C3 Front Spring Failure

[nevway]

The nearside frontspring has just failed on my 54 plate 23,000 mile C3. Fortunately it failed just as I was coming to a halt - the spring almost severed the flexible brake pipe when it broke.

Citroen recalled earlier models because of this problem - why not later models as it is still clearly a serious problem. I dread to think of the consequences had it happened at speed.

Car has been towed to local dealers ( recovery service struggled for an hour trying to get the car on the trailer as the front of the car was so low!)

Will post the outcome

[stimulator]

See other threads on this.

 

My 54 reg (sept 2004) model didn't have the spring cups mod done either evn when I asked I was told it wa outside the VIN number range. They did replace both FOC. Hoever if you re out of warranty still go to them about it as you say it is a known problem you never know there maybe a good result.

[mossop]

my wifes did this today too a 54 plate with 27k on the clock will be ringing the stealer first thing!!!

 

thanks for the info

 

mossop

[nevway]

The nearside frontspring has just failed on my 54 plate 23,000 mile C3. Fortunately it failed just as I was coming to a halt - the spring almost severed the flexible brake pipe when it broke.

Citroen recalled earlier models because of this problem - why not later models as it is still clearly a serious problem. I dread to think of the consequences had it happened at speed.

Car has been towed to local dealers ( recovery service struggled for an hour trying to get the car on the trailer as the front of the car was so low!)

Will post the outcome

 

Just got the car back from the dealer - the following parts have been replaced free of charge:

Both front springs, both suspension strut top bearings. nearside flexible brake hose, nearside ABS sensor and nearside suspension drop arm.

The spring breakage obviously caused a lot of damage to suspension and braking systems.

 

The dealer has not fitted the modification ie the spring cups as they were instructed by Citroen not to do so. It would appear to me that they are not addressing the problem as I still have a car that could suffer steering/ braking / tyre failure in the event of a spring breaking.

 

When this was pointed out to the dealer. he agreed but said that they could only fit the modification to the cars that were subject to recall and that they have had dozens of similar failures.

 

I will be taking this further with Citroen and Watchdog if necessary. It makes you wonder how many serious accidents have been caused by this fault and how many are out there waiting to happen.

[stimulator]

Yes they changed mine FOC. But why do you now want the cups. The new springs are not the same as the first ones.

 

you have to look at this from all angles.

Cars made between certain VIN numbers were assessed has having springs that might fail. This was addressed not by the wholesale replacement of the springs across all those cars affected but by putting retainers that prevent further damage. reason behind this cost and time. If you take all the C3s & Picassos (they suffer too) in the world and start changing springs you would have a lot of cars off raod while the parts are on back order. I would venture to say that you would even still be waiting for your car to be recalled when the spring broke unless it was an early VIN number

 

However some cars have had failures outside of the VIN range, mine included. That problem was addressed without quibble by the dealer and Citroen. I'd expect the VIN range to have now been enlarged to cover this.

 

Believe me Citroen are not the only cars affected by this, Fords are another sufferer.

 

Take this up with your council that the state of the roads; potholes & speed bumps are the culprits.

[raveydavey]

I had a long and sorry saga getting to spring cups fitted to my C3 (there are other threads on here about it, so I won't repeat it all again). Not wanting to tempt fate, I'm approaching 70,000 miles and I'm still on the original springs...that said if springs are still failing, why bother replacing the existing ones as clearly the parts supplied are still (at best) suspect?

 

It is now over a year since Citroen "customer services" promised a full enquiry into what had gone on and a response and I'm not holding my breath.

In fact I'd go so far as to say that in my experience of Citroen customer service staff is that they are either poorly trained and badly informed, or outright liars. Take your pick.

 

If springs are STILL failing on cars that are supposedly outside the range effected then this is a scandal. I'd suggest that you do contact Watchog and Consumer Direct and also contact VOSA ( Enquiries@vosa.gov.uk or http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosacorp/contactus/contactus.htm ) immediately and insist that they take action.

 

This only compounds the original scandal that Citroen only fitted spring cups rather than replacing the actual springs, which was simply a matter of penny pinching. It's all very well replacing parts AFTER they have failed - what happens if someone dies or is seriously injured as a result of a spring failing? Or a driver loses directional control and mounts a pavement taking out a few pedestrians?

I'm a automotive engineer assessor and if I come across such a vehicle in my professional capacity after a failure I will raise merry hell about it.

 

No offence to stimulator, who has posted many times on here and usually offers good advice, but when other manufacturers have defects on cars serious enough to risk life (which this does) they DO take cars off the road until they can be fixed. Vauxhall did it recently just after the launch of the new Corsa, so it can be done - it's a matter of doing the right thing.

