Suspension
Broken coil spring: what it means and what it costs to fix
What it means
One of the springs holding the car up has cracked or snapped. On a car with coil-spring suspension, these steel coils support the car and compress as the wheels move. The photo below shows a break near the bottom of one spring.
This isn't wear to keep an eye on. It's a broken part, it's a major MOT failure, and DVSA's instruction is to repair it immediately.
If you're reading an old entry, ask which spring was replaced and get the invoice. If it's broken now, ask the garage how to get the car to them rather than taking it for a test drive to see how it feels.
An actual fracture through the lower coil, photographed during a published accelerated-corrosion test—not an MOT inspection.
Photo: Xiang Li, Xiaowen Zhu, Gang Xu and Xiaoqiang Cheng / 2025 study, Figure 1 photo panel · CC BY 4.0. Converted for display.
Why it happened
Springs compress and rebound constantly, which is the job, and they're exposed to water and road salt. If the protective coating is damaged, corrosion can attack the steel. Repeated loading can then contribute to a fatigue crack. The study behind the photo shows coating damage and a fatigue fracture on a tested spring.
None of which tells you what happened to this particular car. Worth asking the garage to look at the other spring on the same axle while they're in there, and at the surrounding components.
What it costs
A spring replacement on a common car runs around £100 to £160 fitted, and you'll usually want two. Spring manufacturers advise replacing them in pairs so the car sits level, so ask for the quote both ways rather than doubling an online figure, and check whether alignment is included.
If you're buying the car
Match the invoice to the position and date of the spring that broke.
Ask whether the other spring on that axle was checked or replaced. Ask what the garage recommends for this car; don't assume the other spring needs replacing from this entry alone.
If a failure was followed by a pass, ask for the work record between the two dates.
If it's still broken, get it fixed before the sale, not after. A price reduction doesn't make a car with a broken spring safe to drive home.
The MOT wording
Under section 5.3.1(b)(i), a fractured or seriously weakened spring or spring component is a major defect.
| What you'll see | What it means |
|---|---|
| Major: coil spring fractured or broken (5.3.1 (b) (i)) | Failed. Repair immediately. There is no advisory version of a fracture. |
| PRS | Failed, then put right while still at the station within one hour after the test was completed, so the defect and a pass are both recorded. Ask what was done. |
Other spring defects — loose fixings, a fractured main leaf on a leaf spring, a missing spring — have their own categories, so don't reassign this one based on what a photo looks like. DVSA's category instructions; MOT testing guide for PRS.
A later pass records the result on that date. It isn't a list of the parts fitted. Great Britain categories; Northern Ireland uses the DVA manual.
What this page can't tell you
The wording can't tell you what caused the break, how long it had been like that, or how good the repair was. It's a guide to the record, not a diagnosis, and it hasn't been reviewed by a mechanic.
Next
Check a car with Lemoned to see the failure and the next recorded test together. Also see suspension corrosion.
Spotted an error? Email hello@lemoned.co.uk with the passage and the source that contradicts it.