front strut replacement on 96 accord
 

my 1996 accord 4cyl has 200k and the left front strut is blown. is there any need to replace the coil springs at this age/ mileage with the struts?

i have found autozone duralast loaded struts for $80 a piece. is this a good or bad choice for this car?

I don't know firsthand how good those particular units are.

The advantage of loaded struts is you don't have to deal with compressing the springs. Much easier installation and sometimes it just works out cheaper as well. Being 22 years old, potentially the springs are also 22 years old, and I'd worry about corrosion. But I'm in the rust belt where they use a lot of salt on the roads in winter...

It's best to replace the whole thing. For $80 I would order online and get the set for $20 more if you can wait until Saturday to install.

AM-Autoparts (10 year warranty)

Rock Auto

thanks for the replies. i'm still looking but will most likely go with loaded struts. i cannot do the work myself and wasn't sure how much life is left in the springs.

Some shops won't do the work if you bring in the parts. Some will, but don't warranty the work. It's worth a phone call to get that answered.

At 200k-miles and 22 years old, EVERYTHING is fair game to look carefully for wear & corrosion. Springs don't wear out in the normal way like tires & brakes, but once corrosion gets under the paint on the springs, you gotta look at this as a good opportunity to avoid duplicating the same work later.