Hello all. I'm hoping to change out struts on a friend's 2012 Chevy Sonic. He was told at Midas that they are on the way out. I had a look, and they're starting to weep, although not badly yet. The car has just over 100K km on it. He was quoted c. C$1000 at Midas. That was with AC Delco struts, but I'm not sure whether that included the strut mount, isolating rubber bushings, or bellows. (The rubber bushings and bellows look good. I plan to reuse them.)
It doesn't look like there are a lot of choices - I've only found KYB as an aftermarket manufacturer, and local parts stores are having trouble finding them. One of the fellows at a trustworthy local parts store told me that parts are a real pain for the Aveo, Sonic, and Trax. (The Sonic, although I believe a Daewoo/Korean GM design, was built in the US, so I thought maybe parts wouldn't be too much of an issue.) KYBs are out of stock at Rock Auto.
The dealer is asking C$265 (L) and C$190 (R) for genuine AC Delco struts. (That's pretty expensive, and quite a discrepancy between the sides.) Sales taxes of 13% would be additional, and would push the total up to around C$500.
Rock Auto is much more affordable (< C$100 per side for AC Delco struts) even with shipping being extra. So, that's our first choice. (I have had mixed results with aftermarket struts, and so am happy to use AC Delco parts.)
So here's the issue - the two sets of in-stock AC Delco struts are differentiated only by "TIRE(Q1H)" vs. "TIRE(QLG), TIRE(RKJ)". Of course I don't want to get the wrong pair for the car! Rock Auto's help people so far just keep referring me back to the on-line catalogue, which has only the "Q1H" vs "QLG RKJ" references. Here's a bit more information: My friend's car is a base model, with 15" steel wheels. There were higher trim levels available with 16" or 17" alloy wheels. I suspect one set of struts is for the alloys, and one set is for the steelies. Further, I suspect that the 15" wheels are the Q1Hs, and the 16" and 17" alloys are QLGs and RKJs respectively. (But don't want to guess.)
So, do any of you BITOGers speak GM? Can you translate Q1H, QLG, and RKJ for me? Many thanks in advance!
It doesn't look like there are a lot of choices - I've only found KYB as an aftermarket manufacturer, and local parts stores are having trouble finding them. One of the fellows at a trustworthy local parts store told me that parts are a real pain for the Aveo, Sonic, and Trax. (The Sonic, although I believe a Daewoo/Korean GM design, was built in the US, so I thought maybe parts wouldn't be too much of an issue.) KYBs are out of stock at Rock Auto.
The dealer is asking C$265 (L) and C$190 (R) for genuine AC Delco struts. (That's pretty expensive, and quite a discrepancy between the sides.) Sales taxes of 13% would be additional, and would push the total up to around C$500.
Rock Auto is much more affordable (< C$100 per side for AC Delco struts) even with shipping being extra. So, that's our first choice. (I have had mixed results with aftermarket struts, and so am happy to use AC Delco parts.)
So here's the issue - the two sets of in-stock AC Delco struts are differentiated only by "TIRE(Q1H)" vs. "TIRE(QLG), TIRE(RKJ)". Of course I don't want to get the wrong pair for the car! Rock Auto's help people so far just keep referring me back to the on-line catalogue, which has only the "Q1H" vs "QLG RKJ" references. Here's a bit more information: My friend's car is a base model, with 15" steel wheels. There were higher trim levels available with 16" or 17" alloy wheels. I suspect one set of struts is for the alloys, and one set is for the steelies. Further, I suspect that the 15" wheels are the Q1Hs, and the 16" and 17" alloys are QLGs and RKJs respectively. (But don't want to guess.)
So, do any of you BITOGers speak GM? Can you translate Q1H, QLG, and RKJ for me? Many thanks in advance!