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Hello RS4 drivers,

Got my 8 control arms at the front replaced including the links and tierods.
The bill surprised me a lot 17 hours for the work.

I normally trust my local Shop but this seems a bit extreme.
I'm living in an area with snow sometimes and loads of salt.

Before i go into the discussion happy to hear what you guys think.

We’re not comparing apples with apples but for reference here’s a quote for work I’m having done from an Audi specialist

Hi,
I have done a few A4, S4, A6 and RS6 front suspension changes as a DIYer. It takes about 3 hours per side IF the pinch bolts come out.
If they don't move and you do not have any of the expensive tools to attempt removal then I had to cut the upper arms and get the upright out.
Then you have to work on the seized bolts on the bench. If they still won't move then they have to be drilled out.
If you run into this problem then 17 hours is probably fair, It has taken me longer than that even for one bolt sometimes!

Interested to hear how you got on with this, I got the same job done a few months back and it was prob half a day for my mechanic.
Dunt think he had any issues though

It’s one of those jobs that can either be relatively easy or a royal pain in the @rse. The combination of British weather and salt means any job that requires removing nuts and bolts can take far longer, than it would do otherwise. Just getting the pinch bolts out of they’ve seized can take a couple of hours.

It’s a lot of labour but wouldn’t surprise me, if they had an entire front ends worth of rusty bolts to deal with.