JRossSter

Would love some advice. Last year needed Axle boot replaced, lexus quoted me very high price, went to a reputable shop, and they replaced axle and boots for 500...

fast forward a 9 months and the car vibrates when accelerating. brought to lexus and they said it is due to axle after market parts and to replace would be 2500. My car has 152k miles and 10 years old, not worth putting the money in.

Curious if anyone knows a more cost effective way to doing this? Is there somewhere i could find OEM Lexus axles? I saw ebay advertised some that were used, not sure if that is a good route to go. Any thoughts and ideas would be GREATLY appreciated.

Jason

ThumperPup

back when my 07 ES350 had 40k on it the dealer replaced under warranty both front cv axles passengers and driver with new OEM under warranty.
they lasted about 90k just about 130k had to replace the driver side axle this was replaced under extended service contract 3rd party company with aftermarket parts.
about 10k latter they replaced the passenger side again with a new aftermarket axle.
i don't have any problems with mind being aftermarket no vibrations or issues.

the main thing is to make sure its a quality part not just the cheapest once they can find

jkayca

Find an indy shop that will install OEM axles for you.

12jimmyjam

Do you guys by chance remember what brand of axles you had put in? I'm in need of one myself.

chuyrobles

Did Lexus actually measure the runout with a dial indicator or did they just blame the aftermarket parts?

Take it back to the shop. Even if out of warranty, they may still look it at no cost to you to save face.

Clutchless

Here is an aftermarket axle supplier I have used that is equal to or better than OEM for less money. http://www.raxles.com/

JRossSter

Thanks all! I will bring back to shop I had originally had it at ..

12jimmyjam

I emailed these folks this week and they don't offer anything for our vehicles. I also read some reviews at aftermarket suppliers online that people often get the incorrect parts from local part stores. I believe that the camry version is different than that of the ES. I had that problem when trying to buy a brake caliper years ago and it was noticeably smaller and wouldn't fit.

12jimmyjam

Do you need to get an alignment after replacing both front axles?

Shakisha

I have a 1999 es300 im told its my axles. Whats the estimated cost of labor if i buy the part myself?

Clutchless

The total cost would be about 1/3 the value of your car. Go get some quotes from a few independent shops and gas stations, after all this is an 18 year old car. Many places will not install owner supplied parts like axles, although a gas station is more likely to do so. I once got stuck replacing a front hub on my old Ford Explorer and only the local Amerigo service station would do it since I already had the hubs.

12jimmyjam

I visited a local shop to check on my axles. They quoted 2 hours labor for each side which would have been about $280 labor total. They also said that I could bring my own parts as did a Toyota dealer that I checked in with. Just call ahead to confirm. Some places raise part prices by 100% so you may be better shopping on your own.

MAK1885942

Hello guys,

When i went to get bulb for the head light, the person at workshop scared me that i have a problem with Axel boot. and how did he found out? he showed me lots of grease/oil coming out from an axel joint coming out behind the wheel of front passenger side. (FYI, in 2007 ES 350, the FRONT Axel is divided into two parts, one is short and another is long). now we needed to fix it. there are three possible options, 1) you buy the OEM parts 2) you buy used Axel boot 3) you repair the one (worst option) . for me unfortunately, they didn't inform this to me and directly performed option 3 when i confirmed to fix the problem. they took about 600AED (180 USD) approx for fixing it.

Just within few days, (and i assume because of aggressive acceleration sometimes :-) ) this Axel boot gone bad. and how do i know this, 1) upon sudden acceleration when you are in slower speeds, the car will be out of control and kind of goes zig zak. 2) when you brake, especially at high speeds, the steering and front wheel wobbles (How i know this - because the brake pads are good and the rotors are even surfaced.

I got an estimated of 1000 AED (260 USD) approx to fix a new OEM Axel boot, here in Dubai. and the garage owner told me that secondhand and repairing is ****.

But i think this is a design flaw of our car that axel boot is wearing out like this :-(

Regards,
MAK

marvinje

I started a thread detailing the same issue I was having with my '08 ES. I was hoping it was not the transmission, because the RPMs felt off and there was vibration during accelation between 40-80 MPH. I had the tires replaced, problem still there. Dealer quoted me nearly $800 for a passenger side CV Boot kit. I went to Autozone online and found a CV axel for $75 dollars. The labor at the dealer is a killer.

12jimmyjam

Just got both axles (left and right) replaced. I'd love to have bought oem but the price difference was crazy. Bought both online for about $200 with extended warranty and shipping. Rides much better now. Smoother.

On another note, the guy who worked on my car (family friend who charged $200 labor) said one axle was pretty much dry and a bearing was noticeably bad. Both axles were in need of replacement. Disappointed that my local toyota dealer didn't recognize this when they replaced my steering rack and struts recently.