Following on my old thread, I did an Italian tune up and put some fuel cleaner in it a few weeks ago, I have done about 300-400 miles since and the car has since run perfectly.
Took it for a service today at Alfa/Fiat specialist somebody suggested on here (I can't remember who but thank you to that person) they couldn't find anything wrong but said the outer back box is rusting but not leaking (e.g it can be left alone) but the rear suspension top mounts are worn causing excessive play, I have noticed a clonking sound over the past couple of weeks when going round corners.
They have quoted £160 the pair to replace does this sound right? The top mounts seem to be around £15-£17 each. I have no idea how much labour is involved but they did say the entire struts need removing to do the job.
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I should think it's a straightforward DiY job.
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>> I should think it's a straightforward DiY job.
I think its a "wait to see if it passes the MOT" job.
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" the rear suspension top mounts are worn causing excessive play, I have noticed a clonking sound over the past couple of weeks"
I cured that on my old Mondeo by closing the windows and turning up the radio.
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That won't get it through the MOT though! You really need a 4x4 on the roads round here with the amount of pot holes.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Tue 18 Mar 14 at 17:34
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Speed humps too isn't it. Wife's Qashqai needed something suspension related last week. Only 40,000 odd miles on it. Loads of speed humps around here, especially near her mother's for some reason. She's always at her mother's and when she has her in the passenger seat it's little wonder the combination of the weight on that side and the traffic calming measures caused something to fail.
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Yep loads of speed bumps here, it was only in the last few months I was have been trying to avoid some of the speed bumps rat runs. There is a private estate in Didsbury and twice since I had my car now I have been caught out by a very steep hump and I always forget how deep it is until I can here the sound of the rear strut hitting the top mount!.
I am not at all surprised at all it needs doing, just not sure if £160 is too steep bearing mind the parts are £40 tops.
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The Octavia had one advisory at its recent MOT, which was for a split bump stop in the rear suspension. No doubt caused by the local speedbumps. Garage reckons that so long as the dampers themselves remain Ok I will never need to get it changed. They will continue to treat it as an advisory unless it actually falls apart. We shall wait and see.
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>> I am not at all surprised at all it needs doing, just not sure if
>> £160 is too steep bearing mind the parts are £40 tops.
How long will he job take though? While labour rates in Manchester will be lower than London and SE I doubt £120 will cover two hours.
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That is what I am asking, I have no idea how complicated the job is on this car, I assume it is more complicated than changing a rear spring or shock?
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Probably not much more but presumably they'll need to dismantle or at least dismount spring/shock assembly.
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>They have quoted £160 the pair to replace does this sound right?
Why not ring a franchised Fiat dealer and ask them what they charge for doing the job?
Two minute phone call that should tell you if the quote is reasonable.
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Well so far this week I have had at least 3 phone calls from the main dealer, they quoted me £160 for pads and £80 for a cheap make tyre (I can get proper ones for £45 fitted) I can only imagine the quote would be around £60,000.
FIAT dealers have a bad reputation and they deserve it, I use mine only for parts I cannot get any where else (e.g my wing mirror). I had similar things on my old Corsa as well, the only thing to do with the quotes is laugh. I might just give them a ring though just for comedy value.
I am happy to pay £160 as longs as it sounds reasonable if that makes sense :).
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Tue 18 Mar 14 at 21:02
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The quote was last year btw, that tyre is still more than legal. They just keep pestering me to book my service in, I could answer the phone but that would make life too easy for them :).
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I think I would get a second opinion from a reputable independant garage before spending on a clonk, seems unreal that such a low mileage car is wearing out so fast.
Our Matrix has had clonking front suspension since we bought it, passed its MOT with no advisories, I learned to ignore it and the wife has Take That so loud she cant hear the engine, let alone suspension :-)
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>> I think I would get a second opinion from a reputable independant garage before spending
>> on a clonk, seems unreal that such a low mileage car is wearing out so
>> fast.
Seems plausible to me given Rattle's mostly urban driving. I'd also guess that time as well as mileage and compress/decompress cycles might affect a 'rubber' component.
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>I think I would get a second opinion from a reputable independant..
A "reputable independant" quoted him £160 which sounds very reasonable to me but OK - two two-minute phone calls to check.
>Our Matrix has had clonking front suspension since we bought it,..
If it's clonking there's something wrong, irrespective of MOT advisories.
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I suspect 16,000 miles of city driving easily equates to 50,000 miles of motorway driving in terms of wear and tear. I asked one of the coach drivers when I went to Spain about how they manage to sell their coaches, at four years old they typically have 750,000 miles on the clock but they can still sell the coaches for good money because the industry knows they have spent all their time on the French motorways doing 60mph with little wear and tear.
Again I suppose lots of short and frequent trips won't do the exhaust any good, I remember my dads old Punto had a habit of eating exhausts.
My car despite its low mileage, is used heavily and to some extent used as a van and abused.
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>>If it's clonking there's something wrong, irrespective of MOT advisories <<
Design sometimes, my '98 Nubira had clonking track rod ends, even when you replaced them, engineer told me it was down to design but wasnt dangerous, just annoying and they all did it.
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Fiesta did the same, no matter how many times the rear bushes were replaced even when half the suspension was brand new it still clonked. Until very recently though my Panda was silent suspension wise.
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>Design sometimes, my '98 Nubira had clonking track rod ends, even when you replaced
>them, engineer told me it was down to design but wasn't dangerous, just annoying and they
>all did it.
I think you needed a second opinion from a reputable independent garage.
Last edited by: Kevin on Tue 18 Mar 14 at 22:57
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>> >>If it's clonking there's something wrong, irrespective of MOT advisories <<
>>
>> Design sometimes, my '98 Nubira had clonking track rod ends, even when you replaced them,
>> engineer told me it was down to design but wasnt dangerous, just annoying and they
>> all did it.
search out crap cars, thats what you get.
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The rear suspension clonk, familiar to many Panda mk3 owners, is caused by worn rear damper top mounts.
Both dampers need to be replaced at a cost, in parts, I would estimate of £60-120.
The job itself is very quick and easy so the labour charge would be minimal.
I suspect your mechanic has misdiagnosed or there has been a communication problem!
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I will check what the report says, it is more of a sort of squeak than a clonk. I only spoke to the receptionist so there may be a communication problem but she did say the part is cheap £15 a side but the labour is expensive as the entire struts need to be removed. I didn't get the impression they were trying it on (unlike the main dealer last year wanting £160 for brake pads and £80 for a budget tyre).
I have just checked the report and it says it is front, I think it was a miss hearing on my part as I was expecting the back as that is where the squeak is. I would expect the front is a much bigger job as the springs will need to be decompressed etc.
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This makes for interesting reading. Seems it is a bit of a design fault which allows rust into the top mounts.
www.alfaowner.com/Forum/alfa-mito/365446-rust-and-suspension.html
Some of the cars here are actually newer than mine :(.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Wed 19 Mar 14 at 11:03
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Just got my car serviced - Robin O'Reliant
