Embarassing Car Question(regarding struts)

[Mahaloth]

I'm pretty intelligent, but I know very little about cars, which is always embarrassing.

The car in question is a 1998 Chevy Cavlier(4-door). It has 113,000 miles on and runs amazingly well. I've had it 5 years, put about 30,000 of those miles on it, and have had about 3 repairs on it. One of those was new brakes, I think, which is not too surprising.

I had my car in recently for a problem(very minor fortunately). I have a mechanic who is honest and reliable(Car Talk's web site even recommends him). Anyway, he told me that the front struts on my care are quite shot and essentially useless at this point. He recommended new struts and new tires(I'll admit the tires are bad).

Anyway, the car drives pretty good, actually. I mean, it is a bit bumpy when I hit bumps and so forth, but it's not shaking all over the place and getting undriveable. I would have never noticed if he had not told me.

My questions are:

1. Is it terrible to never replace the struts? The car feels really good to my wife and me.

2. If I get new tires, will having bad struts immediately destroy my new tires?

3. Is $500 for the front struts a reasonable price? He gave me 2 prices(one with a kit and one with the entire strut pre-assembled I think). The $500 includes both the parts and labor(it's the final price).

[Absolute]

Shocks/struts are a safety-critical item. You probably don't notice just how bad they are because you've gotten used to it.

The shock absorbers help keep your tires in contact with the road by damping the bouncing motion of the suspension system. Worn shocks will definitely accelerate tire wear, but more importantly they can affect your ability to brake and corner safely, especially in wet weather.

$500 seems okay, it's not a great price, but it's not ridiculous.

[YogSosoth]

What are struts?

[jz78817]

1. Is it terrible to never replace the struts? The car feels really good to my wife and me.

Struts are essentially three suspension components combined into one- the shock absorber, spring, and upper control arm. Usually when struts "go bad," the shock absorber component is what fails. it's pretty much exactly like needing new shocks, they can no longer properly damp the suspension oscillations.

the reason the car still "feels really good" to you both is because they degrade so gradually that you never really notice anything changing. But one of the more likely effects of bad struts is that the tires can wear unevenly, usually "cupping." Get them fixed. You'll be surprised how different the car feels with new struts.

2. If I get new tires, will having bad struts immediately destroy my new tires?

not immediately, but they can become cupped and irregularly worn a lot sooner than they should.

3. Is $500 for the front struts a reasonable price? He gave me 2 prices(one with a kit and one with the entire strut pre-assembled I think). The $500 includes both the parts and labor(it's the final price).

sounds about right for P&L.

[jz78817]

What are struts?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacPherson_strut

[Al Bundy]

You already know you can trust him by experience.
Assuming you are keeping the vehicle, the struts are a safety item as well as saving money on other things.
The tires will be on the road more and wearing less.
The front end won't be bounding hard all the time, which puts stress on things like the battery and radiator. Yes, those sorts of things are damaged by hard knocks. There's no telling how much bad struts can cost you or good ones save your. It's just a no brainer and the price is reasonable.