Strut mount/CV boot problems

[slambo]

Hi folks, not a mechanic so any advice will help. Took my wife's '03 beetle conv. (32k miles) in for a 30K service- dealer told me that the driver CV boot is ?Cracked & both front strut mounts needs to be replaced. Car drives great, still on original tires/brakes. Guess I was shocked- didn't expect it. They way they tested whether the strut mounts were bad was to push on the front wheels & if it gives- then bad strut mounts? Also, they want to flush every fluid out in the car-> I think total cost for everything over $1K.

Should I get a 2nd opinion?
Thanks,
George

[jackfrost]

strut mounts or ball joints? if its the strut bearings at the top you will hear a clunk when you go over bumps or the car will lean slightly to the worse of the 2. if its a ball joint the steering gets wonky and the car will "walk" the road. the way to test a ball joint is to grab the tire at 12 and 6 and see if it wiggles, if it does generally that means they are bad or on their way to be bad. 32k seems to be a really low number for ball joints to go unless you hit alot of pot holes. i would take it to another shop and see what they have to say. they dont call vw dealerships stealerships for nothing.

[slambo]

Thanks JackFrost. I think I will take to another dealer & see.

There is a stretch of road that my wife drives thru daily to work that has some rough bumps, not really potholes. Should make the city pay for my struts.

Cheers,
George

[MtnVariant]

Try to find a good local independent mechanic that you trust. If none, then check local vw forum section of vwvortex or any other local forums in your area. There will be someone that will probably check it out to make sure it is done right and fair.

As for the CV boot, you can check that out yourself if you have a jack. If its a small tear and nothing leaking then you have a little time. If its tore open and lots of grease all over get it done asap. If there is a lot of grease out then you might have contaminants in the grease thus needing a complete drive shaft change (raxles.com). Try not to turn the wheels to the point of stretching the boot until it is fixed.

Not sure about the strut mount but ball joints can be checked as jackfrost described once the wheel is in the air.

Good luck

Rob

[Too Cold NB1.8T]

Suggestion, stick with the VW dealer unless you plan to make repairs yourself, I would take the car to another dealer for a 2nd opinion but don't let on that anything is wrong, just ask them to check your suspension, steering and drive axles for any issues.

The needle bearing at the top of each front strut may not be real noticable if it's going bad, they are very small and might not reveal any height changes or noises etc. if they start to fail.

If you have a cracked/split CV boot, as long as the axle itself is fine then just have them repack/reboot the CV joint, however, you do not want to let this go, deal with it quickly because grease will escape and dirt can enter which will destroy the joint, quality reman axles for this application could be rare and a new one is big, BIG bucks.

Don't cheap out on service or parts as this will likely come back to haunt you.