How many km's on the car in total?

You probably don't want to hear this but getting money out of either the dealer or the inspector is going to be a right pain in the butt. $2300 seems pretty steep for those kind of repairs and I'm sure there will be cheaper options out there.
If there's somewhere in your state that you can report the inspector then it may not be a bad idea, but proving anything may be difficult after 5000km. When buying from a dealer you're better off getting your own inspection as the car yard usually has a good mate down the road who will overlook a lot of things.

I would report the yard and the inspector you have nothing to lose.

There are 2 sides to this argument. Firstly, as Jason has said, if any thing is bad enough so as to fail a safety inspection, any legitimate warranty scheme would cover it. What does this 3 year warranty actually cover ? At 5,000 km, it is a bit much to ask the selling dealer do to anything now. If you could prove it was shonky the day you bought it, you may have a case, but you even admit the fault didn't appear until 4,000 km down the track, why is this the dealer's fault.

You don't say how many km the car has covered but a VX series 2 could have done 200,000+ by now. At this distance some suspension bits are going to be worn out, but many, whilst not in new condition would still be in serviceable (usable & safe) condition. This is the whole point, the car is not new, it's 2nd hand, so a certain amount of 'wear & tear' will be evident. The suspension rubbers that are "worn or missing" for example are most likely to be the strut link rubbers which cost less than $70 in parts that you could fit yourself. More importantly, these would not be the cause of the current drama.

You say "the steering started feeling strange at 4,000 km". Before that it presumedly felt OK. The problem with "well known suspension places" is that they are usually highly geared franchises, more intent on doing major overhauls at your expense than finding the actual fault, that has caused the current complaint. Likewise the shock absorbers, they would be well past their prime, but again not necessarily the current problem. You could spend big $$$ replacing shocks & mounts etc. & still be in the same boat.

I would go to a reputable workshop, where you speak directly to the owner/mechanic, explain the problem & ask him what really needs repairing or replacing. You'll save heaps

You don't need to overhaul the whole car to get it steering properly.

Dr Terry

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The best argument against democracy is a 5 minute conversation with the average voter.

Hi Guys,I've reported it to the transport department and have set about having it repaired and we've taken it off the road, well except for the travelling between the repairers.I've had both engine mounts and all the front suspension rubbers replaced at $530 and the whole car already drive 100% better, on Tuesday the power steering rack is being replaced by a steering specialist for $500 then we will buy the front shocks and springs as a complete unit including the rear shocks for $610 and will have someone fit them, then it should be all good. Its done 185,000 klms and we live in Rockhampton Qld.We are also going to replace the 17'' low profile tyres and mags and replace with 15'' mags and some decent rubber for theses rough Qld country roads. Cheers Mary