Just had a call from hubbie to say Coop's got a puncture and a broken spring. The AA are taking it to Halfords, I do hope they know what they are doing ...

Broken spring is an easy fix, but you might want to replace them as a pair as the other side will be suspect.

Also it would be worth scoping out a better recovery destination than Halford's for future use.

Good news is it's not too serious

I'm fairly certain that Halfords won't have a replacement spring for a Coupe

Good opportunity to replace all the springs with something a little better than standard - I believe Joe (FCSS) is still doing the Group Buy

Alternatively, most specialists will have some secondhand springs to get you out of trouble - I'd strongly recommend you divert the AA van to one of them....

The trouble is we're having it fixed under the AA plan for free repairs up to £500 and they use Halfords. They are taking forever so I am wondering if Halfords turned it away. They won't take it as far as Solo Italia because it's out of their range, but there is ItaliaSpeed ...

You can still send it to someone of your choosing for repair, so long as they're VAT registered.

Halfords seem confidant that they can get the parts. But the bad news is the AA policy does not cover tyres, nor will they pay for the spring to be done on the other side. Solo Italia fitted a new front spring in December but Rick can't remember which side and the paperwork just says "S/H front spring". It would be unlikely that's the spring that's gone but I'm having them both done as a precaution.

Every time something like this happens I think "Right, that's it, I'm going to sell it and get an old Skoda or something that I don't care about". But then I get it back on the road again and I can't part with it. Also it's had so much more money spent on it than I could ever hope to recover by selling it. The plan was to keep it for ten years until it's really collectable, but maybe it just won't last that long! I have a garage I could store it in for ten years!

If you can't get hold of any springs i have a set in parents garage in maidenhead if it'll get you on the road again, only down side is they are lowered so you would need to do all four. Also got a set of wheels with tyres if you need to borrow for a while.

Thanks for the offer James. I think we're going to be OK though.

Got the car back today from Halfords. They had no problem at all getting the new springs. The ride seems much smoother now too. So I am happy! The AA paid for one spring but their policy doesn't cover tyres so I had to pay for a new tyre and the other spring, was £225. This means the AA policy has almost paid for itself and I am covered for another 11 months too. They pay up to £500 of any repair, but it doesn't cover wear and tear items like the clutch or brakes. I think it's well worth it when you run a Coupe. Last month the AA man fitted a new clutch slave cylinder outside my house and it only cost me £37, just the cost of the part!

Sounds like a result.
Although it's better to always change new for old in pairs. Pity you did not get them to do the other side as one was almost for free!
Although when I first purchased my car I had one spring replaced straight away until I had a proper look round the car, so guilty!
And I had driven round for two days with, see pic. Until I jacked it up to have a nose around. And this wasn't done by Halfords!
Good luck with your relatively new car!

I did have both front springs done. Halfords recommended it. I am just so pleased they could get the parts and I was only without my beloved for a day!

Excellent news, mines been off the road for nearly 3 weeks

Check your wheel nuts are tight and again after 50 miles or so for a couple of times.

@ dlongstaff - LOL!

@ Carl - what is up with it?

I've split a coolant hose which isn't so bad but I can't figure out which one, got some replacements however I can't get it to a garage as I'm worried it will overheat and go bang, waiting on a friend who has a trailer to get back from his holiday so I can get it there

My old Coupe used to regularly boil over, it was the cap on the water tank, if you put it on slightly skewed it would spurt water out all over the road. I drove through central London on a boiling hot day and we only just made it to the O2.

O2?
H2O.

Unlucky to spring a leak

A suggestion you were tipsy at the time might not hold water though.