Buying advice / rear axle issue

[joenu]

Hi

I'm thinking of joining the Berlingo community and buying an old Multispace 1.6 from 2006 for conversion to a (very) basic microvan. The car has ~95'000 miles and goes for a cheap ~1'700 GBP in my country. It is sitting low on the left rear and the current owner claims that this is because a steel rod in the back axle needs to be replaced to bring the car back to level (he says that the car drives normally though, despite sitting low on one side). Further, the owner has already purchased that part (steel rod) and would include it in the deal at no extra cost.

I would be really grateful if you could help me out with a few related questions:
1. Can you shed some light on what exactly could be the issue here?
2. Is this a common problem that M59 models have?
3. What do you think a repair would cost?

Thanks a lot for any input!

[Multispacer]

Do a search on the forum for 'rear torsion bar' as the suspension is the older torsion bar type. It's quite a big job to do.

[geoff]

As said a torsion bar is a big job

If that is the case then you should consider buying a replacement ( new ) axle.
In adddition Berlingos can suffer from axle bearing failures - wheels tilting inwards from the top

Have a search on the Forum database for " new axle " or similar searches there are a number of topics discussing this problem and they also suggest a reliable supplier of axles

[ItsGreen]

It's a common issue in a lot of Peugeot/ Citroen vehicles. Personally, I wouldn't use a vehicle on the road with a snapped torsion bar, and it would be illegal in the UK. The most straightforward thing to do is replace the whole axle with a refurbished unit. I'm not sure on prices in your country, but I paid about £300 for the axle and a few ancillary bits. It's a big heavy job to do, not impossible if you've got a level surface and a selection of jack's and stands, I've done a couple and can do one in a weekend, but you do need to think and work methodically. A professional mechanic would probably get it done in a day.

I have a rule for buying cars, spend half your budget on the car, and save the other half to put things right