749009

I've got a small clunking noise in the RF corner of the car going over railroad tracks. I believe it's either the RF strut assembly or the RF sway bar link.
As the car (2003 Lexus ES300) has the variable adjustable suspension, the struts are quite expensive and don't feel soft or loose, so I'm not eager to replace one (or 2 to match and then the alignment), but, I thought I'd try replacing the RF sway bar link.

I've got a few places that will do that at a more reasonable labour cost than Lexus will charge me, but, I'd like to get a better deal on the part, since I'm not certain that after replacing the link, I'll be rid of the noise.

Lexus wants $122 for the link (48820-06040) and best price I've found on the net for the same part is $26 Cdn from a place in Montreal (they convert to part # L1030-140415).
Price after next day shipping to Calgary is $47 Cdn, but, they are basically saying, you don't know us, we won't let you see a pic of the part, but give us your credit card, and trust us to send you the right part. I'm uncomfortable with that approach and would prefer to buy locally even if it costs a bit more, but, hopefully a significant saving over buying from the Lexus dealer.

Can anyone reccommend a Lexus parts supplier in Calgary that I could call?

Jimmer350

I would start by calling Reg at RCTS Canada. He can direct you to good shops or even do it himself. Alvin's Automotive is very good as well.

Reg @ RCTS Canada 259-3106
Alvin's Automotive 243-3941

749009

Thanks for the suggestions Jimmer350. Actually, Bobby at Tunerworks got me the link, delivered here in Calgary for $45 which I was quite happy with. I've still got a little bit of noise so I'm looking into options on the strut assembly. Reg was out when I called RCTS although the fellow I spoke to there said his supplier wanted $1350 for a part Lexus sells for $450 I checked one other part with this fellow as well and again his price was higher than Lexus charges retail for the part. He suggested they could just buy the part directly from Lexus at their jobber discount and pass that saving (normally 10 - 15%) on to me and install it.

Alvin's suggested he could get a bigger discount with an aftermarket supplier, but, indicated from his experience that aftermarket Variable Adjustable Suspension shocks don't stand up nearly as well as the factory Lexus ones do, so he didn't think they were worth buying even at a significantly lower price.
Unfortunately, Tunerworks isn't able to get the VAS strut and related parts (Lexus OEM parts) from their supplier.
So, in the meantime, I'll probably live with the little bit of noise as to do the job through Lexus is going to cost almost $1000 to replace 1 strut by the time I add in labour, tax and the alignment afterwards.