Shock absorbers

[sail]

Guys (and Girls!),

I want an unbiased opinion:

Are the shocks leaking or is the tyre shop trying to pull one over me?

Shocks

My car is a 2013 Mk7 Golf with 60K on the clock.

[Transporter]

hmm, it almost look like someone sprayed them. When they leak, you usually see the oil leaking further down. Your pictures look like the seal in them just burst (unusual). It's always slow leak and just the body of the shock/strut is wet from oil.

How many km have you done?

[sail]

Thanks for replying. 60,000 km. It has felt bumpy for about a year. I took it for a 60k/4 year service at the end of last year and I was told the tyres and brakes needed replacing. They didn't have the tyres I wanted it, so I took it to a tyre shop, where I was told that all the shocks were leaking - "since it's under warranty, take it back to the dealership". I did and they said they would've never let a car with leaking shocks back on the road. Because it was just before the holidays they charged labour for inspection since the shocks were found to be merely "sweating".

The tyres came with a free rotation @3 months. I took it to another branch of the same franchise. When it was lifted up, I asked if they shocks were OK. They said, no, look they are leaking. So I took the photos.

The car suspension is definitely rougher than it used to be. My father bought a new Golf 6 months ago. It's definitely smoother. OK, it's better all-around, including start-stop, DSG is smoother, but the suspension absorbs bumps like mine used to do. I thought may be it's the ridiculously overinflated tyres from the tyre shop (36 psi). Lowering the tyre pressure helped, but only a little. The rear left is what concerns me the most (2nd photo). It feels like it "pogos" over potholes.

[Transporter]

You could take it to Pedders, they can test all 4 shocks on the car, just to be sure. The second photo doesn't show any oil leak from the shock.

[Umai Naa!!]

It's fairly normal to see a bit of grime buildup, combination of not being cleaned well after assembly and they do occasionally weap.

Fronts don't look to be leaking. Rears, if it were warranty, I'd replace them anyway.

Usually, if a shock was going to fail, it'd make a bigger mess than that. The oil goes everywhere!

[sail]

I still have VW manufacturer's extended warranty on the car. The problem is how do I explain this to the mechanics - "the car is not as smooth as it used to be over pot holes"? I bought the car for the superb NVH characteristics. Ditto my father, who said "I don't care, I'll just buy a new Kia for 20K". Test drove many cars, including the i30 Turbo (loud, loud car) and ended up buying a Golf as well. But the great NVH should last more than 60K.

[Eaglehawk]

I'm in the same boat too. I got my non-dealer VW garage to check my 5 year old vehicles (Passat AllTrack/Golf TDI). The Golf, they were concerned with a similiar problem. I took it back to the dealer and they claim that the leaks were "within tolerance". I also have extended dealer warranty, so I've made sure it's been mentioned in the report for any future problems. (3 more years to go)

However, that doesn't solve the NVH aspect. The car is more squeaky than the day I bought it (as expected), but it definately feels "unGolf like". I'm not sure what to do now. I really want that new car feel back (without buying a new car!)

[Sydneykid]

Shock absorbers are like brake pads, clutches, rotors etc they are a "wearing item", they don't last forever, they have a serviceable life, and their performance deteriorates over time. The don't usually work one day and they completely fail the next, they just wear out very slowly until the floatiness becomes noticeable.

With the above in mind what the dealer is doing is stalling you, waiting for the service life to expire, so it can be written off as being normal wear and tear. You need to escalate the complaints, it's getting very floaty, the kids now get car sick, it crashes over bumps, there is a loud knocking noise over speed bumps, it's much worse than it was a day/week/month ago, the ABS kicks in much earlier, it spins wheels just driving up the driveway at home/work/school, I can't drive it anymore because it feels dangerous.

The aim is to get it out of normal wear and tear into "something is wrong and needs fixing now" territory.


Cheers
Gary