Rear shock spring failure LR Trophy

[Marita]

In our case, the AA offered to organise a hire car straight away to be fair !.
He said “We should have a car out to you buy today, if you are struggling” - This was a Saturday morning about 11.00am.
We delivered the car to the local MG dealer ( about 8 miles ) and he brought me back home.
Lucky enough we had a car that we could use from another family member.
As it was the weekend, which held up organising the loan car by the dealer.
I called the dealer on Monday morning and they had already diagnosed the problem and ordered the parts ( no U.K. stock ).
They had to E.mail contact MG after sales customer service, who need to authorise the dealer to then procure a hire car.
The car turned up about 5.30pm on the Tuesday.
I should have taken the AA man’s kind offer of the hire car for three days to bridge he gap !.

Thank you, that’s useful to know. I chased the hire car earlier as there were none available from Europcar, the first rental company. I’m waiting for a call back from MG to see if AA have any available ?

 

[TonyP]

Garage supplied me with a courtesy car after ferrying my partner back and forth to work for 3 days. Drove the MG to garage.

 

[Lovemyev]

Garage supplied me with a courtesy car after ferrying my partner back and forth to work for 3 days. Drove the MG to garage.

Tony - Just keep a rough mental note of the cost / expense & time that this takes before this is finally resolved, then request the price of the coil spring and the time allowed to install the spring ( about one hour I think ) then compare back to back !.
I predict that after only one week, the cost of not having the problem rectified will be more than the cost of the repair.
Let's just make a pure guess had the affected part been available in stock.
Cost of the road spring, pure ball park figure ????? ..... £50 ( ish ) ?.
Estimated labour charge to install ????? ................. Approx one hour ????........ £100 - 150 ( ish ).
Job sorted at a single appointment, little inconvenience to the dealer or customer and off we go.
Set against, the wait time for a single £50 item.
For EVERY week(s) car hire ......... between £400 - 500 ?‍.
Let's keep our fingers firmly crossed ?and say it arrives in two weeks ( remember it's coming on boat from China folks ).
Cost of repair is now is a conservative £800 in car hire and £150 ( ish ) in parts & labour.
Two week wait for the dealer and the customer and a cost close to £1,000 vs £150.00 had the part been available ??.
Multiply this by the number of cars awaiting parts and it is simply not a sustainable option in any business.
If we needed any further evidence of this type of repeated action, we only need to look at the recent shortage of interior door handles on MG4 & ZS EV face lift, steering column assemblies on ZS EV and now rear road springs shortages on the ZS EV facelift.
As MG increases production of both current models and then introduces new models, the supply of replacement parts has to increase inline, otherwise dealers are going to become overwhelmed with broken cars all awaiting spare parts !.

 

[ChrisMac]

I had exact same problem, started getting a squeak from back drivers side, took it to dealer and they confirmed the spring had gone. Car was just under one year old. Got replaced under warranty at least

 

[TonyP]

I had exact same problem, started getting a squeak from back drivers side, took it to dealer and they confirmed the spring had gone. Car was just under one year old. Got replaced under warranty at least

Hi Chris

How long did it take for the spring to arrive? Mine was ordered over a week ago and still no ETA from MG. I'm concerned that there may be no springs in the UK.

 

[MEH]

A very good friend of mine has recently retired as an MOT inspector for almost 45 years, we served our time together.
He said the failure rate on broken coil springs has increased massively over the last ten years !.
Not sure if it’s poor quality materials or they making the springs lighter to reduce weight.
Prior to this starting, he very rarely seen a broken spring !.
It affects all makes.

That is surprising now there are becoming less and less Rover 75's on the road

 

[Lovemyev]

That is surprising now there are becoming less and less Rover 75's on the road

Worked on a few of the original old Rover 80’s & 100’s in my younger years.
OMG - They are built like an absolute tank !.

 

[ChrisMac]

Hi Chris

How long did it take for the spring to arrive? Mine was ordered over a week ago and still no ETA from MG. I'm concerned that there may be no springs in the UK.

Only took a few days

 

[Lovemyev]

Only took a few days

If you are lucky enough and MG are holding stock in the U.K. it will arrive in a few days to a week.
However, if the U.K. stock has been exhausted, then you are awaiting for stock to arrive from China !.
The same thing happened when there was a big demand for interior door lock assemblies for the ZS EV after a number of cars, had a bad batch of defective locks fitted at the factory.
Once the initial stock in the U.K. had been allocated, people were left waiting weeks and weeks !.
My brother had the N/S/F handle replaced within two weeks, but when he discovered that the N/S/R lock was faulty, he waited about 6 weeks for a replacement lock as by then they where on back order.

 

[TonyP]

I'm still waiting for Coil Spring. Have been told it should be with the dealer next week, but I will believe that when I see it!

 

[Lovemyev]

I'm still waiting for Coil Spring. Have been told it should be with the dealer next week, but I will believe that when I see it!

Usual format is that when the dealer is authorised to order the part, the parts department at the deal shop will then place the order.
If it’s in stock in the U.K. then it should automatically tell them so and give them a predicted ETA.
You maybe be in luck ?.
You get a rough idea if the wait is going too be long, if the part goes onto a “back order” list.
This usually means it is coming from China.
The dealer gets a very rough ETA at the time of ordering, but this can slip back wards.
Then no further updates on their system, until about a week ( ish ) before the part arrives.
A few days before it is shipped to the dealer, they will get notification of an arrival date.
But the dealer told me that they are never fully confident until the part is actually on the desk.
Ask me how I know this, I have been down this road myself.
The ordering and tracking system is absolutely woefully TBH.
Equally frustrating for both the customer and the dealer alike if you ask me.

 

[Exdro]

My ex Demo ZSEV Trophy Connect has a broken NSR coil spring. FGBarnes Canterbury are closing on 30th June but could fit a new spring in three days time at my cost (£290). MG have accepted that there was corrosion in the spring and it who’ll be replaced at the Maidstone branch under warranty “when a spring can be sourced”! Current estimate for this is mid July. I have been advised not to drive the car until then and that there are no available courtesy cars.
Any advice?
PS. I have had the car less than 6 months and have done 4k of the 7.5k miles.
Could I reject it as not fit for purpose? Don’t want to, as I like the car even more than my previous Mk1 ZSEV Exclusive.

 

[Gadget Geek]

This might help:

https://blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2013/10/how-long-do-you-have-to-take-faulty-goods-back/

 

[TonyP]

I don't understand why FGBarnes cannot fit the spring under warranty?

 

[Gadget Geek]

I don't understand why FGBarnes cannot fit the spring under warranty?

If they are closing in 4 days time, maybe MG are preventing them from doing the warranty work.

 

[DBedford]

I wouldn’t say it’s a case for rejection, and it wasn’t a new car. Check if the item is covered under their/MG warranty then speak to citizen advice.

 

[Exdro]

Tx for all your replies. I will let you know how it pans out.

 

[Exdro]

If they are closing in 4 days time, maybe MG are preventing them from doing the warranty work.

That is what they told me.

 

[Exdro]

I wouldn’t say it’s a case for rejection, and it wasn’t a new car. Check if the item is covered under their/MG warranty then speak to citizen advice.

MG have confirmed that it is a warranty item.

 

[Eclectic]

I got my ZS from Barnes as well, very peeved to have to now go to Ashford or Maidstone for warranty work.

Have you tried Caffyns Ashford?

If FG Barnes Canterbury have the spring, why can’t they send it to Maidstone to be fitted under warranty !!?