I just did both sides of the ass-end of my 2002 Outback. From sacked-out farm car to everyday driver. All of the bushings (literally) and new struts for right around $300 bucks.. Doing my own work.. owning a press comes in very handy if you own or work on Subarus. Makes all of the crazy suspension work pretty much trivial. Especially once you've collected all of your press rigging pieces. Took about 3 hours per side. A little torching and a little sweating, in a part of the US that still salts the roads from time to time.
I've seen those bushings worn completely away and wearing into the arms that they're set into and still be riding everyday.. Not recommended, but you're safe rolling with that. It'll wear the tires out like a motherfucker, but you'll be fine.
It's not bad work once you've done it. $1600 is just fuckin robbery, but understandable, also. Especially if they're doing the alignment, also. Still outrageous in my opinion.