Just taken Dewi the Yeti in for his second MOT and he failed!!   

 

Both rear springs broken in the lower seating!!   

 

Not a happy bunny, but 2 new springs ordered, non-Skoda parts, and will be fitted on Tuesday.

 

I'm glad I didn't take Sinclair's up on their offer to do the MOT otherwise I'd now be stuck in Swansea. The local garage I used say they are changing several springs a week at the moment, and there were a pile ready for the scrap man in the corner of the workshop.

 

 

Damn! Is this a common problem? Any ideas on the cause? Has anyone brought this up with SkodaUK?

I'd be careful with non-Skoda parts.

When buying genuine, there are probably a variety of spring part numbers available for each model to accommodate different variants/weights.

They are usually identified with coloured paint marks on the spring, so you can order the correct replacements.

 

Sometimes when you buy aftermarket springs, there is only variant available, which may leave you with a slightly different ride height.

Sorry to hear this Graham.

 

 

Hope you get it sorted; seems to be a modern car/road thing, as I'm hearing more people mentioning broken springs than I did when I first started driving, mind some cars still had leaf springs back then

 

 

TP

.....Both rear springs broken in the lower seating!!    .....

 

Dewi does face quite a bit of off-tarmac work, though :peek: . 

 

Seriously, wasn't there a bit about ?Octys reporting similar breaks, a while back?  I don't know how legitimately. 

I'd be careful with non-Skoda parts.

When buying genuine, there are probably a variety of spring part numbers available for each model to accommodate different variants/weights.

They are usually identified with coloured paint marks on the spring, so you can order the correct replacements.

 

Sometimes when you buy aftermarket springs, there is only variant available, which may leave you with a slightly different ride height.

 

They are using a reputable company and they are specific for the 4x4 so I am quite happy with that.

To get a set from Skoda will involve a 150 mile round trip and they haven't got them in stock anyway.

 

Damn! Is this a common problem? Any ideas on the cause? Has anyone brought this up with SkodaUK?

 

Not that I've heard as a common problem with the Yeti, but generally yes, as the garage said. Probably caused by the state of the roads around here at the moment. 

As the car is 4 years old I don't think they will be interested. Most manufacturers seem to accept that they are a consumable item now, especially Ford and Mondeo's!!

Sorry to hear this Graham.

 

 

Hope you get it sorted; seems to be a modern car/road thing, as I'm hearing more people mentioning broken springs than I did when I first started driving, mind some cars still had leaf springs back then

 

 

TP

 

Thanks Tim.

 

Dewi does face quite a bit of off-tarmac work, though :peek: . 

 

Seriously, wasn't there a bit about ?Octys reporting similar breaks, a while back?  I don't know how legitimately. 

 

True Bri, and it probably doesn't help. Still annoying though.

Grrr...  you know the towball weight limit for your caravan is 80kg Graham and not 280kg?!  

Damn! Is this a common problem? Any ideas on the cause? Has anyone brought this up with SkodaUK?

 

I believe it's a common VAG group thing.

The springs don't stand up well to UK quality roads and can snap after several years of use.

Possibly inferior quality.

 

Fords suffer too.

Grrr...  you know the towball weight limit for your caravan is 80kg Graham and not 280kg?!  

 

Damn!! That's what I've been doing wrong!!

 

I believe it's a common CAR thing.

The springs don't stand up well to UK quality roads and can snap after several years of use.

Possibly inferior quality.

 

Fords suffer too.

 

Corrected that for you, from the comment made by the garage!

Corrected that for you, from the comment made by the garage!

 

It was my opinion, not sure you can correct that.

All cars is their opinion.

Never had a snapped spring on anything other than VAG and Ford here.

Richard,

I know of at least 2people locally that have suffered, one with a Citreon and the other with a Vauxhall, and the garage are not make specific, and he did say it was across all makes. 

Your roads must be worse.

Only ever had coil springs breaking on VW Golfs many years ago, didn't realize it was still a problem with VW group.

Damn! Is this a common problem? Any ideas on the cause? Has anyone brought this up with SkodaUK?

 

Common problem for me is the Wife/Speed bump combination. She's done the front springs on both the Seat and previously the Clio, but it's the first time I've heard of the rears going. She just drives too fast over them so the suspension just can't cope with the sudden change of road height with the associated weight of the engine.

 

Graham,

 

It's not all bad news I guess as when SWMBO did the Seat in the RAC man recommended (because it had to be towed to the garage as the front suspension had collapsed on 1 side) doing both sides at the same time as it's likely that if you just change to 1 it could affect the handling as the original spring will no longer be as stiff/is likely to fail in the future too.

 

Pain as it is at least you'll have a new springs both sides so shouldn't happen again any time soon.

Quite.

I would have fitted 2 anyway.

£40 per spring plus fitting. Car booked in for Tuesday morning.

Graham, sorry to hear that you have developed a 'bit of a lean'. Hope it is sorted soon.

 

I had a 1975 Opel Manta back in 1980 that had 2 broken rear springs.

 

But I was a lad then, so I blamed my style of driving as opposed to shoddy German engineering. 

Think it is getting pretty common on all cars tbh given the state of our roads atm.

 

Personally i would reckon that offroading is probably safer for the suspension than driving on road as at least driving off road you are generally going slower therefore less damage.

Some of the local forestry tracks are better than the roads, around here!

SWMBO had a fiat punto that regularly went thru springs, had to change both rear springs in an Astra I had. Talking to local garages and auto factors, it seems to be a common problem across all makes.

Found I had a rear spring busted during the MOT test where it fits at the base.

Local garage tells me it's a booming trade and quotes speed bumps/ramps are the main cause.

 

As stated before by a member, big stack of broken springs in the skip outside garage.

 

It worth mentioning that my rear spring was 3 colour coded by Skoda...

First broken springs I had was on my late 70's Vauxhall Chevette. Was a common Vauxhall issue in those days. Local garages (just North of Glasgow) doing lots of business with broken wheels/ springs etc due to appalling roads. Yeti coping well (so far)

Not so long ago Citroen had problems with front springs on Xsara Picassos;  their answer to the problem was not to fit better springs,  but to fit safety cups to the ends of the springs so that when they broke they didn't spike the tyres!

As stated it's not just a VW group problem it happens across all makes. I know loads of people who have had to renew springs in the last few years. It seemed to more prevalent with Vauxhalls. Being a biker I've noticed a massive deterioration in all roads over the past several years.

Graham is not the first to suffer this problem:

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/299236-broken-rear-coil-spring/

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/262559-yeti-mot-fail/

 

The second thread in particular is worth a read.  (You can safely ignore TeflonTom's ignorant statements on both threads about "recycled steel".  That is dealt with by nickguzzi in post #17 of the second thread linked above.)

 

This AA article about the problem is well worth reading:

 

There are myths suggesting that the problem is caused by 'cheaper metal', speed humps or over-loading but the simple fact is that springs are lighter, thinner and don't cope as well with salt and rust.

 

Reducing vehicle weight is one way of cutting fuel consumption and CO2 emissions...car manufacturers are challenging the design of every component in search of weight reduction.

 

Mechanical components are being re-specified so they will still do the job but may have less spare capacity. This has included specifying lighter, more highly stressed springs.

 

Most often coil spring failure seems to be caused by corrosion, accelerated by salt applied to the roads in winter.

 

We've checked with other motoring clubs across Europe too. Italy, Portugal and Spain have seen no change in the number of coil spring failures but the German club, ADAC has reported the same increase in spring breakage experienced in this country. Roads aren't salted in winter in southern European countries.