Recommended garages for fitting new suspension

Andy_S3

Andy_S3

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Hi all. Im about to take the plunge and order new dampers, springs, ARBs, spacers and adjustable tie arms for my S3. Obviously this is going to cost a small fortune and im just wondering if anyone can recommend any garages to fit it all? Im based in the northeast of England so the closer the better, but im willing to travel if the price is right. Not only that but I dont want to be taking it back every 5 mins with problems because they'd done a bodge job!

Ive had a quote from a place in Newcastle today - £640 plus vat - or 16 hours labour. Does this sound reasonable or are they having my arm off?!

Any advice would be much appreciated :icon_thumright:
 
Saw you coming mate, thats high. Though some of the bolts etc can be troublesome it deffo shouldnt be that long. Its a good £300 plus at garage prices i recon. Also you need to find yourself a garage familiar with the cars are there are subtle things that can make the difference when tweaking and fitting the suspension
 
Thanks, I had a feeling it was a tad high! It was a Vag specialist recommended by someone off here, which is good, but it means im going to be spending well over 2k overall on parts & fitting, which I dont want to do.
 
unless of course that includes all the kit to go on too lol
 
Redline1984 said:
Which place in Newcastle was that?
Click to expand...

Addington motors mate.

Can anyone think of any other reputable garages? Im thinking if giving Ron Turnbull a ring in the morning (Vag specialist in Teesside) Theyve done my services with no problems, including Haldex services, but im not sure what theyd be like with suspension work.
 
DPM is where im purchasing most of the parts and was my first port of call, but unfortunately their fitter is unavailable :(
Isn't Volkswork next door to Ron Turnbulls in Middlesbrough? Or is there another company in Durham? Ive heard a few bad stories about the Middlesbrough garage if its the same one, so wont be ringing them lol
 
Lol, the more I think about it the more rediculous it seems, and im no mechanic!
 
No - there's one in Durham (well just outside, it's in Meadowfield I **think**). I have no idea how good they are though mate. I'm trying to think who told me about them. Someone deifintely told me about them but can't remember who!

Chance for a mini meet also as it's commuteable for me...when I get ma wheels!
 
It is a good days work, depending on the cars co-operation, also depending on any anomilies found at the same time 8 to 10 hours MAX
 
16 hours labour???!!!.

Midland VW changed my cambelt, waterpump, complete suspenson and ARB's in about 8 hours!.

Price including all the parts was about £1k...so they're having you over for sure.

T
 
They're having you on, it took me and a friend a day to fit my coilovers and front arb with no ramp or air tools.........
 
recomdos said:
No - there's one in Durham (well just outside, it's in Meadowfield I **think**). I have no idea how good they are though mate. I'm trying to think who told me about them. Someone deifintely told me about them but can't remember who!

Chance for a mini meet also as it's commuteable for me...when I get ma wheels!
Click to expand...

Thats sounds like a good idea, will be good to see how the car handles when its all done!

Well Ive got a few numbers to ring in the morning now thanks to yous all! Fingers crossed ill knock a couple of hundred quid off that £640!
 
audi upgrades
16 Hours? Do they do the work blindfolded? It should take half that maybe a little more.
Demontweaks do fitting but im not sure on there prices or whether there close to you.
 
Rang Demon Tweaks and they said it'd cost around £175 including the alignment! :wtf: Ive asked them to look into properly and ring me back with a definite quote but even if its £100 more thats excellent! Still waiting on return calls from Ron Turnbulls and Volksparts so will keep yous posted.
 
Demon Theives will be major money I imagine.

If you semi-confident its a driveway job, get a mate to help and you'll have it done in a day easy.
 
audi upgrades
Andy_S3 said:
Rang Demon Tweaks and they said it'd cost around £175 including the alignment! :wtf: Ive asked them to look into properly and ring me back with a definite quote but even if its £100 more thats excellent! Still waiting on return calls from Ron Turnbulls and Volksparts so will keep yous posted.
Click to expand...

They used to charge me £60 just to do wheel alignment on the front of my Corsa so I reckon there being a bit generous with that quote.
 
The guy quoted me £41 for the wheel alignment afterwards, however im not sure if that is VAT inclusive. Probably not :(
 
Volksparts have quoted £370 all in including alignment, or 7-8hours labour. Thats more like it!
 
