Help: lost a fortune due to suspension change every year

[jkingm]

Sorry for posting here, but I desperately need your help. 

I have a landcruiser invincible made in 2009. I bought it in mid 2012 and has annual services done at a Toyota dealer. The nightmare came in 2014, when I was told there was a suspension shock leaking fluid problem.  Because the car passed MOT, nothing was done at that time. Then, both front and rear suspensions had to be changed in Feburary 2015, which costed me nearly £860 each. I just did the annual service of 2016 in this month and the rear suspension had to be changed again due to the same shock leaking fluid problem, which costed another £920. Unfortunately, the rear suspension changed last year was just out of warranty because I had the service done in nearly 13 months. 

The car has a 'comfort-sport' setting and I once set it to 'comfort' because I have a little child. I noticed that there was a big funny noise when I droved through some bumps on the road after the suspension leaking problem was first identified in 2014. I wasn't sure what was wrong at that time but became suspecious and changed the setting back to 'sport' after both suspensions were changed in 2015. Apparently, no more funny noises in the 'sport' setting. However, because the new suspensions were still used in the 'comfort' setting for a while, they may still have been worned and teared and I suspect this is why leaking happened to the rear suspension again. 

I have 2 questions. One is that I  think the leaking problem is caused by the 'comfort' setting so this should be a fault of the manufacturer. Could I get some compensations for the costs I spent on the suspension change? 

The 2nd question is: would the leaking problem happen again even when the car is now in the 'sport' setting? I really don't want to spend 1 or 2 grands every year on this, simply because I cannot afford it! I am kind of desperate because the loss of 3 grands has already made a big bad impact on my family.  I really really don't want this happen again and sincerely want my money back! Please help! Any advice please? Many many thanks.

[jkingm]

To add a few more facts: the car has been only used for school runs and normal commutes, e.g., to shops in towns, etc. The car has always been driven on normal roads and never been to any dodgy road, hills or mountains. How could the suspensions continuously get wrong for simple, normal, small drives? Please help. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

7 hours ago, jkingm said:

The car has a 'comfort-sport' setting and I once set it to 'comfort' because I have a little child. I noticed that there was a big funny noise when I droved through some bumps on the road after the suspension leaking problem was first identified in 2014. I wasn't sure what was wrong at that time but became suspecious and changed the setting back to 'sport' after both suspensions were changed in 2015. Apparently, no more funny noises in the 'sport' setting. However, because the new suspensions were still used in the 'comfort' setting for a while, they may still have been worned and teared and I suspect this is why leaking happened to the rear suspension again. 

Were the 'bumps in the road' speed humps, and do you slow down when driving over speed humps?

[Alex varga]

I don't think the bumps in the road its the problem .. it's a land cruiser so he can take much more then  just bumps on road its build for off road use like 50% so that's nothing for a 4x4 and we talking here about a landcruiser.so no way speed bumps its the problem.i have 3 Toyota's 4x4 and no way ..i did change the suspension on 2 of them whit aftermarket suspension lift kit. And I think I'm gone do to my new one .you have to get to diffrent garages to find the problem like ...  or just get some aftermarket suspension and then 10 years or depending where u driving no more problem .

But the sacrifice will be no more sport or comfort..its just normal and no worries about them. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

We've heard no more from the OP since her two posts on 10th March 2016, and the first post was obviously copied and pasted, which is probably indicative of being posted on other forums. The vehicle is a 2009 model which had a 3 year/60,000 mile new car warranty, yet the car supposedly went out of warranty in 2015 -  six years later? So something doesn't add up.

[Konrad C]

Frostyballs is spot on about the OP. I Googled her post and found it elsewhere. Again she did never responded after the same posted - http://www.tlocuk.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=15881&sid=8f7915755d154c04624f7e665d221fc1 

What I find a baffling (polite word) is that the OP posts for response and then goes silent, then on the same 'dead' thread somebody months/years later, enquires if the OP problem has been solved!

If someone other than the OP has posted a known solution then fine. 

There are owners who drive but don't have a clue that their driving style may be damaging the vehicle. Frosty asked the OP at the time, if there were speed bumps and if she slowed down to negotiate the bumps? It does not matter if the car is a 4x4, continuous abuse will still break something! A shock absorber is a shock absorber and will wear out - even on active suspensions.

I was in a car with someone who drove over road humps way too fast. I also could hear suspension knock. I told her to slow down for the bumps and she dismissed my suggestion. Then she took it for MOT and the car failed on damaged/worn suspension. It cost her over £400 if I remember correctly. Another owner complained about a noise when she hit bumps , to her boyfriend who is a mechanic. Everything was checked then it occurred to use that she was driving too fast over the speed bumps. The car was road tested and all was fine. 

As I said, some drivers (male or female) drive their cars in the wrong manner, causing earlier wear and damage.