A2 Repair

S

sbchilton

Member
After my slow speed skid into a kerb last friday I took it to a mechanic who I thought I knew reasonably well. He showed me that the steering rack was bent 25 degrees behind the wheel that took the impact, he also showed me what looked like a ball joint?!? this appeared to be wonky. He said that it should cost no more than £500 to sort out.

He called me last night to say it was nearly fixed and would cost around £200 (Bargain?!). I quizzed him over what he had needed to do, and whilst he has never let me down I just felt uneasy about some of the things he said. I know very little about car repair but here is a list of the things he said:

- he was able to fix the steering rack and it is driving lovely again. I'm dubious about this as simplt fixing it seems a bit "botchy?".

- he jiggled the wheels about and tried the spare but I would probably need a couple replacing. I noted that I didn't have a spare to which he corrected and said he refers to the back wheels as spares :confused:

- The chassis was a few mm off around the point of impact but he was able to sort it. Thought the A2 has a space frame?!?

- He asked me to order 2 new track rod ends from audi which he will fit at the weekend when he does my previously planned pads and disks.

Ultimately the car seems fixed and the price seems good however i'm worried that he has simply bent back the rack and knocked a few things around.

Does anyone have any thoughts? Am I worrying over nothing? Is there anything else I can do or say to check it's safe? (It may be worth noting that it is up for MOT this month, which I do VIA him)

Cheers
 
Im no expert, but sounds like a cutting of corners somewhere, it might have been worth going through insurance, and the money you paid would have possibly covered the excess.

Alan
 
Thanks ULP

I stated in my post he asked I order 2 new rod-ends, so could he of simply repaired these as a temporary fix?
 
Hi sbchilton

if you are not happy then get a second opinion,
if you ring vince at stealth we can do a 4-wheel alignment for you
as this will tell you if your car is running true
if you need new track rod ends then we will do that at the same time.
stealth no 01926812259 ask for vince

cheers
Robin
 
I spoke with my mechanic again and he said what was bent was an arm that connects to the rack? Is this the "lower arm"?
The "ball joint" I mentioned is the trackrod end as I have now seen an image of one :) so i guess it seems to make sense now.
I'm wondering if he was playing down because of my lack of understanding?
Does £200 sound reasonable for the work he may of done?
 
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