Old Car Needs Parts? Internetz has got the answer

My ’96 Honda Accord, with over 195,000 miles on it is now in need of new suspension.  Rear shocks & springs are gone.  Not only do they squeak badly all the time, they are making the wheel alignment go off. Well, I took it to Firestone and got a quote that went to about $1000.  The car’s value is maybe about $2000 at most.  It still has lots of life left in it. After all, I put in a rebuilt tranny in it and take good care of it.

So I took upon the challenge to look on the ‘net to see if I can find a set for cheaper.  My awesome mechanic, Ash Auto, quoted about $200 for the labor so I needed just the parts. Well, there were lots of aftermarket suspensions that lowered the car by an inch or two. I thought that’d be awesome since the car tends to roll.  A lot.  I don’t care so much about the speed, but the handling is a must.

However, my suspension-ful story took a sharp turn when I spoke with Ash and he mentioned that when you lower a car, the camber angle (angle between the suspension to the wheel) changes and can mess up the tires.

So I went back to the drawing board, ok, eBay. I searched for camber kits on eBay and guess what?! They were more expensive than the shocks and the springs! WTH?!

After vainly trying to find both camber kit AND suspension for about $400 and failed. Failed miserably! So I had to give that idea of lowering the car up, and decided to just stick to OEM parts. So I looked and looked… and the best I came up with was Monroe parts: 171989, 171286L/R.

However, here’s the final kicker. eBay is not necessarily the best place to find the best price. Guess where I found them? Amazon.com  Yup. In the end, just keep looking. The set of 4, which should be here by Wednesday, cost me about $420.

Still… I wish I could’ve gotten the lowering suspension AND the camber kit for the same price… Oh well, c’est la vie.