hi - just hoping for input/experiences from other panda owners viz

wife (steady careful driver) travelling home on country A road was shocked to hear a bang from rear of car and observed coil spring "doing a Zebedee" down the road. Upshot is that the n/s support for the spring had torn away from the axle allowing the spring to exit the car.
Car is 58 plate with relatively low mileage - can't give any other precise details at the moment other than it would appear that to get it repaired by local garage will be an arm and leg job.
Q? should I be contacting Fiat - not a good ad for a 7 year old!
Q? any advice on way forward
Q? anybody had similar problem

regards

The rear springs are a consumable and they're not designed to last forever. They are susceptible to the coating wearing off which can allow corrosion to set in which can lead to failure. Normally this would be noticed at MoT and would be an advisory on future work likely to be needed to be done to the car before the next one.

I don't think you'd get anywhere contacting Fiat and complaining. It's simple wear and tear. The car is seven years old so replacement of springs and other suspension parts is to be expected as normal maintenance. It shouldn't be that expensive, but remember that everything should be replaced in pairs so both sides should be replaced.

It's the support, not the spring that's busted - is that correct?
If so, it's a welding job rather than a spring replacement.

Posts from 1 yearago in 500 section.
OP from Devon welded theirs Charlie Oxford

Last year I gave my sisters '54 plate car a good going over and service.

Although the body had no rust, some of the suspension parts were completely rotten.
It's wasn't hard to see why, she lives in the Peak District and it's so bad there they salt the road in the summer!

The springs both front and rear had almost turn to dust and one snapped when I got the compressors on it.

The front and rear shocks had crusted up, the bodies and rods at the front badly rusted.
The rears bodies had started rusting badly from the bottom up and were weeping.

I replaced the lot, but the rear axle was also rather sorry looking.
The lower spring supports (spring pans) were the worst part.
Seems there's a hole in the "cups" to allow drainage, but it gets blocked up so traps water to do it's thing.
The rust had left the metal very thin in parts, particurlarly around the edge of the "cups".

I spent several hours grinding and wire brushing it, then waxoiled it up.
I did think at the time that's bought her a year or two before it needs a new one.

The rear axle is a poor design and is inadequately painted from the factory. My car is an early 2004 plate has had its rear axle painted every year or touched up as necessary for the past 6 years to prevent the corrosion from deteriorating. Second hand axles can be had for £100-150 and that's from the last of the older shape panda 2011-12 so they are still in reasonable condition. New from fiat they are £740 + VAT

Wee Smurf got it wrong as pointed out by others :bang:- the axle tore apart allowing the spring to leave its nest. Spring is relatively new - 12 months - as is its partner. Errant spring retrieved from roadside now sporting a bit of gravel rash but otherwise ok.
Just a bit surprised that anyone would accept this happening to a 7 yr old car which has been cared for.
Still not had a chance to inspect the damage closely - will be under it saturday, so may post pics as a warning to others

Ok so I read it wrong!!! Don't shoot me! I thought it was the spring that snapped.

Surely corrosion of this nature should been picked up either by the garage who recently changed the springs or at MoT?

yopanda said:

Wee Smurf got it wrong as pointed out by others :bang:- the axle tore apart allowing the spring to leave its nest. Spring is relatively new - 12 months - as is its partner. Errant spring retrieved from roadside now sporting a bit of gravel rash but otherwise ok.
Just a bit surprised that anyone would accept this happening to a 7 yr old car which has been cared for.
Still not had a chance to inspect the damage closely - will be under it saturday, so may post pics as a warning to others

Click to expand...

Try and take some pictures if possible

Got the pictures on memory stick - now on members pics - search username yopanda

corrosion - but still wouldn't expect this in a 58 plate car and would have hoped that it would have been spotted during last mot - August 24th.

Fortunately no serious consequences - other than to my pocket!

thanks

yopanda said:

Got the pictures on memory stick - now on members pics - search username yopanda

corrosion - but still wouldn't expect this in a 58 plate car and would have hoped that it would have been spotted during last mot - August 24th.

Fortunately no serious consequences - other than to my pocket!

thanks

Click to expand...

Just spotted your a new member so i have inserted your pics for you since you cant post links for 10 posts








Looks rather a mess best check my sisters 500 since they share the same floor pan and running gear

That is bad. Can't believe that wasn't mentioned at the MoT.

yopanda said:

W
Just a bit surprised that anyone would accept this happening to a 7 yr old car which has been cared for.
Still not had a chance to inspect the damage closely - will be under it saturday, so may post pics as a warning to others

Click to expand...

do you live in a coastal area..??,
that's a LOT of corrosion,

IF it stops raining,
I'll take pics of my '04, and '07's for comparison..

You'd have hoped the MOT tester actually got UNDER the car
Charlie - Oxford

Rustbug Alert! Rustbug Alert!

Under my Panda I go at the weekend.
Bet I'm not alone.

Mine has had several Waxoyle applications - be interesting to see the results.

That is rather serious corrosion. Its occurrence is probably for several reasons; poor quality steel, minimal rust protection from new and the overall design of the cups as water traps and of course our poor weather. Now I’m not sure where you would stand with Fiat’s 8 corrosion warranty. Nevertheless you would not expect this from a car of this age, even given our climate. All this should have been considered at the design stage of the vehicle. I would try pursuing Fiat or gaining some advice on where you stand. In the meantime, the quickest way to get the car back on the road would be to purchase an axle from a 2011-12 model, like I did and make sure you carry out your own rust prevention and have yearly checks, ensuring the drain holes are clear and any corrosion is dealt with swiftly.

Thanks for the input
Car lives on W coast of Scotland about 100metres from lochside but has not been parked on the seafront during gales when it could be covered in salt water. Don't think this is an issue as offside shows only little rusting.
"Fiat's 8 corrosion warranty" - is this 8 years? Exactly who should I contact about this? Car bought second-hand from Arnold Clarke
For your info - have already bought a 59 plate axle and will be cleaning/painting etc this weekend before fitting it - most likey in pouring rain
Hopefully car will be back on road by Sunday

If there's any rusty scabs on your replacement axle, rub it down and use a rust eater like Krust before priming it and painting it with something like waxoil.
I was a sceptic, but it does actually work.

Where the spring pan meets the rest of the axle (where yours snapped from) is a water trap, so pay extra attention to those areas each side with the paint.

I spotted the rear axle on my 2010 (35000 miles) was a bit crusty earlier this summer. The car's always been in central Scotland; I've had it 15 months. I wirebrushed the axle and pans, treated the rust with Bilt Hamber Hydrate 80, painted with 2 coats Hammerite/Waxoyl mix, and then covered the whole thing with Bilt Hamber Dynax UC wax. Also Dynax-ed the rear springs with a light coat. I had the stuff in the garage anyway and wondered if this was overkill on a modern car but am glad I did having read this thread.

I have similar corrosion on my 2007 diesel, my question is will any ABS models rear axle fit the diesel?
Thanks in advance

jmn66 said:

I have similar corrosion on my 2007 diesel, my question is will any ABS models rear axle fit the diesel?
Thanks in advance

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All models (petrol and diesel) have the same axle, apart from 4x4 models. So you will be okay to source one from a 2011-12 car