Speed sensitive power steering- Not the shuddering

[H Bomb]

Hey,

Sorry if this is repeated but I have tried looking for it. I have a VYII Calais which has "stiffening" power steering, it's still o.k but not "power" as it should be and compared to my other cars. My Mechanic (not a dealer, as I was very disappointed with their previous fixing attempts on other issues of this car) says it is a "bearing issue" or something which is a fairly standard thing on VY's and he showed me another one he had there which he had done (which I must admit was way easier to steer) and says it requires new bearings or something at a significant cost of about $700 with a wheel aligniment as the push rods have to come off? He has already done the wider hoses etc for the shudder, and its not dropping fluid levels.

Does this sound reasonable and is it a usual issue? My car has the usual shudder at low speed which I am just used to now and I'm not worried about that. Was just interested if this sounds about right before I hand over close to a grand for this issue, machined brakes and a service, all on a 5 year old only 115,000km car which has been driven by "miss daisy". I'm glad I didnt buy it new 5 years ago for $45,000 plus.

Thanks for your help guys, I have found this forum excellent to address other "common" VY issues

[chargedvx6]

VY onwards eliminated Variotronic steering. It is still an "option" on the upper spec HSVs but on lowly Calais' it wasn't. Been through this myself and was bitterly disappointed to find this out but it makes replacing p/s parts alot cheaper because they all go at one time or another