I had an advisory for play in one of the wishbones at my last MOT. The mechanic advised I wait 6 months and then come back to get it replaced. I booked in a few weeks ago. As luck would have it a couple of days ago the other wishbone broke causing the car to become pretty dangerous to drive. The mechanic phoned today to let me know that to replace both it would cost £370 in total. Fair price? I like this garage and am just looking to see if they are charging reasonable amounts for work done as I have no real clue how much things cost.
SMLMcKenzie
Wishbones on Leaf 24
Sounds like a fair price to me if it includes vat & good quality arms + alignment check/adjust..
I did a couple a while ago & decent quality arms aren't cheap + you've got to allow for some mark up from the garage..
I did a couple a while ago & decent quality arms aren't cheap + you've got to allow for some mark up from the garage..
Yeah seams reasonable.
They don't look too difficult to DIY. But as with anything in that area of the car. Rust and old bolts can make an easy job a nightmare. Then if you are stuck on a drive you've not got anywhere else to go or move.
My old alfa were the worst. Great handling double wishbone suspension. Needed to be changed ever 40-50k. Less if you bought pattern parts.
Then if the ball joints wore you'd have to replace a full arm. Madness looking back.
The nissan ones look far more reasonable.
Also I thought electric drive must give the arms an easier time as its all far smoother.
They don't look too difficult to DIY. But as with anything in that area of the car. Rust and old bolts can make an easy job a nightmare. Then if you are stuck on a drive you've not got anywhere else to go or move.
My old alfa were the worst. Great handling double wishbone suspension. Needed to be changed ever 40-50k. Less if you bought pattern parts.
Then if the ball joints wore you'd have to replace a full arm. Madness looking back.
The nissan ones look far more reasonable.
Also I thought electric drive must give the arms an easier time as its all far smoother.
I've done the lower wishbones on my Leaf myself recently - it's a relatively easy job as wishbones go as the ball joint stays with the arm rather than remaining in the hub as it does on many cars. So you don't have to struggle with an axial nut on the end of a ball joint whose inner hex has rusted away. Just pop the retaining bolt out of the split housing and use a long lever to free the ball joint pin from the hub. Likewise the two bolts which mount the arm onto the chassis are relatively easy to access and remove/refit.
It is possible to do it without disconnecting the spring tower or the steering track rod as you can get just enough clearance with the steering on full lock, and the steering lock moves the driveshaft out of the way of one of the bolts. Just be careful to leave the plastic protection cap on the ball joint boot until the very last moment before you connect it...
Price of arms varies wildly - I fitted TRW arms to mine - which were about £80 inc VAT each from Autodoc. Nissan branded OEM arms are a bit eye watering - around £175 inc VAT each.
Whether £370 is reasonable depends entirely on what brand/quality of arms they've chosen to use due to such a wide variety of prices of after market arms.
At the price they're quoting they can't be Nissan OEM as the part cost alone is only £20 shy of their entire quote. Keep in mind steering alignment needs to be checked after replacing an arm to be on the safe side, so they should be factoring that into the cost too.
It is possible to do it without disconnecting the spring tower or the steering track rod as you can get just enough clearance with the steering on full lock, and the steering lock moves the driveshaft out of the way of one of the bolts. Just be careful to leave the plastic protection cap on the ball joint boot until the very last moment before you connect it...
Price of arms varies wildly - I fitted TRW arms to mine - which were about £80 inc VAT each from Autodoc. Nissan branded OEM arms are a bit eye watering - around £175 inc VAT each.
Whether £370 is reasonable depends entirely on what brand/quality of arms they've chosen to use due to such a wide variety of prices of after market arms.
At the price they're quoting they can't be Nissan OEM as the part cost alone is only £20 shy of their entire quote. Keep in mind steering alignment needs to be checked after replacing an arm to be on the safe side, so they should be factoring that into the cost too.
Got the car back and I have mixed feelings.
I was told over the phone the bill would be £370 and when I went to pay it was now £385.82. £180 of that was labour.
The car itself feels noticeably different. The noise has been fixed and the torque steer is gone, so the suspension arms / wishbones were the culprit. However it doesn't seem like the wheels have had an alignment done on them as I have to hold the wheel very slightly right to go straight although I am not too upset about the tracking as the car needs new tyres anyway so will get it done then. The speed at which the steering wheel returns to center feels more sudden as well. I suppose that is just due to driving with brand new suspension versus the worn out parts.
What really shocked me though was when I returned home and put the receipt into my car documents collection I noticed a receipt from last year. Apparently I have already had the front wishbones done on 31/01/2022! The ones that were put on lasted a year before they were given an advisory and a year and a half before completely failing! This is after slightly less than 10,000 miles! The wishbones I had fitted last year were listed on the receipt as ARM0251L and ARM0251R. They cost £40.64 each. I have no idea what the wishbones I had fitted today are as it doesn't say on the receipt.
It is a bit difficult to compare costs because I had other things done to the car a year and a half ago but I feel the price is broadly the same for getting the wishbones changed at both garages.
I drive carefully and don't recall hitting any bad potholes since changing the wishbones last year so were the wishbones that were fitted back then junk? Are the £82.76 ones I had fitted today any better? Only way to know will be to drive for a year and see what they are like.
I was told over the phone the bill would be £370 and when I went to pay it was now £385.82. £180 of that was labour.
The car itself feels noticeably different. The noise has been fixed and the torque steer is gone, so the suspension arms / wishbones were the culprit. However it doesn't seem like the wheels have had an alignment done on them as I have to hold the wheel very slightly right to go straight although I am not too upset about the tracking as the car needs new tyres anyway so will get it done then. The speed at which the steering wheel returns to center feels more sudden as well. I suppose that is just due to driving with brand new suspension versus the worn out parts.
