I have a car that I will be trading in when the new 2008 rolls out. The strut on the drivers side needs to be changed, do I need to do both struts? I had one car with the same struts on it for 10 years. What are the risk if I only do one?
Can I change only one strut on my car.
- Thread starter Doctor Zoidburg
- Start date
No.
The car will not handle properly. The new strut will have the proper specs, the old one will be tired. As a result the car's suspension will not function properly.
It will be instantly spotted when the car is certified.
The car will not handle properly. The new strut will have the proper specs, the old one will be tired. As a result the car's suspension will not function properly.
It will be instantly spotted when the car is certified.
The good advice is in all the posts above: Do both. But you're planning to trade in a few months, aren't you? So the real question is: What are the chances the substandard—every mechanic's standard practice/advice is do both—repair will be noticed, and rejected/factored into price, if it is. Good I'd say. Don't forget, the new owner will be looking at the cost of replacing both struts. They don't know your new single's worth keeping.Doctor Zoidburg said:
But why ask us? Ask your mechanic, or better, ask the mechanic or salesman at the dealer where you might be trading it in what they'd think of a car w/ one new strut vs. one properly repaired. Then you can calculate whether the higher price you'd get for the better version pays for the higher repair cost. At least if they did the work you'd have a teensy tiny chance of bargaining for one strut by you now, and one by them 1000km later. But it ain't a deal I'd buy.
Garage the car till you trade it, rent, taxi, TTC, bike, walk until then and save over even one strut.
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Esco,
You can have a brand new car and hit a pot hole and damage your stuts. What kind of car do I drive, the kind of car that you might buy second hand and have something better than you have now. (even with the mis matched struts)
You can have a brand new car and hit a pot hole and damage your stuts. What kind of car do I drive, the kind of car that you might buy second hand and have something better than you have now. (even with the mis matched struts)
I'd be tempted to change only the bad strut because chances are the dealer is not going to look over the car because it's headed for the auction. He's only going to keep cars that are eligible for warranty (and if your car was still under warranty, then you wouldn't have needed to ask).Doctor Zoidburg said:
They are changed in pairs because if one is worn out, chances are that the other is not far behind. You'll have to do a front wheel alignment regardless of whether you change 1 or both. If the other one goes bad a couple of months later, it'll have to go in again for an alignment so it'll end up costing you more in the end.
