waslawi

Dear All,

i need your opinion on what should i do.

I live in Dubai UAE and I have es300 2002 and the shock absorbers are hard and noisy. checked with the dealership they said it should be replaced. the best price i found for to replace all of them is around $1950
the question is: is it worth it? if i sell the car i will get $7000 in the best case

what do you all think?

rlx101

I just replaced all 4 struts. I do not have an Adaptive Variable Suspension.

Monroe SENSA-TRAC struts (OEM) were ~120$ per strut (these are quick struts, fully assembled with coil and mount/boot etc.). + there was a rebate for october form Monroe.

Part numbers are:

171490
171491
171492
171493

link: http://www.monroe.com/en-US/catalog/e-Catalog


You should not pay more than 100$ to install each strut! In Dubai - is labor cheap? I'd think you can find independent repair shop to install them for cheap! It is not a rocket science, very easy to install them, routine job.

So all in all should be around 800-900$ (USA).

How many miles are on your car?

My suggestion: get them done. You should not be forced to sell a car just because it needs new struts. Order parts online. Find a place to install them: local garage - call around, ask people, get quotes. You should be able to get them replaced for much more reasonable amount of money.

As i said do not pay more than 100$ to install each strut. It takes AT MOST, 1hr of labor to install each strut (more like 20-30min). I doubt mechanics in Dubai charge >100$/hr for labor ... more like 10$/hr? lol this i dont know.

Xtom73G

The rears are a bit labor intensive. On my wife's 97 ES300, "remove the rear seat" to access the shock/strut area. Sears quoted me $750 to do the rears with Monroes. Do not attempt any strut jobe without a proper compression tool or risk losing your fingers. I told this to a guy when I was living in Taipei, he ignored me, and showed up next day with a broken hand and a missing front tooth. He was lucky.

waslawi

Thank you for the valuable information. Yes this is a big saving. I visited Monroe site it seems there is some error and it seems they don't sell directly from their site. i browsed around and found it in Amazon but it says the part doesn't fit your car. other sites confirmed it does fit

what is the Adaptive variable suspension? you mean the control the stiffness of the suspension to be sport or comfort? this is no big deal for me.

i drive the car for almost 200 miles daily going back and forth to work. it is around 165,000 miles now or 260,000 k
The labor is cheaper here.

thank you for your support and i will let you know what is happening

waslawi

Well i don't want that to happen to me i prefer to pay than to get my teeth and fingers broken

Avory

waslawi, this is the problem: there is no real way (unless you are a do-it-yourself kind of guy) for a proper strut replacement to be inexpensive.

In an earlier thread from last week, I discussed my sad story with my 120,000 mile 1997 ES; it cost me $1800 with an alignment (a necessary final step) to replace all my original struts with KYB, and my car suddenly rode like it's tuned for pylon racing. Very nimble, but very rough. My mechanic admitted it was "very sporty" now (he liked it) but agreed it was no longer a Lexus. And having a car that rides like this will be a serious issue with you given the long drives you make, I assure you. I could not go more than one hour on the KYB struts without feeling serious road fatigue, something I never felt on the completely vibration-free original equipment.

So, I just took my car back to the shop today and I'm having original Toyota OE struts put in to replace the KYB's. I will be shocked if my ride is not back to normal. You need to seriously think about whether or not you want to chance the Monroe option given my experience with the KYBs. Keep in mind that if you do decide not to go with the cheaper strut assembly from Monroe (which I would be somewhat wary of given your needs), that you will likely need new strut mounts, insulators, bump stops, and possibly bearings. I replaced all suspension parts with original Toyota parts except the springs, which I was told were in good shape. You may have to replace those as well given your road conditions. Considering everything, I'm not going to say the price you were quoted was out of line to get your car back to feeling new again. And if your car is otherwise sound mechanically, it's not what the car is worth on the open market, but what it would cost to replace your car with something that feels as good as the car you are driving.

Frankly, when my car is right, it's still like driving a dream, and it looks great too. I really didn't hesitate putting the money into it, even if some people think I'm nuts. I will report back the results of the KYB to Toyota OE if interested.

waslawi

Avory
KYB has costed you almost the same of the Toyota OE. is it true KYB manufacture struts for Toyota?

i have been running on those creaking and roaring struts for along while now and i don't recall how does it feel to drive a Lexus.

how much did it cost you for the new struts?

and please share with us your result

Avory

waslawi, I have heard that KYB manufactures the struts for Toyota, but someone in the biz told me that Bilstein does. Regardless, what is manufactured for Toyota is obviously NOT what is sold as an aftermarket part that fits my Lexus, because my car did not ride anywhere near as comfortably as it did previous to the installment of the KYBs. You characterize your current struts as "creaking and roaring," but that sounds different than what I'm experiencing, which is the feel of every little ripple, every nook and cranny in the road, right in the seat of my pants. "Great" road feel, yes, but vibration-free and smooth like a Lexus. NO.

My shop definitely hit me for the KYB's at around $700 (I see them on Amazon for less than $500), and the Toyota OE shouldn't be much more than $550 to $600 before a shop mark-up, so the Toyota OE will cost more. My shop was willing to swap out the KYB's for the Toyota because they already nailed me on the KYBs. Hey, no one to blame but me on that front, I should have researched and considered supplying the parts. I figure the Toyota's make up for some of that. But still, I went into this somewhat blind (irresponsibly so).

I don't want anyone to make the same mistake I did, unless they want the "super sporty" ride of the KYB's. And that's OK, too, if that's what you're after.