Suspension & Service

spiralbound

Hi

I've a '99 Ford Fiesta that was serviced a week ago, prior to NCT last Saturday. I mentioned the car was going for an NCT and he said he'd keep an eye on things that might be checked.

The service was about €160, for which oil and filters were changed. I was told there was a bit of corrosion on a brake pipe but it was grand, and everything else was fine.

The car failed the NCT, as both front coils and bushes were broken/worn, and the rear suspension on one side is gone. These are listed under 'Visual' checks on the NCT report (but will need a re-test fee for suspension).

Can anyone tell me if these suspension issues should have been picked up during the service?

Also, does anyone have a ballpark figure for sorting this out - I guess I'll need to do the rear suspension on both sides rather than just the one that's gone.

Thanks.

Toyotafanboi

if i were in your situation i'd gamble and go to a breakers, get 4 second hand complete shock and spring setups, aim to pay around €20 per corner, so €80 in all. maybe 60-90 minutes labour in a garage to fit them. they aren't overly difficult, if you're a bit mechanically minded you'd fit them yourself. 4 new shocks, and 2 new springs could get a bit costly buying new (in relative terms to the cost of a replacement 99 fiesta).

its always going to be debatable whether your servicing mechanic should have noticed these issues, in a perfect world yes he should have, but i'm sure he can come up with various reasons as to why he missed them. no point crying over that spilt milk in my opinion. visual fails like that are at the discretion of the tester, if your car wasn't showing an imbalance that was out of tolerance.

nct tester

so the car was serviced and the mechanic didn't notice two broken coil springs????