How much does it cost to replace the shock absorbers?

Price by car size

What's included

What you pay for

Pair of front-axle shock absorbers.

With VAT, Spain average. Labour goes from 45 € an hour at a local garage to 90 € at the main dealer. The cheap price adds the cheapest hourly rate and the cheapest parts; the usual one, 60 € an hour and mid-priced parts; the expensive one, the main dealer's rate and the most expensive parts.

How often

How often it's done

• Between 65.000 and 90.000 km; have them checked every 20.000-30.000 km (RACE, DGT).

Sources:RACE 2024 (opens in a new tab)DGT 2016 (opens in a new tab)

These are typical intervals, not your model's: its maintenance book has the final say. See what your car is due

Cheaper or dearer

What the price depends on

• The garage. An hour costs about 45 € at a local garage, 60 € at a chain or multi-brand garage and 90 € at the main dealer, which also fits original parts.
• Car size. The bigger the car, the more labour hours and the dearer the parts: 1,8 h on a supermini and 2,6 h on a compact SUV.
• Where you live. Depending on the region, the same job varies by up to 21%: cheapest, Canarias; most expensive, País Vasco.
• How many you replace. The price is for the front pair; the rear ones are extra.

By area

Price by region

For a family hatchback, VAT included, from the cheapest region to the most expensive. You can pick your province above.

The difference between regions comes from Tallerator's average quotes (Autofácil, 2014), smoothed because the sample is old and small: take it as a rough guide. There's no data for Ceuta, La Rioja, and Melilla, so the Spain average is used (345 €).

Other garage jobs

Questions

Frequently asked questions