Bonnet struts - beware eBay seller

[thatfatbloke]

Ordered a pair of bonnet struts for £53 from seller called 'mattt77777' last Wednesday with delivery date of last Friday. Nothing arrived by yesterday (Wednesday),contacted him through eBay,he replied wanting me to phone him. I did so,straight to answerphone. Left message to call me,no reply all day. Now in the hands of eBay/Paypal,but they can't do anything about refund 'til next Thursday!. He probably wanted to use phone as he didn't want to admit to anything in an eBay e-mail. There is another seller on eBay who has some (car_chrome). Not desperate as most of the time the struts are OK,but if windy they will start to drop.

[Malc]

.....  I managed for years on my Mk1 with a shortened broom handle !

Malc

[thatfatbloke]

There is a pole in the boot for this purpose!.

[lockeyboy]

43 minutes ago, thatfatbloke said:

There is a pole in the boot for this purpose!.

Where?

took a minute, you mean you have a pole?

[mikeyv]

Think I got mine from a firm called SGS?, cheaper than eBay, and quick delivery.

There is a thread on here somewhere, that's been dug up and revived a few times, I'll see if I can find it, but may not happen, as I'm on a caravan club internet connection (barely!!).

 

EDIT:- Found another thread about them, here's the link.

http://www.cargasstruts.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=26&products_id=1571

[Bluesman]

2 hours ago, mikeyv said:

Think I got mine from a firm called SGS?, cheaper than ebay, and quick delivery.

There is a thread on here somewhere, that's been dug up and revived a few times, I'll see if I can find it, but may not happen, as I'm on a caravan club internet connection (barely!!).

 

EDIT:- Found another thread about them, here's the link.

http://www.cargasstruts.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=26&products_id=1571

I bought mine a couple of months ago from these and all is OK. PayPal pretty good at getting back monies, you just have to wait to let them investigate which takes time after which you will get your monies back. Mike.

[thatfatbloke]

Thanks folks. Struts now ordered from the above company. £13 cheaper for the pair too. Just have to wait now for refund from Paypal.

[Lexmanic]

5 hours ago, lockeyboy said:

Where?

took a minute, you mean you have a pole?

You do know people smuggling is a serious offence

[thatfatbloke]

Seller has now refunded me. That's handy.

[lockeyboy]

Just to revive this thread, are the struts from cargastruts still ok for those who use them?

 

there is a big difference in price between those and SGS , I am wondering whether there is a big difference.

I'm looking at getting a jack from SGS, which seem to be well reviewed, but £27 to £70 is a fair gap on the struts

[Cotswold Pete]

1 hour ago, lockeyboy said:

Just to revive this thread, are the struts from cargastruts still ok for those who use them?

 

there is a big difference in price between those and SGS , I am wondering whether there is a big difference.

I'm looking at getting a jack from SGS, which seem to be well reviewed, but £27 to £70 is a fair gap on the struts

I would say that cargastruts have not faired as well as I would have liked, but being cheap as chips, I guess after 4 years that's what you get.

I find in cold weather they are next to useless, so still keep the Lexus  Bonnet Wood-Shaft in the boot, and will get around to forking out for better ones some time.

[lockeyboy]

Thanks Pete

those more expensive struts "only" come with a 2 year warranty, 4 years seems ok for the cheap ones, considering the weight of the bonnet!

[scudney]

hi got mine from FIGS in America cost about £100(including custom duty) comes with all the necessary fittings,still going strong 5 years later 💪

[Malc]

no stress over this one eh !                 remembering that you only really have to open the bonnet very rarely to top up the washer bottle ...  and usually nothing else at all, ever,.......  so, you can get a brilliant high class half a broomstick for about a squid .................. 

Malc

the service engineer does the rest

[dendonc]

thatfatbloke.......Ordered a pair of bonnet struts for £53 from seller called 'mattt77777

If you funded the purchase with any direct debit card you can put a direct debit indemnity on it, money back in your account instantly.

thatfatbloke....... Now in the hands of eBay/Paypal,but they can't do anything about refund 'til next Thursday!.

Typical (normal) of eBay & paypal, however, its not in their hands, it's in yours if you used a debit card to fund paypal, Im not sure but I think a credit card can do the same thing,

[Britprius]

I was not aware that bonnet struts are a common problem on the Lexus, but my GS bonnet has suddenly dropped shut a couple of time in a slight breeze.

John

[Malc]

I think it's becoming a more common problem but only after about 125k miles / 15 years tbh ..........  fair wear and tear no doubt, like the " stop " bulb in the rear cluster, only lasts about 16/17 years, that's common too at that age .............  not a lot to worry about in the great scheme of life methinks

Malc

[39buss]

I put second hand used GS300 struts on my MK 3 LS400 which are about 1" shorter but did the job. If I remember rightly there was more of them and cheaper on eBay.  

[steve2006]

Mine are still the original ones on my 1994, for the past few years they struggle in winter but always recover when it gets warm (I guess the gas expands more in the heat).

I keep saying I'll get some from SGS as it's only 10 miles away in Derby but then forget about them again.