Lowered suspension & alloy wheels!

[Deleted User]

Hi all,

I got my car in the summer. One of the fairly obvious reasons for it being cheap is due to the Alloy Wheels & Suspension lowered (4cm) by a previous owner.

What is the kind of cost of getting the suspension put back to normal? I'm hoping to be able to ask a garage to do it when I take it in for an MOT? Looking at insurance renewal and it's costing £100+ extra due to this.

Regarding the Alloy Wheels... how can I get rid of these!? Changing the tyre when it's flat won't do it?? Or will it?. If I was to just change one, could I then legitimately not pick alloy wheels on the form? Since it's no longer a 'set' of wheels. And alloy wheels are seen to be 'pimping' the car... if I only have 3 then it's hardly pimped! If it's cheap enough I'd like to get rid of the lot so my insurance goes back to a proper price!

I previously had 2 x OAPs and a working adult on my insurance (all female). The OAPs have sadly had to be removed for health reasons (after declaring medical conditions it doesn't save me any money anymore) - that's why the increase is more substantial - rather than the £12 or whatever it was when I bought the car.

benje302

Denpends on what car you have ?

If they are decent then you could pop an advert in car magazine and see if someone with the same car wants the bits and in return they give you their wheels and suspension and some extra cash on top :P

Alot of people who are into their cars might even be able to do the swap over. That way you get paid to have the parts swapped.

Ben

flashg67

Standard springs can be had fairly cheaply from a motor factor or even ebay, or even from a breakers yard. Not a huge job for your local indy garage to fit. Similarly, steel wheels will be available from a breakers yard. If you get the same rim size, you can re-use the old tyres.

Sell the old alloys & springs on local facebook selling page/gumtree etc to recoup some of the costs
Not sure if you'd get away with the '3 wheels on my wagon' scanario insurance wise!

[Deleted User]

Thanks

It's a Corsa which probably doesn't help matters!

They're not even decent condition so I doubt I'd get much for them - worth a try though! Going to phone up my existing insurers and have a moan... although they're the cheapest by miles, they don't know that! Wonder if they'll waive the fee for me!

AdrianC

It would have been cheaper to buy an un-barried car to start with. As it is, you're going to have to buy new springs and dampers, plus labour to fit, and a set of standard wheels and tyres, probably also wheel bolts.

And, no, three alloys and one steel is not going to get you off the insurance hook. If they're different size tyres, then it'd also be an MOT fail.

agrinnall

If the alloys are a standard size for the car then they shouldn't really be adding to your premium, it's far more likely to be the lowered suspension that's doing it. I'd sort that out and keep the wheels, even on a Corsa it shouldn't really be seen as pimping, unless they're a bizarre colour.

Nodding_Donkey

£12 is hardly a huge increase.

agrinnall

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

£12 is hardly a huge increase.

It's not £12 now, it's £100+.

Nodding_Donkey

But isn't that because the other drivers were taken off the policy?

agrinnall

Nodding_Donkey wrote: »

But isn't that because the other drivers were taken off the policy?

That's true, but maybe the OP has checked what the premium would be for a standard car and the £100+ is the difference due to the slammed suspension - although I may be projecting too much initiative .

ben_m_g

A little bit of misinformation here, I have been taking cars apart and modifying friends and my own cars for years. So hopefully I can assist,

Restoring your suspension, this depends on how it has been done. Some people cut the springs (a stupid thing to do) so just putting original springs on will restore the ride height.
4cm is a standard drop height so you have a good chance that the shock absorbers are original, again just swap the springs back are you are golden.

Alloy wheels. NO changing one wheel will not make it the wrong size as long as you have a large enough tyre depth. and NO just changing one will not do anything for the insurance.
Luckily for you Corsa's are still popular with the modification crowd, and you should be able to swap them online for free (if not with cash your way depending on the value of the wheel) with someone who is looking to modify his/her car.

If you just want steels, check the scrap yards as these often come with tyres for between £20 - £50 per set.