I recently had a "free check" done on my 98 T5 (Auto) at the local Dealer.
They found these "upper spring seats cracked", which I understand to be at the top of the shock tower mounts.

Firstly, can one replace ONLY the seats WITHOUT replacing the entire strut? My car has about 77K miles, and still rides very well, so I don't see why I need new struts--I only have occasional "groans or creaks" from the front end at low speed turns. Otherwise very smooth riding.

If I CAN change only the upper seats, is it something that I can do myself, or does the car have to be completely raised on jack stands ( both wheels taken off) and have the strut assemblys removed on both sides? If that is the case, then I SHOULD go ahead and "invest" in NEW struts and have everything done NOW! Right??

What brand strut should I consider? Living in CA, we don't have a lot of bad (potholed) roads, so something like OEM ( but cheaper!) would work fine. I see that Bilstein makes a replacement AND a Heavy Duty model---Would the standard be OK for "normal" driving, and where is the CHEAPEST place to purchase? I know KONIS are also great strut, but I think they are quite a bit more money due to their adjustability.

Thanks very much in advance--I found a link on Volvospeed for how to change the struts, but as I mentioned it requires a floor jack, and two jack stands MINIMUM, PLUS a spring compression tool to mount the springs on the new struts. And, while I consider myself to be mechanically capable (change fluids, filters etc..) I am not sure if investing in all the new "gear" would be worth it? But it would be safer than using the OEM tire jack to get the car up (used in the past with no problems), I guess?

Thanks,
HB

P.S. They also "found" a turbo return oil pipe seal leaking (which is pretty common I understand??). Is that "serious", and if so, does the IPD repair kit for ONLY $8.50 fit the bill?? It seems almost TOO EASY (includes instructions that claim you can do it in "LESS THAN ONE HOUR!"