124 Estate Shocks

[Russel Weston]

Hi Guys, just a quick question. I am going to look at a 124 230 Estate tomorrow. It is described as in very good condition with 100k miles. The owner did say that altough it passed the MOT last month cleanly, he thinks it need new gas shocks at the back. He says it is a bit bouncy. Any ideas on what he means and cost to fix if his description is correct. Thanks

 

[teky]

if it just past the mot then there is no problem, the car is designed for comfort :wink:

 

[steptoe]

you might be looking at new accumalator spheres, not a cheap job, parts expensive plus large labour costs, if you do it yourself, you'll need lots of other small parts that will break or be seized when you do it, i'd budget for around the £400 mark -

 

[Badshot1uk]

I think you will know if its not right just go with your eyes open and have a good test drive.

good luck there great cars

 

[andy_k]

if it's bouncy at the back there's a pretty good chance the accumulator spheres are shot. They have an expected life of around 100k. Drive it over some rough surfaces or sleeping policemen - if there's no damping at the back you'll soon know

as to the remedial work, for a fairly competant home mechanic it's about 3 or 4 hours work to replace the spheres and should cost you less than £200 - the sheres which you must replace in pairs are £135 (for the pair) budget also for 2 litres of hydraulic fluid at £8.50 per litre, a couple of hydraulic pipes (it's easier to cut the old ones off than to try and remove them ) at a cost of £12 the pair.

If you are buying the car though, make a big thing about how much of an expensive job it is. The dealers will charge over £500 for this work!! and use it as a bargaining tool.

If you do buy the car, i've got a pretty decent "how to" describing how to do the job in simple steps - all based on experience and from doing the job at the side of the road with no fancy tools

Andy k

 

[MIKE236]

Hi Russel.

Listen to Andy and the rest. Its an expensive job to change the little buggers (the spheres) as from my recent experience by the garage. Get a discount from the seller like Andy suggested. Sorry for not helping much as my technical knowledge is not up to par with the rest. Cheers.

 

[Russel Weston]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I did take it for a good drive and and I presume it was the spheres. I was quite prepared to do the work, and the car was in very good condition. I was put off by his attitude, almost like he was doing me a favor, and he smoked. The car stank and I noticed that even though it have been valeted, parts they couldnt get to had yellowed. So after all that I deceided not to buy it. But armed with your suggestions I will keep looking. Thanks again.