coil spring snapped

[lee p]

Reversed out of my drive and i thought the front brake had seized,drove forward a bit to unfree it then reversed again and loud bang and the tire popped,was stuck half on,half off the drive,jacked the car up and found the front coil spring had snapped and the broken bit had peirced the tyre. its a diesel peugeot 307sw xsi,presumbly with uprated suspension i'm guessing,has anybody had this happen to them? and any ideas where i stand on this legally as i see this as a serious safety hazard and luckily i was on my drive and not driving down the motorway with 3 kids in the back where anything could have happened as a result. the car is now 3.5 years old 54reg, so conveniently out of warranty. I have driven alot of cars old and new and have never experienced this fault before. any advice appreciated.

[taichiperson]

Our Citroen Xsara Picasso was recalled to have a cap put on top of the spring (I think) to prevent puncturing the tyre. We had one snap anyway, but it did not damage the tyre, just made horrible grinding noises when turning.

[bigboots]

It happens a lot on newer style cars due to the way parts are designed by accountants. its all about costs, seen it happen on fiat , peugeot, bmw and others
most dealers will say common problem contact customer services

[Toureman]

This also happens on renault Lagunas, so far Renault have not admitted to doing something about it.

[TWR]

Hi Lee p, I am now in the process of regaining a refund from Peugeot UK Coventry With the same thing you are on about, My wife has a 306 done 30.000 on normal roads, the rear Off/S Spring snapped, I replaced the spring checked the height of the car on a level suface the car was right, I have heard all about replacing the booth springs in case anyone trys to tell me, going back to the point, If you can, get details of your mileage, the cars details ( Vin No Etc, contact Peugeot Uk explain your case, As mine I said that the spring should have lasted much longer than 30.000 miles and would they help me with a gesture of goodwill, fight your case, you will succed. T.W.R.

[TWR]

Hi, I should have said a 307, Not a 306.

[lee p]

Thanks for all the answers,i contacted peugeot uk who said recover it to your nearest dealer and they will give us a report.cutting a long story short they agreed to repair it with 2 new springs and also fit a brand new tyre.trouble is it took over a month for 2 springs to turn up.our car had been sat at the dealership for 2 weeks and i was due to go on a driving holiday in it,peugeot uk also agreed to supply us with a hire car for 2 weeks all at their expense.couldnt fault the local dealer who went out of there way to help us with all the arrangements.