DallasJhwk

At what point do you repair a car vs replace it?

How much do you think these items will cost to have fixed (I'm not a DIY guy)?

1998 GS400 154k
salvage title (flood) 100k on new engine
15k since water pump/timing belt

Required repairs needed to keep it driving:
new tires
brakes and possibly rotors
Red taillight lenses

Unknown level of seriousness for driveability and possible future repair:
Side marker light lens is broken. Light works but lens is missing (will it pass inspection without it?)
possible suspension issues as car makes scraping sound when going over big bumps
steering wheel shakes at 60-80 mph.
wheels are rusting, bubbling and paint flaking off as well as some curb scuffs


Repairs needed to make it nice:
hail damage extensive enough for insurance to total it out and I bought it back for $1200
cigarette lighter and power accessory ports need to be repaired.

sbagdon

IMO, if you pay someone to sort out the suspension (tires, struts, control arms, rotors, pads, etc), that could cost many times what you paid to buy it back.

Parts alone:
New Tires - $400-$600, depending on quality?
Lower ball joints - $75/each (x2)
Upper control arms - $60/each (x2)
Struts - $75/each (x4, and cheap ones, at that)
Rotors - $60/each (x4)
Pads - $40/pair (x2)

Labor is what will kill you... if you pay someone to do the labor on the lower ball joints, upper control arms, and struts, that's going to run... $1k in labor?

If you can't do it yourself, might be time to say your good-byes. It's great that the TB/WP is recent, yet if you can't do the work yourself, the labor will add up quickly... too quickly.

kevin3344

Maintaining a 2GS isn't for the faint of heart. Trust me I know it took me 6 hrs to change the starter. But it's a rock-solid reliable car so for me it's a keeper. However, you seem to have a lot of issues and if you're not careful small issues turn into bigger ones. All cars need tires and brakes so I consider those maintenance items not necessarily repairs. As mentioned the suspension is what costs on these cars so you have to keep it maintained. Question we all have to ask is, how much do we like the car? If you like it and can manage the repairs over time keep it. If not, it may be time to let it go.

vwynn

iTrader: (4)

tail light takes 10 mins to swap and you can get Ebay LED tails for cheap.

Brake rotor ($50 per?) + pad ($100?) + fluid ($10) are all easy to swap.. and pretty much would take me maybe less than 1 hour for both front and rear... fluid bleeding is another 20 minutes on top.

regarding suspension.. its all pretty easy to work on if you willing to put the time into it.. either learn or pony up the $$.

In the end the cost of replacing the car is going to far exceed repairing it because the "newer" car that you get to replace will need some work as well..

sbagdon

Yes, disc brakes are "easy" (compared to rear drums... ugh...!!), yet it's when you get to the struts and the rest of the front suspension... most people aren't going to have spring compressors lying around (unless you go quick-strut, then the prices go up...), and the ball-joints require pullers/separators, and most don't have a quality torque-wrench.

Replacing the car costs more, if you do the work yourself. If you don't... struts, $1200? starter, $800? Timing belt, $1500?

TrueGS300

It sounds like this car has run its' course. The damage and salvage title makes it less worth fixing up than usual. And there's no point if you aren't going to DIY. The reason most of us have a GS3/4 is that we have the mechanical ability and can keep it going. Great car for you to learn on if you can get yourself another car and work on this one on the side.

DallasJhwk

I had the rear rotors and pads replaced $300 and slapped on some new rubber $450 on all four to keep this thing going. Mechanic showed me that the control arm bushings are shot. Told me it's about $300 per control arm plus 5 hours labor for a $1k job and also that it has an oil leak so needs a valve cover gasket ($250 including labor). I thought a valve cover would be much more and the control arms much less. I might take it to a more experienced Lexus mechanic to do the arms since these guys seemed to think there was a lot of disassembly of steering components to give then clearance to remove the control arm.

tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

besides paint looks to be only minor fixes.. The biggest expense is the timing and that has already been done.. These cars will last.

sbagdon

If you're speaking of the upper control arms, the struts need to come out. That's where most of the time is.

DallasJhwk

They labeled them as lower control arms and pointed out these bushings.

firelizard

iTrader: (1)

They better be quoting you for OEM Lexus parts, because that's about three times the price of an aftermarket #2 control arm (that part) from Rock Auto.

DallasJhwk

I don't know if they were OEM or not but now that it's been diagnosed I can call around for quotes from other shops and even ask them for a labor only quote if I supply the parts.

TrueGS300

Looks like you've determined to have the repairs done. Lower control arms should not cost you more than $300 bucks. I suggest going on rock-auto or wherever you prefer and buy the arms and take them in to be installed. I don't think they took me more than an hour each side. Ball joints would be especially easy at this time if needed and can be purchased cheap on rock auto as well. Start researching if you are going to fix this thing or it's going to cost you a lot of money.

BiGEZ

iTrader: (24)

The replacement bushing for those are about $100, check out ROCO bushings and Super pro. I just replaces mine with super pro bushings. A local machine shop pressed out the old stock bushings and pressed in the new ones for $30 both arms.

shwalker07

I bought the MEVOTECH ones for my GS300 from RockAuto for around $65 a piece for my 04. Very happy with them going on 2 years and they did seem like a nicely made replacement part. Super easy part to install too.

https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...trol+arm,10401