03 1.7 EL suspension problems?

[pne]

Brought my parent's EL into the dealership for a checkup yesterday and the mechanic told me the front struts were sweating and needed replacement. Quoted me $800!!! for parts and labor. Is it me or is this way too much? I was thinking this is the chance to get some aftermarket struts and do the install myself.

-I don't want to spend too much on this, I'm strapped for cash as it is, but I can probably pony up around $400-500. What kind of parts should I be looking at? Anything else I should swap out or upgrade while I'm in there? Do I need new springs? Maybe a strut tower bar? Since its my parents car I don't want something that will give too harsh a ride. Comfort, price, and slight improvement in handling is what I'm looking for.

-Is it a big job to replace the front struts I've never done any suspension work on a car before. I was planning on taking it to a rental garage. Is it as simple as compressing the spring, taking out the old strut, putting in the new spring, compressing it again, and bolting them back in?

-I won't have time to do this until another month or so, I assume it won't be too bad driving the car like it is for that long? Winter is approaching soon too...


thanks for all the help guys!

[RiceBoy]

Yep, $800 sounds about right. Is your EL just our of warranty? It was a known defect on the 01 and some 02 models, but I thought they fixed it by the 03 models. You're not the only one with an 03 model who just had their front struts go either. I had an 01 EL and it went out of warranty about 15,000km when it was found the struts were leaking. I did manage to get the cost of the parts and 10% of the labour covered by the service manager, as the 01 EL's were known to have this defect.

You're probably better off getting aftermarket ones anyway...they'll probably last longer! There are a few guys on here who have done some suspension work on their EL's and are much more educated in this field than I am. I will let them do the talking.