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Hi Mike Well as you see the bushes can be changed with tools that any garage should have and the skills anyone calling themselves a mechanic should posses. For me it made financial sense as I did everything myself. However, if you're paying someone else to do the work then a pair of arms like Russ got may work out cheaper. Two arms at £200 each plus two hours labour (I could do them in under one hour with a ramp) should be about half what you have been quoted. If I were you I'd see if your garage will buy them direct from Berkshire Jag Spares and quote you for labour. Bear in mind that garages wager on a big mark up on parts so they may not like that idea. Some will fit customer-supplied parts but many won't, having worked in repairs I can understand their reticence.. Either way a little calling around could save you a lot of money. Damper bushes; Almost certainly not economical to change if you're getting someone to do it for you. Circa £15 (£30 genuine) per bush plus the labour and you're probably half way to getting a whole new damper. Plus if your garage won't consider changing the lower rear arm bushes then I'd not bother asking them to change any others. I have no idea how mechanically adept you are but changing dampers and arms is not difficult with a basic tool kit. Six bolts per side and the only one that might cause you trouble is the drop link, for £30-40 it would be worth changing them anyway whilst it's apart. An alignment check afterwards would be nice but certainly not vital as you wouldn't be disturbing any of the adjustment points. I don't know for sure but I get the idea that these bushes fail pretty regularly at 80k miles and upwards. The problem is the dust seals perish and split so letting the grease out, I maintain that if the seals were better they would last far, far longer. Come the spring I'll be climbing under my car to clean and grease the seals to try and keep the elements at bay.