Demon tweaks are good and arent to pricey but they will add the VAT afterwards so the quote you got on demon tweaks was properly right but +15% for the VAT = £200.50 :) Dirt cheap actuly.....Sounds like theres a catch lol.
Just make sure you get a fixed price and not a labour price! Im sure they will run into some proplems as the parts your swapping can be a b@$tard at times to get off.
Hope this helps.
 
Well, Chris at Demon Tweaks has quoted me £179.80, inclusive of VAT, and including a 4 wheel alignment. Whats more he says the price is fixed regardless of any hold ups that may arise. Almost sounds too good to be true, so Im worried it is! Anyone have any experience with these guys?
Ill be ordering the parts soon and as soon as they arrive ill be booking it in! Can't wait! Its a bit of a drive from Teesside but it gives me time to enjoy the transformed car on the way home!
 
Thats a very good price inc a 4 wheel alignment... I wonder if they understand what they are letting themselves in for?
 
That price seems really good, I thought it should cost almost £100 for a wheel alignment alone?

I was going to tackle this job myself but at that price even for a 260 mile round trip I'd rather take it there!

Are you going for the day then and waiting while they do the job?

What suspension bits did you go for (brand etc)?

The only downside I can see is that I thought you should let the suspension 'settle' for a few days before doing the alignment so you might need it doing again, or is this rubbish?
 
Andy_S3 said:
Well, Chris at Demon Tweaks has quoted me £179.80, inclusive of VAT, and including a 4 wheel alignment. Whats more he says the price is fixed regardless of any hold ups that may arise. Almost sounds too good to be true, so Im worried it is! Anyone have any experience with these guys?
Ill be ordering the parts soon and as soon as they arrive ill be booking it in! Can't wait! Its a bit of a drive from Teesside but it gives me time to enjoy the transformed car on the way home!
Click to expand...

Only real thing I had done there was my wheel alignment but tbh I wasn't overly impressed. Sadly they where the only garage with the laser equipment and low ramps that could do it.

I'll stand by my original statement of thats to cheap but I hope i'm proved wrong !

Prepare for a long boring day, everytime I had my car booked in for a set time it took at least an hour to get it on the ramp !
 
If its a fixed price what does it matter if they dont know what theve let themselfs in for. My friends friend use to take his scobby there and he was always impressed with the work they carried out. At the end of the day they know what there looking at and are all qualified and insured (hopfully) so whats the worst that can happen:uhm:
 
audi upgrades
deece said:
That price seems really good, I thought it should cost almost £100 for a wheel alignment alone?

I was going to tackle this job myself but at that price even for a 260 mile round trip I'd rather take it there!

Are you going for the day then and waiting while they do the job?

What suspension bits did you go for (brand etc)?

The only downside I can see is that I thought you should let the suspension 'settle' for a few days before doing the alignment so you might need it doing again, or is this rubbish?
Click to expand...

Yeah ill be taking a couple of days holiday hopefully just in case they dont realise what theyve let themselves in for! Ill just take my laptop down I guess and watch some movies, surf the net, talk to you guys etc lol

Im going for the ChriS3 and EssThree recommended setup as follows:

Bilstein B8s and H&R 25mm springs
Forge rear adjustable tie arms
Neuspeed 22mm front ARB
Neuspeed 19mm rear ARB (Audi TT)

And 10mm spacers on the front, 15mm on the back just to finish the look. Figured if Im going to do it, ill do the ****** lot in one go!

Also going to get them to visually check OEM bushes, see if theres any that are looking worn. Will probably just replace them with OEM again though.
 
The Billy B8s are currently out of stock at DPM :( so just waiting on a PM from Damian then we're away! Ill start a new thread to post my thoughts when its all done, so watch this space!
 
Andy_S3 said:
The Billy B8s are currently out of stock at DPM :( so just waiting on a PM from Damian then we're away! Ill start a new thread to post my thoughts when its all done, so watch this space!
Click to expand...

Bilstein have one set coming in stock in about 14 days Andy if you want to put your name on them just give me a ring.

Damian @ DPM
 
I should be home from work before midday tomorrow Damian, so i'll give you a ring as soon as I can!

I'll guess it'll start with:
"It's a completely different car, and should have been like this from the factory".

I'm sure you'll not be dissapointed.
Click to expand...

I hope you're right Glen, after spending over 2k on suspension alone I hope it blows my ****** socks off! lol
 
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