Front spring broken. Any recommended specialists Essex/Kent area?

[lotusunbeam]

Hi all. I need to pick your wise old collective brains.

Last night the n/s front spring went bang and although under most other circumstances I would change them myself I just can't find the motivation to get out in the garage at the moment and do the work.

So, some advice please.

The car is an '04 vRS, 76,000 miles and is on It's original shocks and, I assume springs.

Now. The car is used for the daily commute so I dont want anything too radical fitted but am open to the option of some small improvements over the original setup, but not at the expense of ride comfort.

What i need is to find a garage who have experience with the vRS, can inspect the car and advise me as to which springs to use in conjunction with the standard shocks (if they are still doing the job to a good standard) and can also supply and fit a RARB at the same time.

Is there anyone out there who is highly regarded, approachable and won't try to stitch me up? As with all my vehicles, past and present, once i find a place that ticks all the boxes for me then I tend to stay loyal to that institution until I sell the car.

Thanks in advance.

[mannyo]

You have to change the springs in pairs, since the replacement one will have not been weakened by 76K miles. Replacing one can lead to interesting handling.

its also worth pointing out to whoever does it that the vRS uses different springs to the rest of the Octavia range, otherwise your front end could end up higher than now if the wrong springs are fitted.

AmD in Thurrock would be a good starting point.

[lotusunbeam]

You have to change the springs in pairs, since the replacement one will have not been weakened by 76K miles. Replacing one can lead to interesting handling.

its also worth pointing out to whoever does it that the vRS uses different springs to the rest of the Octavia range, otherwise your front end could end up higher than now if the wrong springs are fitted.

AmD in Thurrock would be a good starting point.

Used AmD for my stage 1 chip and would like to try another garage just to compare with a different set-up. I have no complaints with AmD but I found it a little bit "glam" for want of a better word with very little customer interaction. As I said, they did a satisfactory job but I always find more interaction with the technichian working on my cars a little more to my liking.

[Spunjedd]

Spooky, my offside front spring snapped yesterday. '51 plate vRS with 77k.

Sorry to thread jack slightly, but I've already read about the vRS springs being pretty much dealer only, I'm guessing this is still true?

Seen prices on here of circa £180 for the pair?

[essexocty]

Use amd as stated they are top very helpful and reasonably priced

[cheshire_cat]

take a look on here www.lesjoforsab.com ---at that milage I would consider new shocks too

Edited 30 December, 2012 by cheshire cat

[Volvomeg]

Can get a set of H&R 20mm springs for 180 quid for set of 4, think i would do that rather than replacing with standard ones

[cheezemonkhai]

you can get vag economy shocks for about £25 each, so i'd do them while it's all apart along with new top bearings and mounts.

Springs are quite a bit more, but if lowering then i'd look at a kit such as the bilstein b12.

[group1rs]

www.tonygilham.com he's just moving to a new garage over the Xmas break but will be up and running from Wednesday 2nd Jan 2013. He's done lots of work on our VRS's and I highly recommend him.