Seat Leon 1.6 TDI 2015 - Busted wheel bearings after front shocks replaced

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
What is life like with your car? Let us know and win £500 in John Lewis vouchers | No thanks
View Threaded
Wed 16 Oct 2019 12:04
Seat Leon 1.6 TDI 2015 - Busted wheel bearings after front shocks replaced - Obadah Fahmy

I recently had my Seat Leon in for some work as the front shocks were both leaking and it was due for an MOT soon, the car also needed the timing belt replaced soon. I found a garage who were well reviewed on google and on approvedgarages.co.uk to carry out the work and they came back with a good quote. Dropped the car off on a Friday and picked it up on Saturday and all was fine, for all of 50 miles.

The missus commutes 60 miles each way every day all along the motorway, on her first commute to work on Monday less than halfway through the car started marking a whirring noise that seemed to be coming from the front, when she pulled into the car park at work the ABS lights came on and the steering wheel locked up. We had the car recovered to the garage and they have just finished looking at it.

Today they have said that the front passenger side wheel bearing is the cause and that it needs to be replaced. They have said this is unrelated to the work they did, though the timing is ridiculously suspect. Looking online it seems fairly uncommon for wheel bearings to need replacing, and there seems to be some conclusion about it potentially arising from bad shocks, or bad alignment.

Should I fight back with the garage about this?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 16 Oct 2019 17:12
Seat Leon 1.6 TDI 2015 - Busted wheel bearings after front shocks replaced - Glaikit Wee Scunner {P}

ABS failure and locked up steering wheel does not sound related to the work done previously.

I'd get another expert opinion if the garage tries to bamboozle you.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 16 Oct 2019 18:31
Seat Leon 1.6 TDI 2015 - Busted wheel bearings after front shocks replaced - elekie&a/c doctor
Wheel bearing failure is unrelated to the work done . However, it is possible that the abs sensor and/or wiring has been damaged during the shocks repair.
Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 17 Oct 2019 11:29
Seat Leon 1.6 TDI 2015 - Busted wheel bearings after front shocks replaced - pd

You say yourself that bad bearings can apparently arise from bad shocks and you've been driving around on bad shocks....

Normally the hub wouldn't be disassembled to replace front shocks to a degree which would affect a wheel bearing - they'd take the whole strut off and disassemble off the car to replace the shock.

Obviously it is possible they did something but no way to prove it although I don't really get what is going on with the ABS.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Thu 17 Oct 2019 11:38
Seat Leon 1.6 TDI 2015 - Busted wheel bearings after front shocks replaced - Leif
I had a front wheel bearing on my 2018 Polo go after 20,000 miles. The VW garage replaced it for free given the low mileage. I think I was lucky as pot holes are commonplace here.

As for the ABS warning light ...
Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Looking for a garage you can trust? Honest John's Good Garage Guide has thousands of reader recommended garages, plus how-to guides and tips on servicing.

The Good Garage Guide