Our Questions feature allows you to search our archives when you have questions. If you do not find your problem listed, you can email for a professional opinion. This can often help avoid very costly mistakes. The following example is typical of questions we receive.

Question:

While getting new tires, I was told they had difficulty aligning the vehicle because struts were going out. I wasn't ready for that so, I didn't have it done then. They told me that it would cost roughly $### and if done with in 6 mo they would not charge for alignment.

Answer

It would be unusual for a vehicle with 66,000 miles to need struts. It is also very unusual to hear a worn strut would offer any difficulty in alignment. The offer to wave the alignment charge also sounds very suspect, in my opinion, you can bet the cost is built in. I would definitely seek a professional opinion from a trustworthy shop.

Original struts are often much higher quality than aftermarket replacements being sold. The originals are designed last at least twice that mileage and normally fail due to poor quality tires, and/or bad strut shaft covers.

What is important to realize is that many things can be called "replacing struts". For instance there are struts that are not as good when new as the originals are with 120,000 miles. You may be removing a better product than you are installing. These cost about 1/10 the cost of the originals and create a substantial profit for the shops that use them.

If the struts are bad, there are also many other factors to consider. The two upper strut mounts, two jounce bumpers and two strut shaft covers, are often not included in such estimates. Omitting these items results in what seems to be a lower estimate, while preserving the profit of the shop.

These items have higher failure rates than the struts themselves and can be replaced for no additional labor when the struts are out. Not replacing these often results in the job having to be done over after a short while and at much greater cost.