I discovered yesterday that both rear springs on my Mercedes A Class have snapped. The car is 2000W registered and has covered only 25K miles.
I have also discovered that Mercedes have updated the design of the spring because of this problem. Does the panel think it is even worth me trying to claim from Mercedes as the car is well over 5 years old?
Thanks
Andrew
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Err No chance.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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If this were in say USA then probably there would be some contribution if not replacement but in the UK I would suggest there is little chance
but then again it costs nothing to ask!!
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Doesn't this count as a serious design flaw that might be outside the warranty system? Get Ralph Nader onto it.
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HJ has mentioned previously, about some poor quality steel, resulting in spring failures, on a number of different brands, not just Mercedes.
Worth a few minutes searching, here & in Car by Car Breakdown pages.
VB
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When (if?) you find an economically sensible way of fixing this car, it would be wise to sell it. Have a look in the "Discussion" section to see what happens to these cars when they get older. (Failed MOT at 90k miles, quoted £3000 to fix by MB). I have a feeling GSF (German Swedish & French) stock the springs for this model - get them fitted by an independent garage.
659.
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I won't repeat the whole story again, but I had springs replaced foc by Renault on a 4 yr old Clio. This was in 2002, when the warranty on the car was only 1 yr from new (1998).
The dealer was useless but when I spoke to Renault they initially hummed and harred about it until I *ever so gently* suggested that it might be quite expensive to recall every Clio in Europe and replace its springs.
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To be honest I'm surprised that the used value of A-class hasn't plummeted - it can only be the badge that is holding up values.
As some of you will recall, I buy and sell a few Mercedes. I sold a couple of A-class a few years ago and learned my lesson.
The coil springs are too small and weak, basically they will break sooner or later. The rear radius arms fail every 25-35k miles. The steering couplings wear and fail. Almost any job on the engine (including basic stuff like changing the alternator belt) requires that the front subframe and engine be dropped! Not nice.
Add to that the AFM and ECU being incorporated into one unit and MB dealers charging £200 (yes, £200!!) just to recode a replacement unit to the car.
Best avoided......!
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Depressing reading. My cousin who has alway bought new Mercedes has just bought a Lexus SUV thing, the one that has an engine and two electric motors. He commented on Mecedes losing their edge in build quality, in his opinion.
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If people complained to VOSA, there would be far more safety recalls, but only a few do, so it looks as though such problems are tiny and isolated.
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A spring snapping is not necessarily dangerous - depends on the suspension design. They usually snap near the end.
Strangely enough the rear springs on the old 190E's used to break, right near the end. You'd only notice it from a loud clanking over a bumpy road.
I did have a real 'nasty' once on an Alfa. The car was parked up and I jumped into it. There was a bang followed by a 'hiss'. A front spring had snapped half way down, jumped to a sideways angle and the sharp end had gone through a nearly new Michelin tyre!
The car couldn't be moved and I had to strip and repair the front suspension in the middle of public car park. I did contact Alfa, but they stated 'wear and tear' and 'unknown operating conditions' - it was just out of warranty. I looked at the snapped end and there was rust 1/4 the way through the metal - obviously a manufacturing defect.
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Got nowhere with claiming from Merc - Car is an import, nearly 6 years old, has no merc service history and has a non mercedes towbar.
I ordered 2 new spring along with the cups - cost just under 50 quid, just have to fit them this w/e.
Thanks
Andrew
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