Blown seals in struts and shocks

Let me preface this by saying I've never owned a Truck/SUV and the only car I've ever worked on was a 64 Impala...

My wife just got back from the dealership for the 80k mile checkup on her 2000 2WD SE Xterra. There was some disturbing news. Among the items that needed immediate attention were:

Struts -- Blown Seals $260
Rear Shock Absorbers -- Blown Seal $345.

She hasn't modded the suspension at all, and except for the first few months joyriding, it hasn't done any real off-roading.

I know the dealership is trying to gouge us, that is often what they do. However, what exactly is involved with these repairs? It seems as though they would just be replacing the stock struts and shocks with new stock ones. How urgent are they? I know waiting on the shocks aren't life threatening, but what would happen if I waited on the struts?

Is this common with Xterra's? It looks as though many of the posters here are 4X4 junkies and have long replaced their OEM shocks with aftermarket ones, but I'm hoping that there are some gearheads out there that will read this and respond.

Any opinions on what I should do?

First off, the Xterra has no struts. It has leaf spring rear suspension, torsion bar front suspension. Struts aren't part of either. Plain old shocks at all 4 corners.

Second, the original shocks are pretty sucky and are most likely pretty shot by now, so I wouldn't be all that surprised if they are leaking.
As for the cost, OEM rear shocks will run $28/$36 (dealer/list) each, fronts $25/$30 each, should be no more than $140 in parts.
Labor to remove and replace the rear shocks should be no more than 1 hour and that's rounded up, probably takes a tech with an air ratchet 20 minutes tops. Fronts might run an hour and bill at two. Assuming $80/hour, that's $240 labor. Total ought to be under $400 for the whole thing parts and labor, front and rear, and that's still a rip-off, I'd accept a bill for no more than 2 hours total labor.

You can drive with blown shocks as long as you like. It can cause irregular tire wear, a crappy ride, and potentially alter grip if the tire is "bouncing" when it should be gripping, but only when you're pushing things. Call another dealer and ask what they would charge for 4 new shocks. Call Sears Auto Center and ask the same (they have a few different shocks to choose from too), and try a Midas/Meineke/etc. shop. See who's ripping folks off and who isn't.

Brent

Order a set of Bilsteins online (I got mine at www.eshocks.com - $260 - had free shipping). Spend 2 hours installing them. The back is super easy, the front takes a bit more work but isn't that tough. You will have vastly superior shocks and saved a bunch of money.

80K is a lot of miles on any OEM shock except the better ones fitted on higher end cars.

I agree with pnwbeers...order the Bilstiens and install them yourself. Shouldn't take more than an hour and a half to do all of them since you just have to turn a wrench and there are no other parts to remove aside from removing the front wheels to make things easier up front.

I recently replaced my OEM shocks on my 03' 2wd with Rancho 5000's they are much improved over OEM, Bilsteins are the best though. I just didn't get them because my level of offroading Bilsteins were an overkill. My daily driver is much improved now. Got the shocks for $39 a piece and installed them myself in about 1 and a half hours like Chuck said. $160 for new shocks and an improved ride, and some satisfaction that I saved money replacing them myself is well worth it.