I have a 2002 Octavia Ambiente 1.9tdi with the auto box.

Its due for its mot in a month or so and I'm planning on doing some work before then

It's passed both mot's since I got the car with no advisories however I reckon its time to do some maintanance

new pads and shoes are going on and probably new shocks front and back, they have been on for 11 yrs and done over 175 thousand miles.

I'm thinking about bushes, do I replace the ones at the wishbone or put one of the cheap wishbones off ebay on the car?

cheaper is always best for me I'm not rich!

However if you all say new bushes are best, where to get them from cheaply?

and which ones do you recommend I replace?

And is there any on the back end you'd recommend replacing?

There is no play in the steering that i can feel driving if that helps at all.

I'm planning on keeping the car for another 3-4 years at least so dont mind getting some work done on it as its a beautiful car to drive.

you can present your car for MOT a whole month before the old one expires. If it passes, you get a 13 month certificate, if it fails, you have a month to mend it. that way you only do the bits that are needed, without wasting money on unnecessary work. It might cost you 2 mot fees, which at a recommended £56 or so is a lot to loose, but at least you save on the work. There will be people on here i am sure, who will tell you to polybush the lot, but OEM wishbone bushes are available cheaply on that online auction site, as are shockers & springs. I have replaced 4x shock absorbers, 2x steering tie rods, wishbone bushes, front springs and front discs & pads, all from eBay. All i will say, is only buy a brand that you recognize, and DON'T go for the cheapest you can find.

you can present your car for MOT a whole month before the old one expires. If it passes, you get a 13 month certificate, if it fails, you have a month to mend it. that way you only do the bits that are needed, without wasting money on unnecessary work. It might cost you 2 mot fees, which at a recommended £56 or so is a lot to loose, but at least you save on the work. There will be people on here i am sure, who will tell you to polybush the lot, but OEM wishbone bushes are available cheaply on that online auction site, as are shockers & springs. I have replaced 4x shock absorbers, 2x steering tie rods, wishbone bushes, front springs and front discs & pads, all from eBay. All i will say, is only buy a brand that you recognize, and DON'T go for the cheapest you can find.

I think most places will do a half price partial retest if presented within 10 days as well.

The only problem with putting it in for an mot a month before its due is

if you fail it you have no mot - you lose the month that was left

it then has no mot and the work has to be done immediately whereas if I replace what I can before hand I got more chance of passing.

The only problem with putting it in for an mot a month before its due is

if you fail it you have no mot - you lose the month that was left

it then has no mot and the work has to be done immediately whereas if I replace what I can before hand I got more chance of passing.

that only applies if its a serious fault, not minor ones I do believe, I have always put my cars in for MOT the 1st day they are allowed to get the full 13 months,

I am fairly certain you CANNOT lose an MOT certificate. It is issued for one year.

There is a big difference between an MOT and a "road legal car". At any time your car may become illegal to drive on the road, e.g. one of the wheels is missing. You can't then feign ignorance and tell the coppers "but the mot is still valid!"

We need an MOT tester or two to weigh in on this though obviously...although even they seem to find things are grey not black and white!

Agreed we need an mot tester to say one way or the other,

But in the meantime

Does anyone have any more ideas/thoughts on what bushes I should change that might be wearing on an 11 yr old diesel?

Edited 15 March, 201313 yr by Lew247

I've recently changed FARB bushes, drop links and strut top bushes/bearings. The car drives a lot better and is more positive in the corners. Gonna be changing lower arms soon as this should cure my knocking noise and probably needs doing. I don't see any point removing the old bushes when the arms with bushes inserted are so cheap.

If you can its meant to be great to replace the dog bone bush, although I don't know if its the same on a auto...I assume so. I plan to do this soon.

Thanks for that

I've alredy got the dog mount bush ready to fit, it definitely needs it

Is there any way to tell what size FARB bushes fit on my car?

As far as I can see there are 3 different sizes but no easy way to tell which fits on mine

I think you need to measure the thickness of the FARB. I ordered some TDI bushes from ebay with a 21mm internal diameter and they fitted fine. I imagine your car is the same. I found the plates that hold them in place absolute monsters to attach...In the end I had to bend the ends over so the bolt would go in place. Second pair of hands might be good for that job.

edit: 21mm not 19mm

Edited 15 March, 201313 yr by yesiamtom

I found the plates that hold them in place absolute monsters to attach...In the end I had to bend the ends over so the bolt would go in place. Second pair of hands might be good for that job.

I found them a right pain on my diesel too. I had a second pair of hands and a metal bar help get it to line up.

I found them a right pain on my diesel too. I had a second pair of hands and a metal bar help get it to line up.

Same