XF lower suspension bushes / pins worn - replacement cost?

[Demonix]

Checked MOT history on a car I am looking to buy, mostly clear but has had advisories for Front and Rear lower suspension bushes / pins on the last 2 tests so I reckon it's about time this is sorted , car handled fine on the test drive.

Any XF owners able to enlighten me as to what's a reasonable price -main dealer or independent for parts & Labour for this job?

[Demonix]

Suspension bushes - would appear to be circa £15-18 so just need a rough of idea of labour charges to fit ?

[jamieduff1981]

I've done them on my S-Type - they're the same. They're not too hard to replace but do need some creative use of the bench press. People are usually quoted for complete new control arms which are aluminium castings and rather pricey (but very quick to change so labour is minimal).

[Demonix]

Cheers Jamie yes the bushes appear to be the same for XF and S type after a quick scan of ebay - whilst task is not overly complex I am looking to have a garage do the work as I probably don't have all the required kit to sort!

For anybody that wants a shock - price for replacing :

NS Front Lower Susp Arm Bush / pin
OS Front Lower Susp Arm Bush / Pin
OS Rear Lower Susp Arm Bush / Pin
OS Rear Shock Bush

main dealer £896.67

Decent indie £567.51

Am still buying the XF as I really like it but price is going to have to come down to take the required maintenance into account.

[reddiesel]

Thats pretty much on the button as far as the money side of things go . Its not a car thats in any great demand and as you say use this as a negotiating tool and if he wont budge then just walk away . Plenty more out there .

[Evercross]

Just did this exact job as part of a full rear-end refurb.

Decent quality new lower arms can be sourced for about £112 each.

I went down the route of replacing the bearings/bushes and it was a hassle I would not repeat in retrospect given the full set of them for both sides is about the same as one lower arm.

The ball-joint type bushes came out relatively easily but it was tricky to get the new ones to go in straight because of the design of the arms - if one went in at an angle it would be easy to split or crack the alloy casting meaning you would need a new arm anyway (I had a spare set to play with that has come with the subframe I had bought for refurbishing).

The rubber bush was a nightmare to remove as the steel sleeve had bonded itself to the alloy of the arm. Much sawing, chiselling, heating and swearing was needed to get them out.

As I said, if I was doing it again I wouldn’t bother, and if you are paying someone else for the work it would probably be cheaper in labour cost to just put new arms on as it is a quick job.

PS If you are getting the front ones done also factor in the cost of a camber/caster alignment.

Edited by Evercross on Sunday 17th April 08:33

[NortonES2]

Just had the 2 front ones replaced on the xfr at an independent jag garage at a total cost of £172. These seem to need replacing roughly every 7 years.