What really shocked me though was when I returned home and put the receipt into my car documents collection I noticed a receipt from last year. Apparently I have already had the front wishbones done on 31/01/2022! The ones that were put on lasted a year before they were given an advisory and a year and a half before completely failing! This is after slightly less than 10,000 miles! The wishbones I had fitted last year were listed on the receipt as ARM0251L and ARM0251R. They cost £40.64 each. I have no idea what the wishbones I had fitted today are as it doesn't say on the receipt.
It is a bit difficult to compare costs because I had other things done to the car a year and a half ago but I feel the price is broadly the same for getting the wishbones changed at both garages.
I drive carefully and don't recall hitting any bad potholes since changing the wishbones last year so were the wishbones that were fitted back then junk? Are the £82.76 ones I had fitted today any better? Only way to know will be to drive for a year and see what they are like.
If the steering wheel straight ahead is now offset they have probably adjusted the tracking only on one side. This is incorrect and lazy.
Stronger self centring can be a natural result of replacing worn/sloppy joints, (as slack has been taken out of the suspension/steering) or may be a result of having more toe in now.
The self centring on my Leaf was not very good, and tended to wander a bit at motorway speeds, when I checked it a couple of years ago it was parallel rather than toeing in, after adjusting toe in to the middle of the acceptable range the self centring was much stronger and it is more stable on the motorway.
Too much toe in will make the self centring too strong and wear the tyres prematurely.
In a modern car with steering wheel angle sensors you really don't want to be driving with the steering wheel offset - it may cause premature triggering of traction control / ABS.
I would politely point out to them that the steering is offset now and ask them to recheck (check for the first time ?!) the toe in. Toe in/out is one of those things I measure and adjust myself as it's rare that you'll get someone who does a good job of it especially if it was brought in for another purpose rather than specifically to have the wheel alignment checked.
Adjusting the track rod on only one side causing a steering wheel offset is amateur hour.
Stronger self centring can be a natural result of replacing worn/sloppy joints, (as slack has been taken out of the suspension/steering) or may be a result of having more toe in now.
The self centring on my Leaf was not very good, and tended to wander a bit at motorway speeds, when I checked it a couple of years ago it was parallel rather than toeing in, after adjusting toe in to the middle of the acceptable range the self centring was much stronger and it is more stable on the motorway.
Too much toe in will make the self centring too strong and wear the tyres prematurely.
In a modern car with steering wheel angle sensors you really don't want to be driving with the steering wheel offset - it may cause premature triggering of traction control / ABS.
I would politely point out to them that the steering is offset now and ask them to recheck (check for the first time ?!) the toe in. Toe in/out is one of those things I measure and adjust myself as it's rare that you'll get someone who does a good job of it especially if it was brought in for another purpose rather than specifically to have the wheel alignment checked.
Adjusting the track rod on only one side causing a steering wheel offset is amateur hour.
I think I will just wait until I get the new tyres before getting the alignment done. National tyres have a £20 offer for alignment just now and they are cheap for the Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2's I want.
If the alignment is crap after that, there is a garage near by that specialise in alignment so I'll take it there.
I still can't believe the wishbones lasted a little over a year! This car was supposed to be cheap to run and hardly need anything done to it!
If the alignment is crap after that, there is a garage near by that specialise in alignment so I'll take it there.
I still can't believe the wishbones lasted a little over a year! This car was supposed to be cheap to run and hardly need anything done to it!
It'll be all those traffic light grand prix' you've been doing!
In all fairness that's shocking to last a year, I can only assume that they were fitted incorrectly and it's knackered up the bushes (they should be tightened when the car is on the ground, not tightened in mid air whilst jacked up, on the chassis side.)
In all fairness that's shocking to last a year, I can only assume that they were fitted incorrectly and it's knackered up the bushes (they should be tightened when the car is on the ground, not tightened in mid air whilst jacked up, on the chassis side.)
Went out for another drive today and there is definitely something not right. When going around a roundabout there is a squeal coming from what I think is the front left wheel. This was not there before the work was carried out. When I hit any sort of bump or raised drain the car feels like it slides to the left. The tracking is definitely out.
I phoned the garage back again to get it booked in again and they confirmed that they don't have the equipment to do alignment, so no wonder the tracking is out.
Another experience with mechanics who have let me down.
The car feels worse to drive now than when it had the worn out wishbone.
I phoned the garage back again to get it booked in again and they confirmed that they don't have the equipment to do alignment, so no wonder the tracking is out.
Another experience with mechanics who have let me down.
The car feels worse to drive now than when it had the worn out wishbone.
Yeah try find one with a hunter alignment machine. Costs a bit more but 4 wheel alignment is better than those guides that mechanics use.
Sorry you are having a crap time. Usually
Lly there's very little that needs doing on them.
I've just fitted front and rear brakes pads and discs. I'm on 109k and the pads were only half worn. The discs them selves looked like rusted old knackered things though. Probably pass mots but looked awful.
The arms fir 40 quid seem a bit on the cheap side. I mean it's alit of metal for 50quid.
Trw are usually good for arms.
Sorry you are having a crap time. Usually
Lly there's very little that needs doing on them.
I've just fitted front and rear brakes pads and discs. I'm on 109k and the pads were only half worn. The discs them selves looked like rusted old knackered things though. Probably pass mots but looked awful.
The arms fir 40 quid seem a bit on the cheap side. I mean it's alit of metal for 50quid.
Trw are usually good for arms.
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