Trade Wind
Veteran Member
Was surprised to get a quote from a small garage for almost $600 labor only to replace all four shocks. Anyone done it or had it done? Does that sound way high?
While I am willing to believe you can find somoone willing to work on your car for $22.50 an hour, probably called Bubba, the going rate for a good shop is considerably more.I figure $45.00 per side for the front struts. And $18.00 per side on the rear. The rear are just regular shocks not struts like the front. Takes 1/2 hr to put the rear shocks on. And about $90.00 to do a 4 way alignment
But remember this is a VW, so the Germans will make it more difficult.An old rule of thumb i was told was 1 hour per "strut" and 30 min per "shock".
So 3 hours for the shocks/struts = lets just use $100/hr = $300
Plus $90 for an alignmnet
$390 or thereabouts should be a more than reasonable estimate.
The labor ONLY on your Passat should be around $216. That includes the alignment.
Did you consider getting something more stiffer? What other options was there to choose from? Also, To me it seems like the car would first need front shocks and then eventually the rears, right?The small shop actually charged me $580 with tax. He said he was surprised to see the hours guide give him over 6 hours. I asked if he would keep track of his time and help me out if it came in a lot less than 6 hours, he said yes.
I originally thought it was high, but the only reference I had was my 99 GMC Sierra 1500. I did those myself and it was about as easy a job as you could hope for, only a few leisurely hours. No struts or integrated springs. I pulled a front and rear wheel off the Passat, and after looking it over (and trying to find a good Youtube procedure, which by the way I could not) I decided I would be in over my head. Sounds like $580 maybe wasn't a bargain but at least was fair.
BTW I went with Bilstein OE. No noticeable change in ride from original VW shocks, still rides awesome. I'm on my 2nd set of Continental Eco Plus rear tires since buying the car with 72,000 miles (what came on the car, then at 76,000 miles I swapped front to back and put used Michelins on the front). Rear tires had faint howling noise when I bought car. I swapped front to back at 76,000 miles, howling went away, but now at 90,000 miles it came back.
Howling is actually not that big a deal, only hear it on really smooth roads, and it is faint. But I just want to fix root cause before investing in new tires.
So... new shocks, 5,000 mile rotation, and alignments every 6 or 12 months (I paid for lifetime alignment at Tires Plus) is the plan going forward. I'll probably put the front tires on the rear now and wait another 10,000 - 15,000 miles (6-9 months for me) to make sure the problem is fixed before investing in new tires.
Anyone having similar problems as above, I'd love to hear about it!
There are quite a few options since the NMS is not really much different than a newer Jetta suspension wise - you just may not find a listing for it in a catalog (check the vwvortex). I have a set of Koni Yellows in the box ready to install but Koni did not have an official listing for it.Did you consider getting something more stiffer? What other options was there to choose from? Also, To me it seems like the car would first need front shocks and then eventually the rears, right?
What front suspension parts would be needed to be replaced if I get the "wood deck" sound when I go over a speed bump and brake completely right after it. Like a dried, worn out bushing (but I dont know from where).
Front or rear or both. I had to replace the rears. Any aftermarket suggestions if they fail again?I have replaced quite a few sway bar links on the NMS already. VAG/VoA must have sourced them from the same morons that make them for some GM and ChryCo vehicles.
So that's just changing assemblies , correct? To do just the struts would be another hour?Alldata does not show labor time for struts for the NMS for some reason. Mitchell shows 3.1 hr for both fronts, 2.2 hr for both rears, so 5.3hr total, multiply that by the shop's labor rate, and there you go.
So at our shop, the labor alone would be about $530.
Boy you work CHEAP. Heck, I'd pay you to work on my own cars for that!
Should have used an impact driver.Don't forget the torch time cutting off the front sway bar end link when the super torx bit head strips. After 2.5 years in service, ~ 60k miles. Ask me how I know...
Should have used an impact driver.