Looking on the 'net I found wildly varying numbers...obviously there's no guarantees, guess I'm wondering what y'all have experienced. I replaced mine when I bought it used and it's got about 60-70K on it, so I'd think I'd have a little cushion yet...but lately I've noticed instead of just starting right up it does a little "rr-rr-rr-" before turning over and wonder if I should be proactive and replace. I have an ES330 04 if it matters.

 

Hello,

Which starter did you get?

My 2000 ES300 has a factory starter at over 220,000 miles (knock on wood), though it wasn't driven in the city too much. The numbers will vary drastically depending on the use case, as some may end up using it a dozen times a day, the others will start the car once and drive to a different state in one go. OEM starters are pretty resilient, unless the seals degrade and the moisture gets in. Not the same for the aftermarket, they can be wildly different depending on who you go with, there is a documented example of O'Reilly's home brand alternators passing away at less than 30,000 miles, others are not much better, Denso Rebuilt would be the only ones I would trust.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

 

Thanks - honestly no clue what starter. I took it to the shop and said "put a new starter in there." So nothing amazing I'm sure. FWIW I drive rarely as I work from home. Maybe once or twice a week.

 

Emm, sorry, why did you decide to replace it in the first place again?

 

Because I'd just bought it and the starter had about 100K on it and I planned some serious driving so it was a preventative measure.

 

I have a car with 400,000 miles the starter is original. Not something I replace unless it is showing problems.

 

Hmm, I am starting to understand where phrase "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" comes from..

Do you at least have the old starter still..? I am pretty sure it's still perfectly functional..

 

 

your mentioning the "little "rr-rr-rr-" before turning over"
I am assuming the sound is abnormal and new and might be pointing to a battery issue , you might want to get it checked. If its over 3 yrs old, and its taking longer than normal to start the car ...... its worth a look.

 

Thanks...the battery is only about a year old, which is why I didn't suspect it, but anything's possible. I did check to see if there was any corrosion or loose terminals.

 

I bought my '04 with 147,000 miles and it had a reman Autozone starter. After 2 expensive (total...$460) "no start" tows I replaced it with a Denso reman at 150K miles and it's been flawless. So I suppose in my case being on a 3rd starter at such low miles is not a good record.

 

It genuinely buckles my mind to see the most popular places to get the parts being not only more expensive, but also so much worse, I am yet to find someone who has one of major parts store part work beyond the time it takes to sell the car, how they manage not only to survive but actually succeed is beyond my understanding. Speaking of trust issues..

 

The answer is convenience, you can drop into most any auto parts store as easily as going to Walmart. Plus from the conversations I've had most people think what they buy at the parts store is just as good. Why they think this baffles me, I guess if something looks the same it is.