Suspension arm rubber bush cost?
Discussion
Hi, I know absolutely nothing about cars. I was hoping someone could advise me.
Last year I bought a 2011 Nissan Qashqai. It had two advisories on its MOT. 001 Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement Nearside Front [2.4.G.2] and 002 Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement Offside Front [2.4.G.2]
Today I had it in for it's MOT and it failed on 001 Suspension arm rubber brush deteriorated resulting in excessive movement Nearside Rear Lower (rear) [2.4.G.2] with an advisory of 002 Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement Offside Front Lower (rear) and 003 tyre worn close to the legal limit Offside Rear.
Now I was called up and advised my car had failed and that it would cost £487.95 to repair. When I picked my car up they gave me a contingency MOT certificate saying the system went down and I can pick up the proper certificate tomorrow. The contingency MOT seems to only have the tyre written down as an advisory (although I won't know for sure until I see the proper MOT cert) and the receipt for work has BALL699 suspension arm £214 and BALL700 suspension arm £214 and GEOALIGN check & front adjust £59.95.
My questions are is this cost excessive and have they replaced both the failed suspension arm and the advisory one? Also are the ones they have replaced different to the advisories from last year?
Last year I bought a 2011 Nissan Qashqai. It had two advisories on its MOT. 001 Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement Nearside Front [2.4.G.2] and 002 Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement Offside Front [2.4.G.2]
Today I had it in for it's MOT and it failed on 001 Suspension arm rubber brush deteriorated resulting in excessive movement Nearside Rear Lower (rear) [2.4.G.2] with an advisory of 002 Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement Offside Front Lower (rear) and 003 tyre worn close to the legal limit Offside Rear.
Now I was called up and advised my car had failed and that it would cost £487.95 to repair. When I picked my car up they gave me a contingency MOT certificate saying the system went down and I can pick up the proper certificate tomorrow. The contingency MOT seems to only have the tyre written down as an advisory (although I won't know for sure until I see the proper MOT cert) and the receipt for work has BALL699 suspension arm £214 and BALL700 suspension arm £214 and GEOALIGN check & front adjust £59.95.
My questions are is this cost excessive and have they replaced both the failed suspension arm and the advisory one? Also are the ones they have replaced different to the advisories from last year?
Edited by Logan79 on Saturday 7th April 22:17
And yet another "how long is a piece of string ?" question.
I'm sure if it's a cheap crap bush..it could be cheaper. If it's an expensive bush, it could be more expensive.
Sometimes the bush cannot be bought separately...and sometimes it's just far easier to change the whole arm than mess about changing the bush.
And often cheap parts really are a waste of time and will probably need replaced in a few months. There really are so many crap parts out there these days that buying genuine parts can make a lot of sense despite the extra cost
I'm sure if it's a cheap crap bush..it could be cheaper. If it's an expensive bush, it could be more expensive.
Sometimes the bush cannot be bought separately...and sometimes it's just far easier to change the whole arm than mess about changing the bush.
And often cheap parts really are a waste of time and will probably need replaced in a few months. There really are so many crap parts out there these days that buying genuine parts can make a lot of sense despite the extra cost
Logan79 said:
My questions are is this cost excessive and have they replaced both the failed suspension arm and the advisory one? Also are the ones they have replaced different to the advisories from last year?
I'm not familiar with that vehicle. A quick search on Google suggests the suspension arm has some integral bushes and if these are what failed then it would make sense to replace the arm. If one side has failed and the other side is in a bad state it would make sense to replace both sides while they are at it. I'd expect them to explain what work was planned before they went ahead, but if you gave permission without understanding what you were agreeing to then that isn't their fault. Normally I'd expect to see parts and labour itemised on the bill. A hundred quid for a suspension arm and a couple of hour's labour per side to fit them plus an alignment afterwards would get your bill into the right ballpark. Bottom line is that based on some assumptions, the work and bill look reasonable.Thanks for replying. No I wouldn't want crap cheap parts. It took an hour from me saying yes go ahead to the phone call it had been done. No he said nothing about doing anything extra just the suspension rubber bush had deteriorated causing the MOT to fail and it was going to cost what it cost.
I will have a word with them tomorrow when I pick the MOT certificate up.
I will have a word with them tomorrow when I pick the MOT certificate up.
Ok so I spoke to them and they did change both suspension arms, the one with the bush that had failed and the one which was advisory.
They showed me the arms they had removed they said they always change the both I said that this wasn't explained to me on the phone but I'm happy that it is down I suppose. Moral of the story is find out more about cars so I can ask the right questions in future!
Thanks for your input.
They showed me the arms they had removed they said they always change the both I said that this wasn't explained to me on the phone but I'm happy that it is down I suppose. Moral of the story is find out more about cars so I can ask the right questions in future!
Thanks for your input.
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