Forester XT 2004 self-levelling
 

3 weeks ago my garage fitted a new shock and now the car sags at the back when unloaded - the self-levelling doesn't work at all. In fact it looks like they fitted a too-short strut.

Unfortunately, I had the new shock fitted so I could move to a town 1000 miles away... so I can't take it back, and of course the garage claims that it tested fine after fitting. I just didn't have the time to complain because I was leaving that day.

So, is there any way a new self-levelling shock can be fitted wrongly? I'm going to take it to a local non-Subaru garage for a report and I want as much knowledge as possible before I go.

Thanks, Steve

If the garage has fitted non self leveling shocks then you have to fit non self levelling springs as the self leveling springs are too weak to support the weight of the car without the support from the self levelling shocks...hope that makes sense.

Is there a Subaru dealer close by ?
If so could you get a quote to put the work right in writing, then email this to the old garage see what they say, did you pay for the work on a credit card or cash ?
Obviously the work isnt up to the standard expected, if you can get a quote/report from a dealer you may be able to recover your money, and the just use a decent garage to put it right.

This is it. I told the garage I was asking on here and they suddenly 'remembered' that they'd found that one strut was SL and one not, and had fitted a matching non-SL strut without telling me (I had a lot of other work done at the same time so the bill was big enough not to notice the odd £300...). They now admit they didn't change the springs.

Thanks (and to Stig. I'm in Poland - not many decent garages who speak English...)