Got some prices:

New rear beam: £444.28

2 x rear bushes: £19.52 (each)

Labour: 4.5 hours (@£75+vat/hour)

Total: £879.88

:(

How much!!!

Was that at a dealer or an indy?

If it was a dealer I'd be looking at visiting and indy and getting them to check it all out and come up with some possible options for you.

I take it the hubs and bolts + bearings are all in good condition?

I'm curious as to how they have adjusted the rear camber on the car mind.

That was the quote from Meadens - just done over the phone. I might have to pop into there, or maybe up to Yeovil to get one of their guys to have a look and make some suggestions.

Maybe I should just keep buying new tyres for the rear of the car!

Last time I checked the bearings were ok, and it has been munching tyres for the last year or two (several MOTs have passed fine)

Edited 10 February, 200917 yr by mbames
wrong word

How about getting the car to someone like wheelsinmotion for a good check and recommend...

If the handling isn't causing problems, I would weigh the cost of more frequent rear tyres replacements against that hefty repair bill - and go for whichever option is cheaper over the period you anticipate keeping the car.

If the handling isn't causing problems, I would weigh the cost of more frequent rear tyres replacements against that hefty repair bill - and go for whichever option is cheaper over the period you anticipate keeping the car.

This may well end up bening my chosen route. I do about 30k a year, so that seems to kill off a set of tyres on the rear (f452s). I was hoping to drive the car till it died, as it can't be worth much now - 2001 110TDi with 145k on the clock.

Spending potentially approx £1000 on it means the car has to live a lot longer. Say two new tyres are around £140 mark, that is anout 7 years of tyres.

I don't believe the handling is suffering - it managed to stay on the road in the recent snow and ice. Maybe I need someone to rear -end it for me , but I imagine that would write the car off though.

A bit of fiddling with calibrated shims under the stub axles might correct some or all of the camber?

A bit of fiddling with calibrated shims under the stub axles might correct some or all of the camber?

might do if I could find someone local to have a stab at it....