Suspension
Coil springs, one axle
Checked on 30 July 2026.ClickMechanic, Coil spring replacement cost guide (as of 30 July 2026)
What does coil springs, one axle cost in the UK?
£175 to £400 fitted at an independent garage, VAT included, on a mainstream car. The midpoint of that range is about £288, and where you land inside it is decided by access, parts and wheel size rather than by the garage's postcode.
Springs are replaced in pairs across an axle, because a new spring on one side and a settled one on the other leaves the car sitting unevenly. ClickMechanic put a pair at £248 on average within £175 to £400, about two hours on the front and one on the rear. The front costs more because the spring is usually part of a strut assembly that has to come out of the car and be compressed. The final price depends on the axle, whether the top mount and bearing are replaced at the same time, which is normal practice on a high mileage strut, and whether the car has self levelling or sports suspension with dearer parts.
Price range compared with other repairs
| Job | Area | Fitted price |
|---|---|---|
| Front wiper blades | Visibility | £19 to £45 |
| Coil springs, one axle | Suspension | £175 to £400 |
| Exhaust section or full system | Noise, emissions and leaks | £100 to £1,200 |
What does a coil spring do on a car?
The spring holds the car up. Each corner sits on a coil of hardened steel wire that compresses as the wheel rises over a bump and pushes back as it drops, so the body stays at the same height while the wheels follow the road. The damper, or shock absorber, sits inside or beside the spring and stops it bouncing; the spring does the lifting and the damper does the calming.
On the front of most modern cars the spring is wrapped around the damper in a single assembly called a strut, with a top mount and bearing bolted into the body above it. On the rear it is often a separate coil sitting in a pressed steel seat on the axle, which is why rear springs come out much more easily.
Springs do not wear out the way pads or tyres do. They sag slowly with age, but the thing that ends most of them is a sudden fracture, and it is almost always near one end of the coil.
Why do coil springs break, and how would you know?
Winter road salt eats through the protective coating, a pit forms, and every compression cycle opens it a little more until the wire snaps. The bottom coil, where the spring sits in its seat and holds water and grit, is the usual place. A pothole strike on a spring already weakened by corrosion is often what finishes it.
A lot of broken springs are found by a mechanic rather than felt by the driver, because a snapped last coil can leave the car sitting only slightly low. The clues are there if you look for them.
- One corner sitting visibly lower than the other side, which you can check by measuring from the wheel centre to the arch on each side.
- A single loud clonk over a bump or when turning the steering on full lock, as the broken end moves in its seat.
- A rattle or scraping from one corner at low speed.
- A tyre rubbing on something on full lock, or a fresh scuff on the inner sidewall.
- The car pulling or feeling unsettled over bumps on one side only.
Does a broken coil spring fail the MOT?
Yes. Springs are section 5.3.1 of the DVSA inspection manual, which covers coil, leaf and bonded rubber units. A spring or spring component that is fractured or seriously weakened is a major defect, so the car fails. A missing spring is major too, and becomes dangerous if the car's directional control is affected.
The tester checks the spring's security as the car is jacked up and lowered. If a spring does not drop back into its seat properly when the suspension returns to its normal position, the manual says to fail it as insecurely attached, which is a major defect. Fixings so loose that you can see the spring move against the chassis or axle are dangerous, and the car must not be driven away.
Modifications are judged too. A spring that has been heated, welded or otherwise altered in an unsafe way is a major defect, and one modified so that the suspension no longer works is dangerous. A missing bump stop rubber, by contrast, is not a reason to fail on its own.
| Defect | Category |
|---|---|
| Spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened | Major |
| Spring insecurely attached to the chassis or axle | Major |
| Fixings loose enough that movement is visible | Dangerous |
| Leaf spring main leaf fractured, usually on a van | Dangerous |
| Spring with an unsafe modification | Major |
| Spring modified so the suspension does not work | Dangerous |
| Spring missing | Major |
| Spring missing and directional control affected | Dangerous |
Source: DVSA MOT inspection manual for cars and passenger vehicles, section 5.3.1, last updated 1 June 2026.
Why are springs always changed in pairs?
A new spring stands taller and stiffer than one that has done eighty thousand miles, even if the old one is intact. Put a new spring on one side and leave a settled one on the other and the car leans, brakes unevenly and loads one tyre harder than the other through bends. That is why the published price is for a pair across one axle, and why a garage that offers to change only the broken side is saving you money today at the cost of how the car drives.
The pair rule is about the axle, not the car. A broken front spring means both fronts; the rears only need doing if they are also damaged or tired.
Why does the front axle cost more than the rear?
ClickMechanic put a pair at £248 on average within £175 to £400, at about 2 hours on the front and one hour on the rear. The difference is the strut. To change a front spring the whole strut comes out of the car, the spring is compressed with a spring compressor so the top nut can be undone safely, the old spring is swapped for the new one, and the strut goes back in. A rear coil that sits in a seat on the axle can often be levered out once the axle is lowered on a jack.
The front job also tends to grow. With the strut already out, it is normal practice to replace the top mount and its bearing on a high mileage car, and many garages will recommend new dampers if the old ones are leaking. Those are separate parts on the bill, and each one is worth asking about rather than refusing on reflex, because the labour to get the strut out has already been paid once.
- Axle: front struts need compressing; most rear coils do not.
- Top mounts and bearings, often worth doing while the strut is out.
