RG3toDC

Just went to the dealer for a routine oil change. One of the things noted on the report was that both rear CV (axle) boots are starting to lose grease. Apparently, he mentioned that there is no rear cv boot kit replacement available for this 09 is250 AWD and i will need to replace the axles.

I was quoted Left Rear for 1540, Right Rear, $1500, and it also requested that i get a 4 wheel alignment at $160.

Holy cows, i have no idea if this is true. i went to my local body shop and they found a kit available and was only charging me $800 for parts and labor.

Any advice is welcome. I am in the DC area.

Aspect

When I had to replace a rear axle I went remanufactured. Saved me about half the price and it hasn't failed me yet in the 2 months of use lowered/non lowered winter and summer months as far

RG3toDC

did you ask the dealer about this? How did you go about it?

2013FSport

iTrader: (2)

The time and effort to throw boots on your used axles is not worth it. It is one messy job. The savior would be if your car is low miles and the boots just now cracked a tiny amount. Otherwise you're cleaning and packing both joints (x2).
I'd opt for reman, and you'll still have busy day ahead.

Aspect

had a local repair shop do it for me. They offered me the two options, either OEM for that ridiculous price or remanufactured for a fraction of the cost. Reman is basically an OEM axle that's refurbished iirc. During install you'll also prob need new wheel bearings I believe since they typically get damaged when separating the axle from the hub so take that into consideration as well

RG3toDC

My car has only 86K miles on it.

RG3toDC

How much did your job cost?

tonydobbs

I would see if CVJ could rebuild these axles. They've built axles for me in the past that were made with upgraded components.

2013FSport

iTrader: (2)

Compared to FWD axles, these should easily go over 300,000 mi if they keep the grease inside.

You certainly could rebuild them as kits are out there. That said, Axles are cheap as they span the 250, 350, F and the whole GS series too. Fleebay low mile take offs?

And no, there should be Zero damage to your hub bearings from axle removal. Well unless someone uses a BFH instead of puller to push the axle free...

Left: 42330-30160
Right: 42340-30160

RG3toDC

thanks for the suggestions. Hoping my mechanic knows what to do. Do i get it done locally or from Toyota/Lexus?

Kingdom934

Holy crap. That's a lot of money for axles. Verify how they are losing grease. Is there a split or a crack on the CV boots?

2013FSport

iTrader: (2)

Even tho yours has on 86,××× mi on it, the labor to keep your axles (mechanic doing an axle tear down boot swap) there are few if any axle failures if people keep the grease inside. And these are paired to the higher HP IS-F. Same parts.

Grab some reman axles from a reputable source, and throw some synthetic gear oil in the rear diff while you're at it.

HybridHB

I recently had the lexus dealer tell me the same thing, my driver side rear axle boot is torn but they wanted $2100 to replace it lol. Im local to gator axles and they quoted me $80 to clean/repack the joints and put on new boots. I think Im going to go this route but wanted to know if anyone has used 3rd party axles? Specifically duralast axles from auto zone?