Local parts supplier is fairly sure after doing a search for that part number, that they are £160 inc VAT for a pair [osf + nsf]

So Nissan doubling the cost of the parts??!!!

 

Sadly that is a common failure on front wheel drive cars, and as a heavy example the LEAF suffers likewise. It's simple spanner work for any garage, not just EV specialists.

 

My local work shop hourly rate is £85 including the VAT

 

Today had an MOT fail on my 2014 Leaf 24 @ 40k Miles. Was a little surprised because I have only done 6k since last MOT which was around when I bought it.

Must admit was somewhat surprised that a suspension item should need replacement at 40k miles? Or am deluded?

How was the car driven for the first 32k miles? If the previous owner was aiming for every pothole at 100mph, the suspension is going to be pretty tired.

 

At 100mph he must have been driving it off a cliff

 

Quite a lot of reports of aftermarket items failing quickly so Nissan parts and a local workshop to fit perhaps?

 

Front suspension is the big weak point of the Leaf, stuff just seems to need replacing at silly low mileage.

 

So this gets more interesting...

My local guys fitted aftermarket arms manufactured by Control arms and wishbones. (delphiautoparts.com)
as follows;

Delphi Lower Wishbone DELTC2496 86.62
Delphi Lower Wishbone DELTC2497 86.62
Labour 113.60
Total inc VAT £344.20

They put the removed parts in the boot

They also commented that there was not enough slack to warrant an MOT failure.

So, now I have to go for the inspection to get my MOT cert. Not sure what tact to take if I am honest. At the end of the day it's their engineer vs my engineer opinion.

 

They also commented that there was not enough slack to warrant an MOT failure.

So, now I have to go for the inspection to get my MOT cert. Not sure what tact to take if I am honest. At the end of the day it's their engineer vs my engineer opinion.

It wasn't recorded as slack based on your earlier post.

nsf wishbone rear bush separated from housing MOT Fail
osf wishbone rear bush separated from housing MOT Fail

Looking at your photo I'd say that both bushes on both wishbones have the "rubber" part separating from the metal sleeve, and hence the MoT inspector is correct.

Being slightly less judgemental, it is the MoT inspectors bat and ball and you don't want to be on the wrong side of him otherwise he'll take them home. He will not believe that the parts you produce and claim to be in good condition were the ones removed from your car unless he still sees fault in them.

Now to being pedantic - this failure is likely to be an age related one rather than a "poor driving" one. After 6 years exposure to the elements and the rubbish on the roads I'm not surprised that the "rubber" is beginning to fail - it is very common.

 

It wasn't recorded as slack based on your earlier post

Sorry my bad, I didn't report back correctly and possibly mis-interpreting what was said by reception. The engineer is going to call me back for a more in depth viewpoint.

 

Yeah - I guess your local garage does not have an MOT licence then, otherwise you would have taken it to them in the first place.

Actually it does, and has held one for 50 years. I would of taken it to them other than Nissan where offering a years road side assistance in with the price of the minor service.

Thinking about it this is worth about £60 - I haven't had a price of my local guys for a minor service on the Leaf because I fell for the carrot offered by the dealership.

 

Actually it does, and has held one for 50 years. I would of taken it to them other than Nissan where offering a years road side assistance in with the price of the minor service.

I'm confused - what does taking the car in for the minor service have to do with getting an MOT?

I took my Leaf in to my local indy garage who does MOT's for all my cars for its MOT in September and will take it in to Nissan in February when it's due for its service. I don't have any intention of taking it to Nissan for MOT's and I'll only be taking it to them for servicing to "maintain" the battery warranty, otherwise I'd be doing the servicing myself as it's all trivial stuff.

 

@dk6780 as an aside would your first name happen to be Dougie?

 

No - that's my first car's registration number .......

 

Right just spoken to the local engineer. Firstly they have not 'thrashed out' what they are going to do about servicing EV's yet. Secondly his report on the fail was indeed similar to the dealer at least for one of the bushes. He said the other two reported weren't that bad to warrant a fail. In any case its back to the dealer for the inspection and to get my MOT cert.