[lmbridgen]

I had a long and sorry saga getting to spring cups fitted to my C3 (there are other threads on here about it, so I won't repeat it all again). Not wanting to tempt fate, I'm approaching 70,000 miles and I'm still on the original springs...that said if springs are still failing, why bother replacing the existing ones as clearly the parts supplied are still (at best) suspect?

 

It is now over a year since Citroen "customer services" promised a full enquiry into what had gone on and a response and I'm not holding my breath.

In fact I'd go so far as to say that in my experience of Citroen customer service staff is that they are either poorly trained and badly informed, or outright liars. Take your pick.

 

If springs are STILL failing on cars that are supposedly outside the range effected then this is a scandal. I'd suggest that you do contact Watchog and Consumer Direct and also contact VOSA ( Enquiries@vosa.gov.uk or http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosacorp/contactus/contactus.htm ) immediately and insist that they take action.

 

This only compounds the original scandal that Citroen only fitted spring cups rather than replacing the actual springs, which was simply a matter of penny pinching. It's all very well replacing parts AFTER they have failed - what happens if someone dies or is seriously injured as a result of a spring failing? Or a driver loses directional control and mounts a pavement taking out a few pedestrians?

I'm a automotive engineer assessor and if I come across such a vehicle in my professional capacity after a failure I will raise merry hell about it.

 

No offence to stimulator, who has posted many times on here and usually offers good advice, but when other manufacturers have defects on cars serious enough to risk life (which this does) they DO take cars off the road until they can be fixed. Vauxhall did it recently just after the launch of the new Corsa, so it can be done - it's a matter of doing the right thing.

 

 

 

well this is a really interesting thread, I had no idea there was a problem with the springs until this evening when I was searching what to do about mine.

I have a c3 04 diesel sensodrive 26t miles and the front passenger side pring went today causing my tyre to smoke ( badly ) how the tyre hasnt blown I will never know.

does this sound like the same problem to you ? I will be phoning citroen tomorrow as I only bought the car in sept 2007 any advice on how to conduct the conversation so that I look knowledgeable, I dont want the dealer to try to dismiss me as a woman driver ( you some of them will if they can )

thanks

[nevway]

I also had no idea that there were problems with C3 springs until mine failed. I think we were very fortunate as it failed at low speed the evening before I was due to make a long motorway journey.

What alerted me was when the recovery truck driver said that this was a common problem with C3's and that it usually destroyed the tyre

 

Mine had dropped so low that they struggled for an hour to get it on the truck without causing further damage

 

What horrified me most was that the flexible brake pipe had been severed by the spring. In my case the tyre was undamaged.

The local Citroen dealer was cagey at first - they would have to take a look at the car first and submit a claim to Citroen. After looking on the net and taking account of the recovery service comments, I immediately stated that I expected that the repairs should be carried out free of charge as it was a known problem.

 

The dealer took 6 days to carry out the repairs and only contacted me when they were finished despite me making several interim calls to them.

 

When I picked up the car, there was no apology and when I persisted , the receptionist just said that the car VIN number was outside the recall range. He then implied that he was becoming accustomed to irate C3 owners as the spring failures were so commonplace.

 

Make sure that the dealer knows that you know that there is an underlying problem with the springs on this car!

[stimulator]

Believe me they know as there was a recall to fit spring cups to cars within a certain VIN range. Look on the VOSA site for details. This doesn't only affect C3s but many citroens, fords etc.When mine broke on a 54reg within warranty it was all done with no fuss. Yes it was outside the VIN range and I had asked at the second service about that too.

They are just rying to fob you off about it.

[lmbridgen]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I phoned Citroen this morning and quoted a few things from this thread to look knowledgable and they Citroen service man couldnt have been more helpful, I didnt have any AA cover and he arranged for collection of car free of charge and says that It can all be repaired under an extended warranty that I was given with the car when I purchased it last July and he will even replace the tyre free of charge!!! I was very impressed indeed.

The AA turned up and it took them one and a half hours to get my car onto the back of the truck It had sunk that low. on examining they say that the spring also caused the strutt to break and then they both went in the wheel, he showed me the tyre and I could literally see the wire. Very scary to think I was driving it when it happened.

Not sure now how long I have to wait for repair, Im hoping all will be well on its return and no lasting damage has occured.

I will keep you informed if Citroen decide not to cover cost after all.

Any advice please on what to look out for on its return?

