superdenso

I tried a new dealer to replace (8) control arms and was quoted $6,000 (4k parts + 2k labor). Further, the adviser says he doesn't want to contact the warranty company. How would you proceed?

brianlin87

iTrader: (11)

What year is your LS? If your car is still under warranty (assuming it's fairly new) I would try another service adviser.

GR6RR

$6k?! He might factor in the cost of a big shaft...

superdenso

2007 & it's not the Lexus warranty; it's an aftermarket warranty: 36mos/36k miles.

superdenso

LOL I should have him print out a parts summary!

bsl888

Those front control arms should warrant a recall since so many LS460's are failing prematurely. Otherwise Lexus should manufacture stronger replacement rubber bushings instead of ripping people off with all new control arms. My car's front control arms are showing cracks and starting to fail and it only has 59K miles on it. I'll be replacing them with aftermarket (non-Lexus) arms when I decide to replace them.

rld14

Six

THOUSAND

Dollars?

I'm sorry, we can do the same job for that and throw in a nice used Rolex.

Personally if they won't even try to work with your warranty company I would go elsewhere.

zracer31

HOLY COWABUNGA!

This may not help you much - but, I just replaced ALL the bushings on the front upper and lower control arms three weeks ago.

This was done in my backyard shop with a 20 ton hydraulic press and basic wrenches, sockets, floor jack and jack stands.

TOTAL cost for ALL the aftermarket bushings was $158 - shipped to my house. Granted, these are NOT LEXUS parts, but seeing how the OEM original LEXUS parts weren't worth 2 cents, these can't be any worse and they don't cost as much as a whole used car!

If you were near me in southern Illinois I could hook you up with a smokin' good deal and get you back on the road for a FRACTION of that quote!

Best of luck in what ever route you chose to go my friend!

greg3852

Hell I think Harbor Freight has a 20 ton press for like $160. You could throw it away after if you wanted. and still be $5000 + ahead.

superdenso

The dealer actually printed a service quote with the $6,050 on it. This is worse than anything MB has ever done. When I received an invoice from MB it was only a few bucks more than independents (negligible). To double any other Lexus shop is obscene. I contacted another dealer that quoted the parts at 2500+tax

Doublebase

Well here's the problem...they're lasting to 70,000-100,000 miles. I understand some people have replaced them sooner, I understand some have replaced them later, but they are failing at a rate that isn't all that far out of the realm of control arm failure. The thing that is out of the realm is price. Most cars have two control arms up front (a lower one on each side) - the cost for most of those parts are around $150-$300 per control arm.

The problem with the LS is that there's 8 of them. Another problem is people just assume that all 8 are bad, when that isn't always the case. The uppers seem to take the most abuse, I've replaced mine and I can tell you that I only replaced 6 (and really I could have gotten away with only doing 4 at 115,000 miles). The dealer will tell you that they're all bad...all bad=more money...all bad is easy to say because they all may have cracks in them, but most control arm bushings on every car has cracks in their control arms...they are rubber, it's a stress point, they crack. Torn all the way through is a different story...massive amounts of excessive play is also another story.

Keep in mind that it's the price of these arms that's the problem, and the solution is aftermarket parts. The aftermarket control arms are readily available..much lower in price...and are holding up well. I think an average person should be able to take this car to an independent shop and get all 8 control arms replaced with aftermarket parts for $1200...maybe less. No problem. And think about it, you're replacing almost your entire front suspension system.

Obviously the design of this suspension system places extra stress on the control arms, but I've found that we don't hear of other problems in the front end, like...ball joints, tie rod ends, sway bar links and bushings. Those components fail regularly on most cars, could it be that they're less stressed on these cars? My point is that all car's suspensions wear out/fail/need replacement/need alignments/have excessive play....is $1,200 too much to repair a front suspension after 70,000-100,000 miles? Maybe, but it's not that far off.

Chuckinnj

Aftermarket parts and an independent repair shop........ Don't be afraid of going this route because changing the arms does not require a "factory trained specialist" from a Lexus Stealership.
Maybe someone here can direct you to a shop in your area.

$6000....... Does this include all new tires and wheels and a full detail??

superdenso

I decided to price these control arms (parts only) at 3 dealerships and got 3 different #'s: a.) $2,610 b.) $3,926.46 c.) $4,688. It is a free market.

sktn77a

iTrader: (2)

"Further, the adviser says he doesn't want to contact the warranty company."

Time to find a new dealer!

Kennyr44

Buyer beware, most car dealers fish for suckers. And they catch a lot of them. No different than a real fancy restaurant that charges a couple hundo for a dinner for 2. When you drive from the street onto the dealers lot let the screwing begin, unless your willing to fight or outsmart them. Few can.