Shock Absorber failure after 29,000 Miles

[2009Edge]

I had replaced the rear shocks on my 2009 edge at 71,000 miles with Monroe® Sensa-Trac®. Recently I had beed hearing a "thunk" when exiting my garage which has a 3/4 inch drop. I was thinking a loose shock, but upon investigation the right rear shock was dripping oil. Luckily I saved the OEM shocks which I reinstalled. I called a local chain auto parts store and was told that they could not replace the shocks under warranty, that I had to contact the place where I purchased them, Rock Auto. Called Rock Auto and a new pair are being shipped. Cost will be refunded when the worn out shocks are returned, however I have to pay the return shipping.

This blows the savings from the original purchase, about $20.00 to ship. I might have to rethink future mail order purchases regarding possible warranty items. I may contact Monroe regarding their warranty policy.

 

[eljefino]

I think it's a little unreaslistic to expect a brick and mortar store to be open solely to process warranty claims for a competing mail order operation.

 

[jhMalibu]

I hear ya..

Shipping is the killer. Learned my lesson when I ordered calipers from RA and had to ship the old ones for the core charge. Shipping killed the benefits of the lower price. Also having to wait to get the core credit was annoying.

Now if it is anything heavy or with a core charge, I look locally.

 

[CharBaby]

Well, these are the things to consider when buying online parts. I too, use RA and love'em but yes, when replacing parts under a mfg's warranty, we are responsible for return shipping.

I try to figure out all of the cost saving(PLUS) the extra cost of the "WHAT IF" I have to replace a part. We are usually still saving money by buying online(especially at RA for AAP w/disc. codes) and installing them ourselves.

Most folks that want to spend the extra money will just drive into the local garage/service dept and have the work done on their vehicles. And should something go amiss, they'll drive back to that same place for their warranty work but, still pay for the reinstallation of the part even if the part(s) are free.

I prefer to buy localy but, if the cost of the online parts is sicnificantly lower(all cost aspects included), I'll buy online.

We, as yourself on the otherhand will, spend less money overall because we do our own work and I find this very satisfying.

 

[itguy08]

I'd rather buy locally if only for the fact that we need to keep them around. Where else can you get parts that same day that you need them? We don't have the luxury of a 3rd car so any downtime needs to either be dealt with by me or someone who fixes them. So being able to walk up, get most parts and get it fixed is important to us.

 

[rfeir]

My 07 Edge is still on the OEM rear shocks at 122,000 miles and running strong. I am very focused on things like shocks and only wish Bilstein made a set for this model but no luck on that score. Best bet on a replacement for the Edge is from the OEM parts bin. Each size wheel calls for a different shock setting according to Ford.

 

[NHGUY]

Aftermarket shocks are c rappy.How a big conglomerate like Tenneco can hold their heads high when they sell stuff like Monroe and Walker....is a mystery.

 

[Chris142]

That's the chance you take with mail order stuff. Sometimes you win sometimes you don't. Personally I would not put Monroe junk on any cars I own anyway. The 2 sets I tried were way too soft.

 

[DBMaster]

I used Sensatrac struts on my 89 Accord. I installed the first set in 1998 when the car had 150,000 miles on it. I personally liked them. The "road sensing" technology that was claimed seemed legit. When I wanted to replace them again in 2010, 150,000 miles later I had problems getting a matching set at O'Reilly's. It seems that some were made in the U.S. and some in Spain. The two, side-by-side were not of identical uncompressed lengths. After several trips to the store without a matching set from the local warehouse I contacted the store manager and finally got a set that was all from the same factory.

Would I have wanted to go through this if I ordered them online? H E double hockey sticks, no! It was a good lesson for me in how to choose a way to buy lifetime parts.

On the other hand, when my lifetime radiator started leaking the seller sent me a new one, no questions asked, along with a UPS label to send the old one back.

The operative thought here is "caveat emptor." Since we are all somewhat OCD I doubt doing the little research beforehand is that much trouble.

 

[bdcardinal]

I have always been able to beat RA with local vendors. Some stuff I have bought from Amazon when they were significantly cheaper than anyone else, but they aren't items I am worried about having to warranty out anytime soon.

 

[tommygunn]

It depends on both the manufacturer and the seller.

For example, Amazon's customer service is great, and Gabriel is pretty good in that department too.

For a warranty item, Amazon would probably cover the return shipping as well as shipping of the new product.

If you didn't do it yourself, I've even heard of Gabriel reimbursing labor costs related to replacing the bad shock.

 

[The Critic]

I was told over the phone that Monroe's corporate cust service team could handle warranty exchanges. Perhaps you should give them a call?

 

[zzyzzx]

I would also be contacting Monroe directly.