I have had a knocking noise on my Fabia for a number of weeks. I took it to a dealers yesterday with a number of faults (knocks mostly) which they have looked into, one of them being a ball joint. I asked if it was safe to drive - they said the mechanic would have said if it wasn't..... They had to give me my car back as I could only have a courtesy car for 1 day and they didn't have the parts needed on the shelf.

It needs a bush as well.

 

Question is how far should I drive it? I take its alright to drive. I am away this weekend, they don't have the parts in to change it anyway....

 

Its annoying as the running gear on Fabias seems shockingly bad compared to Mk 1 Octavia's. I hardly spent anything on my Octavia, luckily its still under warranty at the mo!

Still going atm! I haven't heard anything from the dealer.

6-7 days later, are you not going to ask them,

your local Motor Factor could probably have had the parts in 24 hours.

 

Who was 'they'  that you asked,

Was it a Service Desk person that said  '"he mechanic would have said " ?

 

I would be enquiring with a Work Shop Manager or Technician what is going on,

rather than someone that might be covering the desk because the Service Reception Staff are off.

Assuming it was not just the rubber boot showing signs of deteriation...

Ball joints can deteriate really quickly, so if an owner left without it being fixed, it would be against my advice. That would be written on the service record.

I've seen cars where the ball joint has failed and it is never pretty. I refer to ball joint accidents - not ball joint failures :(

Thanks for the replies.

 

I chased them today, they did say they would get back to me! Anyway it is booked in, a week on Tuesday. They said it wasn't too bad and was ok to drive.

 

I don't think it likes the unclassified and Welsh B roads I have to use to get around here.

 

Does anyone else experience issues with the running gear on these? I am interested as I have had a heck of a lot done to mine.

 

- Front off side wheel bearing

- Front off side suspension strut

- Front off side linkage

- now a near side ball joint

 

None of this was done / went at the same time, all separate visits to the garage.

 

It is 6 1/2 years old now, so maybe just a sign of wear, with over 80K on the clock.

 

Do speed humps do much damage like this, again we are plagued by these around here.

 

Thanks