- Sports, lowered or self levelling suspension, which uses dearer springs or air units.
- Seized strut bolts or a corroded spring seat, which add time and sometimes a new seat.
- Wheel alignment afterwards, where refitting the strut disturbs the camber setting.
Example
A snapped front spring on a high mileage family car
- Published range, pair fitted
- £175 to £400
- Published average, pair
- £248
- Labour, front axle
- About 2 hours
- Found at
- MOT, recorded as a major defect
- The spring is fractured, so the car fails on a major defect. The old MOT still has two months to run and nothing dangerous was recorded, so it can be driven to a garage.
- Both front springs are replaced, because a new spring beside an old one leaves the car sitting unevenly.
- The basic job is the published pair price, with £248 as the average and £400 as the top of the range.
- With the struts out, the garage recommends top mounts. They are a separate line on the quote, so ask for the price with and without them.
- If the camber is disturbed, alignment adds around £40 for one axle on ClickMechanic's published figure.
Expect the spring job itself inside £175 to £400, with top mounts and alignment as named extras on top. Two separate visits for each side would cost more in labour than doing the axle once.
Should you change coil springs yourself?
Rear springs on a simple beam axle are a reasonable home job for somebody with a trolley jack and axle stands, because the spring comes out as the axle drops and goes back in the same way. Front struts are where people get hurt. A compressed coil spring holds a great deal of stored energy, and a compressor that slips or a top nut undone before the spring is fully captured can throw parts across a garage.
If you do the front at home, use a proper pair of hooked compressors rated for the job, tighten them evenly by hand, and never undo the top nut until the spring is visibly loose between its seats. Many drivers take the easier route of buying a complete strut assembly with the spring already fitted, which removes the compressor step altogether at a higher parts price.
Vans, lowered cars and imports
Many vans run leaf springs at the rear rather than coils, and the MOT is stricter about them: a fractured main leaf is a dangerous defect, while a fractured secondary leaf counts as a fractured spring component and is major. A van that is regularly loaded to its limit wears its springs faster and should have them looked at whenever it sits low when empty.
Lowering springs are legal, but the manual fails a spring with an unsafe modification, and a spring cut to lower the car or heated to shorten it is exactly that. Tell your insurer about any change to the suspension before driving on it, since a modification the policy does not know about is an easy reason to dispute a claim.
Other suspension work
| Job | Fitted price | Labour |
|---|---|---|
| Wheel bearing | £120 to £300 | 1h |
| Anti-roll bar drop links | £60 to £130 | 1h |
| Suspension arm bushes | £80 to £180 | 1.5h |
| Shock absorbers, one axle | £150 to £500 | 2h |
Common questions
- How much does coil springs, one axle cost?
- £175 to £400 fitted at an independent garage, including VAT, for a mainstream car.
- How urgent is it?
- Get it looked at promptly. A broken spring changes how the car sits and how it behaves under braking, and a spring insecurely attached to the chassis or axle is a major defect, with loose fixings that allow visible movement rated dangerous. A broken coil can also cut into a tyre.
- What moves the price within that range?
- Access, parts and wheel size, mostly. A job that needs the bumper or an arch liner off costs an hour more than the same job on a car where it does not, and a genuine part can be several times an aftermarket one.
- Is this price for one side or both?
- The detail below says where a published price covers a pair. Where it does not, treat the range as one side and expect the second to add less than double, because the labour overlaps.
- Can I drive with a broken coil spring?
- Only slowly and only as far as a garage, and only after checking the broken end is not touching the tyre. A fractured spring changes the car's ride height and how it behaves under braking, and the loose end can cut into the sidewall. If an MOT tester records the spring as dangerously insecure, with visible movement at its fixings, you must not drive the car away at all.
- How much does it cost to replace coil springs in the UK?
- The published range for a pair across one axle is £175 to £400 fitted at an independent garage, including VAT. ClickMechanic put the average at £248, with about 2 hours of labour on the front and one on the rear. Top mounts, dampers and wheel alignment are extras that often come up during a front spring job.
- Do I need a wheel alignment after new springs?
- Often on the front, rarely on the rear. Removing and refitting a front strut can move the camber, and some cars set camber at the strut bolts, so an alignment check is sensible afterwards. ClickMechanic put alignment at around £40 for one axle or £80 for both. A rear coil on a beam axle does not change the alignment when it is replaced.
- Why does my car sit lower on one side?
- A broken or sagging spring is the most common cause, and the difference can be small when only the last coil has snapped. Measure from the centre of each wheel to the edge of the arch on both sides of the same axle. If one side is noticeably lower, look at the bottom of that spring with a torch. A weak damper does not change the resting height, so a sag points at the spring rather than the shock absorber.
- Is a missing bump stop an MOT failure?
- No. The DVSA manual says in its notes on springs that a missing bump stop rubber is not a reason for rejection. A bump stop is the rubber buffer that stops the suspension hitting metal on metal at full compression, and it often perishes and falls apart on older cars. It is still worth replacing when the springs are done, because the strut is already apart and the part is cheap.
- Will a broken spring set off any warning light?
- On an ordinary coil spring car, no. The first you hear of it is usually a clonk or the MOT. Cars with self levelling or air suspension are different, because a leak or a failed height sensor can bring up a suspension warning, and those systems cost far more to repair than a pair of steel coils.
Sources
Each figure was taken from the publisher's information on the date shown.