4 ms·

FWIW, this has been my experience since 2003 when I had to get suspension work done. Doesn’t matter if it’s a BMW or Honda, dealership or indie repair shop, the

by jhatax 4mo ago

FWIW, this has been my experience since 2003 when I had to get suspension work done. Doesn’t matter if it’s a BMW or Honda, dealership or indie repair shop, the story I have heard consistently is that the bushing is part of the arm for structural integrity, stability, <reason I can’t remember, truth or crock>. Bushings typically fail faster than the arm does, and this repair is expensive ($1000+ for performance cars, not that much cheaper for Civics). The “Design for purported Safety vs. Design for Saving Dollars” principle at work.

simplyluke 4mo ago
> repair is expensive ($1000+ for performance cars, not that much cheaper for Civics) I can almost guarantee the lion's share of this is shop labor, not parts, and pressing a bushing out and back in would be more expensive after accounting for that labor than just swapping the suspension arms. This is often the piece that gets missed in these discussions of "why am I replacing this huge assembly for a tiny part", if the whole assembly is coming out to deal with that tiny part anyways and shop labor is $200/hour it's cheaper to swap the assembly a lot of the time. Try getting any repair beyond routine maintenance done on a car in the US for under $1000 these days. Car maintenance is one of the things I'm happy to DIY in most cases because the delta on costs is massive and as someone that works on computers all day it's vaguely enjoyable to get angry at a mechanical object for a change.
- brianwawok 4mo ago
  I’ve moved in to doing my own plumbing, electric, HVAC. Tend to keep new enough cars that they don’t need much, knock on wood. But it’s not uncommon in “making” $500 an hour or more doing electric or HVAC.
  - ryandrake 4mo ago
    In my area, no tradesman is willing to even get out of bed for less than $1000. They have more high dollar work than they know what to do with and some of them don’t even pick up the phone anymore. You have to be made of money or learn how to DIY everything.
- userbinator 4mo ago
  and pressing a bushing out and back in would be more expensive after accounting for that labor than just swapping the suspension arms Really? It's literally a few minutes (a few dozen $ at $200/hr, or $3.33/min) for any shop with a press. Removing the assembly from the rest of the car is going to take much longer.

by jhatax 4mo ago

simplyluke 4mo ago

> repair is expensive ($1000+ for performance cars, not that much cheaper for Civics) I can almost guarantee the lion's share of this is shop labor, not parts, and pressing a bushing out and back in would be more expensive after accounting for that labor than just swapping the suspension arms. This is often the piece that gets missed in these discussions of "why am I replacing this huge assembly for a tiny part", if the whole assembly is coming out to deal with that tiny part anyways and shop labor is $200/hour it's cheaper to swap the assembly a lot of the time. Try getting any repair beyond routine maintenance done on a car in the US for under $1000 these days. Car maintenance is one of the things I'm happy to DIY in most cases because the delta on costs is massive and as someone that works on computers all day it's vaguely enjoyable to get angry at a mechanical object for a change.

brianwawok 4mo ago
I’ve moved in to doing my own plumbing, electric, HVAC. Tend to keep new enough cars that they don’t need much, knock on wood. But it’s not uncommon in “making” $500 an hour or more doing electric or HVAC.
- ryandrake 4mo ago
  In my area, no tradesman is willing to even get out of bed for less than $1000. They have more high dollar work than they know what to do with and some of them don’t even pick up the phone anymore. You have to be made of money or learn how to DIY everything.
userbinator 4mo ago
and pressing a bushing out and back in would be more expensive after accounting for that labor than just swapping the suspension arms Really? It's literally a few minutes (a few dozen $ at $200/hr, or $3.33/min) for any shop with a press. Removing the assembly from the rest of the car is going to take much longer.