Thanks again

Linda

[Guest Pamal]

:(

The nearside frontspring has just failed on my 54 plate 23,000 mile C3. Fortunately it failed just as I was coming to a halt - the spring almost severed the flexible brake pipe when it broke.

Citroen recalled earlier models because of this problem - why not later models as it is still clearly a serious problem. I dread to think of the consequences had it happened at speed.

Car has been towed to local dealers ( recovery service struggled for an hour trying to get the car on the trailer as the front of the car was so low!)

Will post the outcome

 

 

[/quote name = pamal ' date= 'April 22nd 2008

 

The same thing has just happened with my C3 54 plate. I felt sick with the cost of having it repaired. it is due to be picked up tomorrow. My Citreon dealer is second to none.

 

Will I pay for this - remains to be seen ! When loading it on to the AA transporter two extra ramps had to be put under the two front wheels because otherwise would not have gone on because of the very low proximatey to the ground. It was frightening to think I wasn't driving at the time !

[Guest CE05LDB]

Well I got in my 05 C3 Exclusive this morning got down the end of the street turned into a side road and the next thing bang the drivers side front has collapsed touching the wheel.

 

I mangaed to get the car home at a snail pace and got the RAC to tow it to Thomas & Davies Citroen. Just been on the phone to them now and they are 99% sure the front Spring has snapped. As a few of their C3s has done the same they have been left over night and when they open up the next morning the front ends has collapsed.

 

So hopefully with abit of luck I shall have it back Thursday or Friday. Its maddening as I got a brand new C2 up there that I can't have untill Monday.

 

Even though this as happend I still think highly of the car its just one of those things.

[stimulator]

The majority of springs break when the car is standing still, or at very slow speed.

the reason I was told is that the springs tend to be cold then and brittle. When they are warm they are more supple.

 

Mine like the garage on this thread brok whilst parked outside my house overnight.

[Guest CE05LDB]

The majority of springs break when the car is standing still, or at very slow speed.

the reason I was told is that the springs tend to be cold then and brittle. When they are warm they are more supple.

 

Mine like the garage on this thread brok whilst parked outside my house overnight.

 

 

Your right there as I hadn't used the car since the day before so the car had been left over night and when I drove it the next morning like I said I only got to the end of the street so obviously the car was still cold like.

 

Typical if there hadn't been a problem with the paper work with the new car on Monday I wouldn't have had this car.

 

If they can't do it by the weekend I will tell them to keep it and when its done just hand it back to Motability as I will be having my new C2 Monday anyway. And luckily I took all my stuff out of there.

 

One good thing mind it didn't break the tyre.

[Guest chezza]

hi there was wondering if this is a common fault with C2`s as it has just happened to mine as i pulled away from my house,my car is an 04 c2 with under 30k mileage ;)

[CE08LDB]

Yes as its happen to a few owners on the C2 Club Web Site. A recent one was on a 04 C2 GT and even though its hasn't been recalled the dealer done the repair for free and also replaced the tyre free of charge so phone your dealer first thing in the morning. No point in getting the car towed there today as whilst its left at the dealer while they are closed its still your responsibility if anything happens to it.

[Guest jane shirra]

:)

The nearside frontspring has just failed on my 54 plate 23,000 mile C3. Fortunately it failed just as I was coming to a halt - the spring almost severed the flexible brake pipe when it broke.

Citroen recalled earlier models because of this problem - why not later models as it is still clearly a serious problem. I dread to think of the consequences had it happened at speed.

Car has been towed to local dealers ( recovery service struggled for an hour trying to get the car on the trailer as the front of the car was so low!)

Will post the outcome

The same thing has just happened to my 05 plate, exclusive. Luckily for me it happened whilst parked outside my house, I too dread to think what could have happened, I had the kids on the motorway the day before!!! Anyway, I thought I would have to pay the nearly £800 worth of damage as it was just out of warranty, but citreon took full responsiblity for the repair. The staff at arnold clark, falkirk were very helpful, told me about the recall, the recovery man also told me he thought it was a manufacturing problem.

I have lost all confidence in this car now.

[stimulator]

Why have you lost all confidence in the car.

 

my spring broke they mended it, car is great.

 

Don't think that it's only Citroen C3 that suffer cos it's not. Picassos, Ford escorts Focus, and BMW Z4's aswell as many others.

 

Be assured that most of these breakages happen when the car is parked OR at very low speed.

 

if you sell it what will you buy to rplace it, more trouble from adifferent maker.

 

Biggest cause of spring failures is sleeping policemne, speed humps and POT HOLES, balme your council.

