Hi,

I have a 53 plate VW Polo which requires the two front lower suspension arm rear bushes to be replaced. Those lovely one situated in the console!
After an afternoon of phone calls and an evening of trawling the net I’m lost. I have read and now realise this is a common problem across the range of VAG cars but what is the best way to fix the problem.

VW quoted £280 for 2x new bushes 2x new consoles (£90 each)and fitting which to be honest almost required me to change my underwear.

Having a look around people have been replacing the bushes with Seat cupra bushes which are of a much higher quality, is this the type of thing i could try myself or do i suck it up and for out an estimated (going by priced people have paid online) £130 for parts, fitting and alignment at a independent garage?

Any advice greatly appreciated my head is spinning now

cheers

Rusty

Not a mechanic but I do work in a Skoda/SEAT dealer, very common problem and the Cupra ones are harder wearing but will give more vibration/road noise etc. As far as I know you’ll need a special tool to push out the old and push in the new.

Not sure what the ‘console’ bit is that you mention but I had those bushes replaced (standard like for like replacement) and I don’t remember it costing much more than £150.

In your description, do you mean VW have quoted you at total of £280? Or £280 for the bushes, plus £180 for the consoles (whatever they are) and then fitting on top of that?? Sounds like a lot if it is.

I would find a decent independent – have heard some amazing stories of expensive quotes from VW dealers.

I considered getting the Ibiza cupra bushes fitted as they are meant to be a lot sturdier and tighten up the steering a bit too. I would have got them put on instead of the standard ones, but the car was booked in, I didn’t have time to look into what parts they should be etc. so I just went for the standard ones in the end.

Have done three pairs my self in my garage and on the street on fabia’s – the first set took about four start to finish by the time I got the knack I have got it down to just over two. Be aware that the cupra bushes do transfer alot of harshness through to the cabin – the standard ones have been upgraded by VAG a few years back and are more durable than they were but do provide much better ride quality. I ended up replacing the Cupra ones myself after 1,500 as they were so harsh. Ideally you need spacers to drift them back in. Have a look here for some pointers.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/92625-fabia-wishbone-bush-replacement-diy-guide/

Got some Powerflex front bushes with only 1500 miles on them if you are interested

lower wishbones? is it not cheaper to replace them with new bushes already in place or am i thinking of the wrong part? If it is,then its cheaper to replace the whole arm on my pug than pay for bushes/extra labour.

I got a new wishbone on the ibiza last year and it was cheaper than a new xt mech! The labour was peanuts too.sorry once again if i`m getting parts confused!

Is it worth splashing out on polybushes on this car? Is there other areas that would benefit more if you spent the money elsewhere? I would stick to standard myself.

I had a local garage do mine on a Seat Ibiza last month, they charged me £9 each for the uprated Cupra bushes & £180 labour including an MOT fee.

mundiesmiester thank you very much for the link to that guide it is really usefull, i had heard it mention on the briskoda forum but couldn’t search for it to find the guide.

martinxyz the wishbones are a different part on these cars. I originally thought as you that it would simply be a case of replacing the wishbones that i could have done in a mates driveway but no such luck.

snaps have you noticed greater cabin noise and a less refined ride since having the cupra bushes fitted?

thanks again for all the replies i thought it was a common problem but wasn’t findin as much about it on the net as i hoped.

Not really, but I’ve not driven it that much on dry non snowy or frozen roads much yet – check out the MK 4 Ibiza forum @ http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/ & ‘how to guides’ @ http://briskoda.net/forums/ as they use the same chassis as your polo.

stumpy01 £280 total £180 of which is the 2 consoles. I know a good indipendant but wondered if they would be happy to put a Seat cupra part on my VW Polo.

The console bit i mentioned is this
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2002-2010-VW-POLO-N-S-F-CONSOLE-6Q0199293E_W0QQitemZ320642949386QQcategoryZ9889QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp5197.m7QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D5%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D6635593012596247623