Good call Damon, I second that. Core sounds very unlikely.
Francis: you may want to update your profile so we can see where you are located, I seem to remember something about australia? AUD? USD?
If it's the regular rear-some-kind-of-link in the rear that has worn bushes that type of job costs about 100USD in parts per sida and 15minutes of labour per side...
You might wanna get a second opinion, your dealer seem VERY expensive.
For VIN, open the hood and look for the plate on the radiator cross member. Should be there anyway. something like *ZAR916*something-something.
What happened to this car anyway? Flooded?