Hi.

My Fabia VRS has failed its MOT today. I could do with some help as to what I need to repace. They have stated:

'Offside front (rear bush) suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated resulting in excessive movement'.

They also gave an advisory notice for the nearside. I have had a look and can see where they have marked the bush with a crayon but I'm not sure wether I need to replace the whole track control arm of just the bush? on the GSF website they only have bushes for the rear suspension.

many thanx.

Welcome to the forums Luco and congrats on your first post.

Do a search on here for "console bush" and that will show you what bush the mechs are talking about

Luko2, I think that you need to find your nearest VAG independant specialist and then buy from a Seat dealer two Ibiza Cupra rear front TCA bushes and some fitting lubricant. You will find the part number elsewhere on this site. The original voided bushes just seem to be rubbish and as you have discovered start to rip and fail. These Cupra replacement bushes should last a lot longer - if not for ever! The car will need a four wheel alignment after this work has been done - to position the front wheels in the correct position relative to the rears and to set up the camber and caster. I'd make sure your independent VAG garage is up to speed with doing this mod before committing your car to this fate!

Thanks for the replies. I was thinking of going for the cupra bushes. However I had no idea that the set-up would be needed. It that an expensive job? I'm on a tight budget!

One other thing. Would a VW dealer order Seat parts in? We don't have a Seat dealer here.

Thanks for the replies. I was thinking of going for the cupra bushes. However I had no idea that the set-up would be needed. It that an expensive job? I'm on a tight budget!

Depending on where your based, i think i would be looking at £130 all in for the supplie and fitting of the cupra bushes. If your near manchester give awesome_gti a bell, i am sure they would happy to help you out.

One other thing. Would a VW dealer order Seat parts in? We don't have a Seat dealer here.

Depends if that dealer has a seat dealer in its network, an audi dealer should be able to supplie the parts if needed too. If you need the part numbers i can get them for ya

I'm on a tight budget!

I just ordered me some cupra console bushes before they do a "PD160" on them. £6.76 each, + VAT

I'd like to fit the bushes myself. Where can I mail order them (with fast delivery)?

Also, I don't have a lathe to cut the disc for removing the old bushes. Is the tool available anywhere?

And finally, any ideas how much the wheel alignment would be?

Cool. Thanks for that. There's no Seat dealer near me so I phoned my local Skoda garage today. I told them I needed new bushes and before I could even mention the cupra ones he said ''You want the Seat Cupra ones mate, there much better!''.

So he is getting them in for me to pick up Sat. I need to get this done so I only have to have a partial retest.

Cool. Thanks for that. There's no Seat dealer near me so I phoned my local Skoda garage today. I told them I needed new bushes and before I could even mention the cupra ones he said ''You want the Seat Cupra ones mate, there much better!''.

So he is getting them in for me to pick up Sat. I need to get this done so I only have to have a partial retest.

Two things here, yes buying the tool from Bonus Tools UK will cost as much as getting the dealer to swop the bushes, but using the dealer's tooling for this task means dropping the cross member and removing the consoles. When this has been done you might need a full four wheel alignment which costs quite a lot - but your car might already be out of alignment due to potholes etc - better to try to find your nearest VAG indep specialist that has good alignment set-up. Oh, by the way, if you have the time to wait for the tool from bonustools, the cunning people designed it to be used while the consoles were still fitted to the car - oh and get some fitting lubricant when you pick-up your bushes, I think that it makes this job a bit easier. You are lucky that your Skoda dealer could order Seat parts - my VW van center could not so I had to do a double run to the Seat garage - but it was worth it for these bushes.