esiedell

I took my 2008 ES 350 to the dealership to have an unrelated issue taken care of and they've called me and told me that both CV boots need replacing. The car has 54k miles on it and was purchased roughly 14 months ago at said dealership, at which point it was fully inspected. Moreover, at the last oil change, roughly four months ago, they neglected to tell me anything. They've told me that the job costs $1200 have never inspected the CV boots nor can I inspect them now, as the car is at the dealership, 50 minutes away. What I'm wondering is this: I know the job is overpriced (it's the dealership after all) but does this seem reasonable that the CV boots were fine when I purchased the vehicle (at 45k miles) and now, after 10k miles of gingerly driving the car, they're both ripped? Thanks in advance for your expertise!

Nutsplats

There's no way your CV boots should be ripped open. Unless you hit something maybe. I work at a garage and see a lot of CV boots everyday. Its kinda rare to see boots totally ripped open. ES with only 54k on it. Should never happen. My 09 ES has 139k on it and mine are fine. Never been replaced. I'm curious, your car has 4 boots on it. 2 on the right axle and 2 on the left. So Which 2 boots did they tell you were ripped inner or outer, right or left ? I would definitely go to the dealer and ask to see the boots yourself. Are they really ripped open or are they just starting to throw grease. Look at the boots. Does the rubber look newer or older ? Are they really dried out and weather cracked or does the rubber look new. If they are ripped open and the rubber looks fine maybe someone is trying to pull a fast one. Maybe the clamps are loose and grease is coming out. Definitely go look. As for the price, if you went to another garage you would save a ton of money. Sometimes that can void your warranty though. If you have one. I love my Lexus and you pay for the luxury.

Clutchless

I doubt there is a warranty unless it was a CPO or he bought one. I would be very suspicious of this dealer. I think someone needs to make their repair sales quota for the month. Inspect it yourself and take it for a second opinion. Remember a Toyota dealer can do this work too for far less.

esiedell

Thanks for the comments, you guys. I'm going to the dealer today or tomorrow, so we'll see what happens. This dealer has been inordinately frustrating, and I will certainly never be going there again.

esiedell

@clutchless @nutsplats I picked up the car from the dealership today. The man told me that the CV joint isn't actually ripped, but there is grease beginning to appear near where the clamp holding it on is located (or something like that). Do you all know where that would be, so that I can take a look for myself?

jkayca

I don't know where the clamp is but I had a similar problem with my Maxima. The shop just tightened the clamp and sent me on my way. No charge but I did have other work done.

Clutchless

To inspect it you have to look under the front of the car. This link will show what they look like. There are two axles and each axle has a CV boot at each end. I think a little grease is nothing to worry about and would find a good honest independent to inspect them and maybe tighten or replace the apparent loose clamps.

https://www.google.com/search?q=fron...w=1280&bih=905

If you need to find a local mechanic try the recommendations at the car talk site, home of the radio show guys
http://www.cartalk.com/mechanics-files

Also Angies list is now free.

esiedell

Thank you all very much! I'll have them look at it when I get my next service done at an independent car shop. What's strange is that the man at the dealer told me they couldn't be tightened, and that the whole boots had to be replaced (quoted $950 this time). Based on your input, I will definitely not be doing any more maintenance or repair at the dealership!

nevernu

The lexus clamps seem a bit more awkward, requiring various SST to install, measure gap etc

Clutchless

Replacing drive shaft boots is a very common wear item and any shop will have the required tools to replace the clamp. They can re-grease the bearing at the same time. That style clamp is not unique to Lexus/Toyota and similar ones are on many Japanese vehicles. There are other aftermarket clamps that will work just fine!

esiedell

So, it looks like the best thing for me to do is to wait for my next oil change, and take it to a reputable independent shop and have them take a look at it while they're doing other work.

Clutchless

Remember the dealer makes most of their profit from the repair shop.

Blue Moose Engineering

Like a few people already said, a tiny bit of grease seepage isn't a problem...nor is a cracking (but not yet split) boot. It sounds like this shop may be trying to take advantage of your distance.

That having been said, if for some reason the boot is dangerously close to failure, then this is really a judgment call and they may be saving you the trouble of spewing grease all over the underside of your car. Tough to say without pictures

pawolf

When I took my 2010 ES350 in for its 40,000 mile oil change at my local Toyota dealer about 2 years ago, they noticed the right front inner CV boot was leaking. Before offering to repair it, they suggested contacting Lexus to see if it was covered by the powertrain warrantee. It was, and the dealer from which I purchased the car which is about 100 miles from where I live replaced the CV boot free of charge. I haven't had any problems since.