Hi folks, what would you say, a mechanic told me today my dampers are basically gone (no oil left or something... in the front ones...) and suggested I get his recommended KYB, Japanese quality. We're in the Czech Republic, BTW. He says Monroe, Bilstein is ****, has been and KYB is much better. Whatever he says the price for all four plus work would be something like equivalent to 230 UK pounds. I googled dampers offers for my Panda on Czech sites and found the same type of KYB dampers for about 100 pounds all four, which is half the price he offered. So what if I just buy the best deal, and find a mechanic willing to replace my dampers? Will they come up with some problems with more parts that have to be replaced together with the dampers? Or will they just grab my new dampers and do the job without whining? I suppose all garages will push me into buying their suggested dampers for much higher price which I want to avoid. And FIY an hour in a Czech garage is about 15 pounds. I hope it takes only one hour to replace four dampers. Thank you for tips and comments.

BTW it's kind of puzzling that even with dampers in such condition I cannot find a problem with handling other than the good old body roll which was exactly the same when the car was brand new. In twisty roads, I get the same fun and grip I got when the car was new and guys with much more powerful cars who haven't fixed their suspension for ages have no chance, I am much quicker through tight bends than they are / with dampers basically not working in my Panda, how is that possible? The only explanation I can think of is that those guys's suspension (there was this guy in Audi 3 liter racing me overtaking me on the straight agressively and trying to show whose car was the king of the road, only to lose the battle completely when we got to the twisty section of the trip... ) is just somehow missing altogether in their cars and they only have four wheels and nothing else, but the car seems to be all over the place having no grip at all compared to my car, which seems happy and agile. With dampers not functioning any more?

Bilstein are a very good make, as are KYB.

Try pushing down hard on each corner of the car then letting it bounce back up. The car should settle in about two 'bounces'. If it's more than that then they shocks have probably failed like the mechanic said.

I'd get a second opinion by another mechanic.
On a US (non FIAT) forum that I'm also part of KYB's are called Keep Your Bilsteins. I'd buy Bilstein B4's without too much hesitation.

gr J

It's strange, I tried to do all kinds of extreme things, steering abruptly left and right, driving on wet tram tracks in turns, braking very hard suddenly, the car doesn't seem to do anything wrong. I suspect the mechanic just wants to make money, sell his friends dampers and get money for the job done. It might be that the dampers are just not new, but still working normally. I have read some other people's experience driving with dampers "gone" and they describe really scare things the car does with such bad dampers, sudden loosing traction, bad braking, hopping up and down for no reason etc... my car seems OK. If the handling was even better I would not mind, but really don't remember much better handling any time with this car. It doesn't handle like an F 1 car, but very good for a Panda. As you guys suggest, I'll ask another mechanic for his opinion.