[CE08LDB]

:)

The same thing has just happened to my 05 plate, exclusive. Luckily for me it happened whilst parked outside my house, I too dread to think what could have happened, I had the kids on the motorway the day before!!! Anyway, I thought I would have to pay the nearly £800 worth of damage as it was just out of warranty, but citreon took full responsiblity for the repair. The staff at arnold clark, falkirk were very helpful, told me about the recall, the recovery man also told me he thought it was a manufacturing problem.

I have lost all confidence in this car now.

 

 

It happend to my 05 C3 Exclusive 5 weeks ago. A day after it came 3 years old. I wasn't even ment to have the car but there was a mess up with the paper work for my new car and had to keep this one for a extra week. Fair play I had it back in 2 days

 

That was the only fault I ever had in 3 years and I still think highly of the car and who ever gets it after me will have a Brilliant car

[Guest Chappers]

I think it's amusing when manufacturers who produce cheap, poor quality items that are not durable enough to last a decent amount of time when confronted with normal road conditions (including speed bumps and imperfect surfaces - the main reason for having suspension) are actually defended by the very people they've sold the rubbish to. I wish I could produce rubbish and yet be backed up by the very people who buy it and make me rich. Hmm, thoughts for the future. :lol:

 

Anyway, I do not believe that these springs are high quality and it is just potholes, speed bumps or uneven road surfaces that are causing these failures. If that's the case, why have I never heard of even one car suffering a spring breakage in the town in Spain that I used to live in? It has the worst roads imaginable - they make British roads seem incredible. Potholes galore, roots growing underneath causing rows of ridges, uneven - you name it, those roads have them. I drove a variety of cars there, both new ones and old ones that were 14 to 16 years long in the tooth (and I hammered them along those roads). Never had a new spring before I bought them, never had one break afterwards. Never heard of one breaking. Ever. The silly little speedbumps in the UK and odd pothole are nothing compared to what my cars had to go through. It's only the newer, poor quality ones suffering, like the C3.

 

About time people kicked up hell. I've got Trading Standards involved using the Sale of Goods Act. I've also contacted Citroen UK. When I initially telephoned them, I was told that the respective manager to whom I needed to write would almost certainly reimburse me for the new springs after both mine snapped on a 5 year old car, because many were breaking all over the UK. That's as close to an admission that they're rubbish and low quality as one will ever get.

[Guest Chappers]

Sorry, double post.

[kfk]

I will assume from the above post that you didnt take the car to your Citroen Dealer and explain that you wern't happy and ask them to approach Citroen on your behalf for an out of warranty claim.

 

I have yet to have them turn one down, and its far easier than letter writting and sitting on telephones for .....as you say, is a known problem.

 

As far as the reasons for failure.....as with everything nowadays it is made to a price and designed to wear out......in this country not only do we have poor quality roads, we also have the addition of salt during the winter months.....do they salt the roads in spain?....i dont know. But i do know of vehicles in other countries based close to the salty sea air have problems.

[Guest smosherama]

I also had no idea that there were problems with C3 springs until mine failed. I think we were very fortunate as it failed at low speed the evening before I was due to make a long motorway journey.

What alerted me was when the recovery truck driver said that this was a common problem with C3's and that it usually destroyed the tyre

 

Mine had dropped so low that they struggled for an hour to get it on the truck without causing further damage

 

What horrified me most was that the flexible brake pipe had been severed by the spring. In my case the tyre was undamaged.

The local Citroen dealer was cagey at first - they would have to take a look at the car first and submit a claim to Citroen. After looking on the net and taking account of the recovery service comments, I immediately stated that I expected that the repairs should be carried out free of charge as it was a known problem.

 

The dealer took 6 days to carry out the repairs and only contacted me when they were finished despite me making several interim calls to them.

 

When I picked up the car, there was no apology and when I persisted , the receptionist just said that the car VIN number was outside the recall range. He then implied that he was becoming accustomed to irate C3 owners as the spring failures were so commonplace.

 

Make sure that the dealer knows that you know that there is an underlying problem with the springs on this car!

[Guest mark.klinger]

my 55 plate c3 has had the spring snap on the f/o/s wheel with only 29,000 miles.

[stimulator]

Looking at your reg 55 you'll get that done on warranty, both sides need changing to match the ride height.

 

The age of the car and the mileage have no bearing on this problem, it a batch of springs that cause it and it's aggrevated by potholes , speed bumps and other road problems.

 

Was your car subject to the spring cup fitting recall. Mine wasn't in the VIN range but the OFFside spring broke and was rplaced no problem