eatmorchic

My 95 ES300 A/C works for a few minutes the first start of the day, then just blows normal or warm air...warm from the inside of hood. The forums have said it to be the expansion valve issue. This car is without 100% AC for 2 years that I had purchased at CarMax. This is my second ES, first was also a 95 ES from Lexus and it's AC worked all the time.

Got a quote from local Lexus.com to replace my expansion valve...Tech says will have to replace dryer also....will cost around $600. They will have to diagnose it first of course.
Is this a good price? or will other repair shops be $500 or less? Should I get Lexus do Diagnostics and tell me what I need, then order the parts and have other local shops replace them?

It needs new brakes too, car leans too much in turns...either needs sway bar or adjustments. Was thinking of trading it for a Toyota Scion tC...the trade-in value for my 95 ES is about $3000 - $3550

Worth trading in in about a year? or keep and do repairs?

CUMan

$600.00 for this repair is a pretty good price from a Lexus dealer, but I would find someone else to do the work.

I had our 94 ES expansion valve replaced at a local auto air repair facility in 2004. The total cost was about $450.00, including the drier replacement. I also got a price quote for the same amount from an independent auto repair facility that specializes in Lexus, Toyota, and Volvo work. The local Lexus dealer quoted me $700.00 for the repair.

Your least costly way to go would be to order the part from one of the Lexus dealers who sell parts on the internet (www.newlexusparts.com, www.lexus-parts.com, or www.irontoad.com) and then have someone install it for you.