Discussion
roosevelt said:
Charged £240 labour by VW dealer to replace top suspension mounts on my 1998 Mk3 VR6. Is this realistic? Just what do the have to do??
How long did it take em?
If the struts had to be removed to get access to the mounts then maybe the price isnt so bad. Even so, seems a tad high to me for two top mounts.
www.theautopool.co.uk
Iver near slough if that's any good to you. Small place but very knowledgeable mechanics that do ALL the work on my Audi Coupe S2...
Cheers,
Steve
Iver near slough if that's any good to you. Small place but very knowledgeable mechanics that do ALL the work on my Audi Coupe S2...
Cheers,
Steve
VW labour charges aren't cheap, repacing top mounts requires the struts to be removed, and re installed, I doubt they re aligned the front suspension though. That would be extra.
If you don't mind me asking why did u replace them? did they drop a bit during the MOT test?, if so they all do that and good MOT stations know that , bad ones would say they need replacing.
If you don't mind me asking why did u replace them? did they drop a bit during the MOT test?, if so they all do that and good MOT stations know that , bad ones would say they need replacing.
I was advised that top mounts were worn and caused car to fail mot. I must admit the front end was very twitchy and jumpy - made me v nervous - after work completed. VW advised that tyres were low and too have tracking checked when tyres replaced.
Wot a cop out. If work is carried out which then requires something to be reset/checked then why isnt it done there and then for free??
Wot a cop out. If work is carried out which then requires something to be reset/checked then why isnt it done there and then for free??
roosevelt said:
I was advised that top mounts were worn and caused car to fail mot. I must admit the front end was very twitchy and jumpy - made me v nervous - after work completed. VW advised that tyres were low and too have tracking checked when tyres replaced.
Wot a cop out. If work is carried out which then requires something to be reset/checked then why isnt it done there and then for free??
A bit of inside help for you Andy.
Most VAG outlets now charge in the region of £60 per hour for labour, hence your bill amounts to four hours which is about right to do this job; PROPERLY!
But part of the sequence of disturbing anything on the front suspension or steering gear is resetting the geometry.
All VAG cars for the past 30 years have the facility to adjust every setting on the front suspension;i.e. wheel alignment, castor angle, camber angle.
When these are set up correctly the car handles and steers beautifully; it is critical that these are correctly set.
As a dealer, part of this job is to reset the geometry.
If they charged four hours they should have reset the geometry.
If they claim they didn't do it, then they failed to complete the job to VAG standards.
Take it back and remind them of this and tell them you want it done, coz you've already paid for it!
DeltaFox said:
Pedant mode on: Iolaire said:
All VAG cars for the past 30 years have the facility to adjust every setting on the front suspension;i.e. wheel alignment, castor angle, camber angle.
Not quite true me old mate. Vw golf 1, Audi 80/100/coupe none adjustable castor.
Pedant mode off.
Sorry old son, I'm afraid it is.
The castor adjusts from the bottom ball joint, only by a couple of degrees, but that's all it takes to make a difference.
IOLAIRE said:
Pedant mode on:
Iolaire said:
All VAG cars for the past 30 years have the facility to adjust every setting on the front suspension;i.e. wheel alignment, castor angle, camber angle.
Not quite true me old mate. Vw golf 1, Audi 80/100/coupe none adjustable castor.
Pedant mode off.
Sorry old son, I'm afraid it is.
The castor adjusts from the bottom ball joint, only by a couple of degrees, but that's all it takes to make a difference.
We will just have to differ on this one!
castor and camber are different. I couldn't be bothered to type up what the difference is but assumin you know what camber is then here's an explanation of castor www.answers.com/topic/caster-angle
AnarchyStorm said:
Ummmm... which is the Castor? Am I mistaken thinking that it is the camber?
The castor is the thing that makes it easy to push your couch around the sitting room.
Sorry, couldn't resist that!
In plain language; if you were suspended above your car looking down, the alignment is how near parallel your front wheels are to one another; they will either be slightly toed in or out according to the vehicle's settings.
If you were sitting on the ground in front of your car looking head on at it, the camber is how far off the vertical the front wheels are sitting in relation to the horizontal road surface, either in or out, (negative or positive).
If you were sitting on the ground to the side of your car looking at the front wheel, the castor is the angle that the strut or kingpin that pivots during steering movements is from the vertical in relation to the horizontal road surface.
All of these settings are usually measured in degrees and seconds or millimetres.
In some cases they are very finite, but they can absolutely transform the handling of a car.
In particular, early Audi Quattros have adjustments for all these settings for both front and rear suspension, so you can imagine how bad it can get when they're not properly set up.
Audi will charge about £140 to do this, but it's on a four wheel, computerised laser jig, and it's simply the best £140 you will spend on your Quattro.
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