Is Buying Used Coils Good Or Bad? Help!

[jpmahoney]

I came across a pair of used BC Racing BR Coilovers for a good price. They have only been used for 4-5k miles. Is it a good idea to purchase the coils?

[Celica00]

I definitely would steer clear of it. They may say only used for 4-5k miles, but you can't know for sure, or how abused they were doing that time.

It's up to you, but I'd pay the premium to get new, quality coils from a trusted distributer.

[FR-Sky]

If I were you, I wouldn't go cheap on safety component.
unless you buying from a known friend that can be trust, then i think it should be ok. (If the coilover isnt too used.)

[IDFWU 420]

You can always get them back to new with a rebuilt.

Depends how much is it, if it's alot, just go with a new one.

[StraightOuttaCanadaEh]

I bought used. They were used for a month but came with a full warranty. No complaints

[Mackizzle86]

BC is a brand I won't buy used. Not even new. 2 out of 10 BC coilovers that I've seen failed/leaked.

[Mr.ac]

Save up buy new. Don't cheap out.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by jpmahoney

I came across a pair of used BC Racing BR Coilovers for a good price. They have only been used for 4-5k miles. Is it a good idea to purchase the coils?

Back-in-the-day ....... the question was (about tires) to buy new or retreads ....??

The answer was to buy new unless you can't afford new.

Personally, I'd leave the suspension alone, rather than buy used suspension parts.


humfrz

[Lynxis]

Coilovers are wear items so be aware that buying used means you are buying something with less life left than if you bought brand new. I think it's fine if the seller is someone you know or is otherwise trusted so you really know what you are getting but if not, I'd steer clear because it's impossible to tell.

[MJones_RB]

Avoid buying used parts, except for the ones I'm selling 'cause they are bitchin'.

[strat61caster]

BC seems to have upped their game over the past 5 years or so, but they're still budget and have a reputation, and you're taking a lot of gambles. But hell, if you're willing to gamble that they might be garbage for a few hundred bucks and you want to try them out there are worse decisions out there to make. Worst case you have problems, you decide if you want to try and fix the problems or just dump the units at a loss or in the rubbish bin.

What comes to mind when I look at coilovers:
The coating is not impervious, do you risk rust or hardware seizing on the dampers?
Dampers wear out, what's the price of a revalve?
Springs can age out, are they high quality springs that will last or no names that may sag in a year or two?
Will the camber plate bearing last or is it a cheap unit that will be rattling in a few months if it doesn't do so already?

Now if everything goes bad, what's it going to cost to fix it?
New strut body? Damper rebuild? New springs? New camber plates?

Add all that up, add in the cost of buying the dampers used, typically for budget systems this is more expensive than just buying new in the first place. A lot of budget systems don't even offer a rebuild and tell you to just buy a new set of dampers because they can make a new set cheaper than it costs to rebuild them (that should be a warning flag for the level of craftsmanship they put into them in the first place imo). I'd guess at least $200+$400+$240+$400 based on my experience, which is more expensive than buying new BC's.

But you're in California, so the hardware will probably be fine and not overly corroded, they started to put Swift springs on there so that's probably safe too, big question marks are the camber plate bearing and the damper rebuild, maybe you can source a replacement bearing for <$100 from BC (they say they sell replacements) so that leaves damper revalve plus bearing replacement at ~$500 if they turn out to not be in tip top shape like claimed.

And I'll guess that they're selling them for $500-$600 which means that it's pretty much a coin flip as to whether or not you'll come out ahead on buying used. On top of the gamble that you may not even like them even if you bought them brand new and they were in perfect shape (ride stiff or bouncy or noisy or not enough travel or whatever).



Buying used coilovers makes sense for a setup that starts at a higher price and is known to be reliable, durable, and serviceable. Something like Ohlins or KW or Bilstein or JRZ or Moton or Koni that has a $2k+ retail and can be serviced for a few hundred bucks to enjoy many more smiles/mile can be an excellent value.

It's all nuts and bolts, anything broken can be replaced or rebuilt, if the metal is clean and straight there's really only a few wear items on a coilover that need to be serviced. There isn't some curse laid upon coilovers where once they are uninstalled from one car and installed to another they're a ticking time bomb waiting to leak out all their fluid and rust through in a winter and snap in half.

They're not iPhones.


tl;dr
Is it a good idea? I don't know, are prepared to sink $500+ into fixing them up if they're more worn out than the seller claims or alternatively cut your losses and lose all the money you spent on them to try something else or go back to stock? If yes then go for it, if not then save up and buy something new or with a better reputation.