MOT fail N/S Lower Suspension arm KZN185 gen 3

[thetartansurf]

I've owned my gen 3 comming up for 2 years now and had no issues sailed through its last MOT .This year however I found that it failed on the N/S lower arm inside bushes ,the garage in question informed me over the phone that the part that needed replaced was the ball joint so took it away replaced the ball joint part £35 and labour £60 thought fine will pass .
Went for its MOT again and Failed.
Thought right will let them sort it out as they failed it and they quoted me around £60 for labour and the bushes on top of that.
Around lunchtime today more bad news they said that the lower suspension arm bolt was fixed solid even after heat treatment and all their tricks the whole item would need replaced at a total cost of £750 !
Checked at toyota as they are the only people that stock that part in the UK and its £262.80 thats £487 on labour I feel this is far too much but maybe someone else has had the same issue with replacing it?
So the issue is now the vehicle is immovable as its stuck on their ramp less suspension and as they cant move it off I have to pay and hopefully squirm for a discount .
I feel so annoyed at this, as to not recommend a main dealer to do a mot repair you are better off taking it away and getting a recommended local chap to do the job and source the parts yourself,then paying for a retest .
The problem is their is only one MOT station in my village and its a branded car dealership.
Vent over! just dont want anyone else to have the same issue

[wishbone]

If I was in your position I'd get a local recovery firm to pick up the surf and get it home. They are definitely trying it on.

[thetartansurf]

MOT fail N/S Lower Suspension arm KZN185 gen 3

Cheers ,I wish I could, but they have already spent time removing the old part (@£52.00 an hour)and have ordered up the new so would pay for the part but with the labour I would be up to £500 to release the surf and the cost of the new part and to get it MOT'd again elsewhere would probably already be at around 600 and they might find something else wrong ,so will
just have to sit tight and hope that they have over-estimated it.
Its still sitting at the garage at the moment awaiting the part so hopefully
will have it back tommorrow

[TonyN]

If you're sure they told you to replace the ball joint when it didn't need replacing them you could have a chat and some money taken off for that, otherwise if you can't do it yourself then you don't have a lot of options but to pay up.

I've had trouble getting 2nd Gen lower wisebones off, but at worst end up sawing through the bolt and bush where it sticks out a little, but this dosn't ruin the wishbone.

Don't recall if you can do this with a 3rd Gen.

If the wishbone bolt is siezed in, why can't they just put it back together and let you take it somewhere else to fix, then they can retest it.

[NiftyNev]

3rd generation are pretty much the same as a 2nd. Why couldn't they just cut the head off the bolts. Bolts are much cheaper than the whole suspension arm? Did they attempt this and ruin the arm in the process?

Nev

[thetartansurf]

MOT fail N/S lower suspension arm

Well got the Surf back today ,and here is what it totalled :
labour was £240
they had to cut bolts, heat bushes and remove. Cut off suspension arm
and renew with new retaining bolts and sleeves.
Parts
bolt x2 =£9.10 part number (T9011914071)
suspension adjuster x2= £29.64 part number (T4840935050)
suspension plate x2 £39.22 part number (T4845235020)
suspension arm x1 £219.09 part number (T4845235020)

Total incl VAT £644.46
I tried to argue the point of the balljoint replacement and get a £100 discount for the work that didn't need done but all they kept on disputing was that even though I phoned and asked which part I needed to replace and they said balljoint! they are denying it stating that on the MOT failure form it said Lower arm has excessive play in pin/bush, never again taking it to them if they give incorrect info over the phone .
To add to the problems ,when driving it home my steering wheel now sits at an angle when going in a straightline is this easy to sort? as a little concerned with removing the cover to reset the wheel as it has an airbag.

[TonyN]

They've probably messed up your tracking, you'd think for that amount of money they'd have at least fixed it properly.

I'd take it back and tell them to put it right.

I still don't get why how they managed to cut the arm off, but still cut the bolts off and heat to remove the bushes? if they cut the bolts, they wouldn't have to cut the arm, why remove the bushes from the old arm if you had a new arm and new bushes?

I think you've been shafted, but probably no way of proving it.

[NiftyNev]

I think you've been shafted, but probably no way of proving it.

I think you did as well.

suspension plate x2 £39.22 part number (T4845235020)
suspension arm x1 £219.09 part number (T4845235020)

Suspension Arm part number is wrong. Should be 48069-35081. Note that new arm should include new bushes.

Nev

[thetartansurf]

MOT fail N/S Lower Suspension arm KZN185 gen 3

Thanks for that will double check it , it did come complete with the bushes hopefully the part number was just a typo on their behalf .
Drove it the other day and the surf handles just as it should did'nt notice any different road manners goes in straight line when on flat no drifting to any side ,just have the annoyance of a a steering wheel at an angle ,don't want to take it back as I don't trust them, and Im sure its fairly straight forward to
reset the steering wheel, is it just a case of removing the horn pad with brute force then using a socket to remove the bolt below ,take off and reset in the correct place just concerned due to airbag electronics etc??

[TonyN]

I can't remember exact details without going garage and looking it up, but you have to leave a specific time between disconnecting batterys and unpluging any airbag to avoid setting them off.

You'll probably find it reasonable easily on the 'net somewhere.

[thetartansurf]

No worries actually found it on here ,just with some searching - Glad to have access to such great tips and knowledge cheers