles. Your owner’s manual may specify a different mileage or duration, as this figure is only a guideline. You should also have your shock absorbers checked after heavy contact with potholes, curbs or large rocks in the road.

The law, vehicle regulations and your MOT

Car suspension is a common reason for MOT failures. Broken or faulty shock absorbers, including oil leaks, will be a definite fail for an MOT.

The cost of replacing your front shock absorber

The typical cost of replacing a condenser varies between £200 and £250.

For example, an Audi A1 S Line would have a dealer price of £255.23, yet Fixter will carry out the same work for only £206—a 19% saving!

Changing the front shock absorber in a Fiat 500l Pop Star will cost you £268.06 with your dealer, but only £216.00 with Fixter—another superb saving of 19%!

When you choose Fixter to find you a great deal and a premium mechanic to carry out your front shock absorber replacement, you can expect to save around £40 from an average dealer price. That’s a typical saving in the region of 15–20%.

Symptoms of a malfunctioning shock absorber

If your car is providing uncomfortable ride quality and is bouncing excessively, it could be that your shock absorbers aren’t operating correctly. Also, any puddles of oil-like fluid on the road around your wheels could be escaping from leaking shock absorbers.

Volkswagen

Volkswagen (often shortened to VW) is a German automobile manufacturer founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front, a Nazi labour union.

Volkswagen is the flagship marque of the Volkswagen Group, who in turn is majority owned by Porsche. They own and operate a vast number of cars under other brand names—at the time of writing, they have 342 subsidiary companies.

How popular is Volkswagen in the United Kingdom?

Possibly its most well-known model of the current generation, the VW Golf, was the 2nd best selling car of 2018, behind the Ford Fiesta, which consistently takes the top spot year after year.

The Golf’s 64k registrations in 2018 added to the vast tally of 3.4million Volkswagen cars on the road today.

High quality, highly rated, appropriately priced cars

VW cars achieve consistently strong reviews and are highly respected by critics and drivers alike. They are renowned for investing more money into research and development than almost any other marque and distributing their wealth of motoring knowledge across the many partner brands under the VW Group umbrella.

The Volkswagen Beetle: The ‘people’s car’

A classic of its time, originally named the Volkswagen Type 1, it soon became nicknamed the Beetle due to its unique shape, and subsequently the bug. The unique looking car was designed by Ferdinand Porsche for Adolf Hitler, who wanted a cheap and simple mass-produced car to travel around his country’s new road network.

The new model Beetle, originally launched to celebrate the original classic in 1997, and with an updated successor in 2011, was designed around the VW Jetta platform sharing much of its build with the Jetta and Golf. VW announced in 2018 that the Beetle would finally be removed from production in July 2019.

VW’s reliability and reputation

Volkswagen ranked 17th place out of 30 car brands in the What Car? Reliability Survey in 2018. Sister companies Skoda and Seat appeared higher up the ranks at 7th and 10th respectively, while executive brand Audi a few places further down the list at joint 20th.

Recent Volkswagen recalls and reliability issues

Various recalls have been made on VW models throughout their motoring history. The following are a list of the most recent in the UK and Europe.

19/04/2019 – VW Tiguan (2017–2018)

The material used for the rear coil springs may be inadequate

13/04/2019 – VW Touareg (2018)

The suspension damper forks are defective and could break

13/04/2019 – VW Caddy (2018)

The predetermined break point in the cushion for the side airbags in on the wrong side

24/03/2019 – VW Polo (2016–2018)

On vehicles with a rear drum brake, the operational wear of the brake lining and use-related settlement of the drum brake may result in a loss of pre-tension on parking brake cables

02/02/2019 – VW Touareg (2018)

A seat belt latch may not have been sufficiently secured to the rear, right-hand seat

23/12/2018 – VW Golf, VW T-Roc, VW Arteon and VW Passat (2018)

The fitting for the headrest may have been incorrectly welded to the backrest

23/12/2018 – VW T-Roc (2018)

An incorrect adhesive bond between the upper and lower parts of the rear spoiler may have been used

20/10/2018 – VW Touran and VW Tiguan (2015–2018)

Moisture can reach the LED module of the sunroof’s ambient lighting which may cause a short-circuit

All recall information sourced from gov.co.uk data.