 

In any case its back to the dealer for the inspection and to get my MOT cert.

The bottom arm links on most cars are similar to the ones fitted on the Leaf.
There are two attachment bushes plus the bottom ball joint that could get snagged for wear on the MOT.
The larger rear bush where it attaches to the sub frame is the most likely culprit for being the failure point.
Bottom suspension arms have unfortunately become a throw away item now.
On some models, you can replace the bottom ball joint as an individual item.
A lot of main dealers will now offer free MOT's as part of their servicing schedule.
I never offer the main dealer the chance to MOT my cars.
They just see it as a good opportunity to carry out a so called "Free" health check and then slap you with a estimate for the work to be carried out !.
Use an independent agent for your MOT's is my advice.
MG do offer A.A. recovery cover if you take it to them for it's annual service.
I am okay with that ( ish ).
I HATE taking my car to the main stealers.

 

Interesting, as I was wondering what our leaf might get snagged on first. Just had its mot at 58k and 5 yrs. it passed and didn’t even have any advisories fortunately. Suspension is likely to be the first thing to go then, better start saving up for next year just in case!

 

I'm confused - what does taking the car in for the minor service have to do with getting an MOT?

Nothing, but as the price was the same as my local guys it was indeed just a 'convenience' decision. I had not considered that it could possibly fail on a suspension component at 40K as out of the half dozen cars I have owned in the past all I have ever had to replace is tyres, discs, pads, a back box... oh, and just once a clutch. That's it!

As it was the local guys did the work for half the cost of Nissan using after market UK made parts with 3 year warranty. Whilst they suggested that there was 'some life yet' in the bushes I'd hope it isn't something that will come up again anytime soon. And besides buying the bushes separately and getting them pressed etc may not come out much cheaper that buying replacement arms in the first place. Average owners don't own presses!

@dk6780 Yes, I still have the used parts and you are welcome to them if you pay the postage

 

Lastly, it's the first time ever I have used a dealership for an MOT. Lessons have been learnt.

 

Passed the re-test but was charged £20 - least the steering / corners seems a little more positive. Just weighed both the arms at 6.2Kg - no wonder its a heavy car!!!

 

I'm afraid it is what it is.
I had same issue with a 2015 Leaf a year or so ago.
Particularly gauling as perished bush is probably only worth a few quid and you have to pay to replace a big chunk of the suspension which seems wasteful.
I also had to have some other work doing on a different occasion which I had a friend of the family fix, he expressed surprise in his words that Nissan made such a heavy car with suspension parts that were not much stronger than a biscuit tin!

 

Had an amber advisory from our Nissan dealer when the car was in recently (about 7.5 years old), "both front wishbones - bushes starting to deteriorate". The quote to put that right was a bit much on top of the work it was in for, so I have this to look forward too...

 

Suspension on a LEAF is an early fail area because the suspension components are over-worked. The LEAF is a heavy car and the Nissan Note from which the suspension parts come was not. Couple that with the poor state of UK roads and damaged or rapid wear of components is the consequence. The extra mass of an EV means spending more on the suspension system and some manufacturers have and some have not. Nissan did not fully account for the extra mass and UK roads IMHO.

 

Like many Nissan Leaf owners here, I installed the DIY 3D printed caps for the tops of the front suspension struts shortly after we go the car 2nd hand - hopefully they helped.

 

Just beware that 3D print bottom/top layers unless done very carefully are usually not water tight especially in the seam between the bottom and the walls.

The way the cap will have been printed is upside down so the roof of the cap will have been the bottom layers of the print, and it is surprisingly difficult to get these to be water tight even if they are 5-10 layers thick. (How do I know ? I've been 3D printing a lot of plant pots recently with varying degrees of water tightness success. 😁 )

I sprayed a coat of lacquer on the top of my 3D printed strut top caps to make sure they are completely waterproof on the top.