when should tie rod ends be replaced?

When the boots are torn or there is play in them.

short answer on my car? At around 110k. (I did at 120k)

I know with my car, I'd go through the car wash, and suddenly my wheel would be way off center (car wash pulls the vehicle using left front wheel). Drive a while and normal again. The other clue was I took it to the alignment place 2X and told them the wheel was off center, they aligned it, gave me the printout showing such, and it was off. Inner and outer tie rods fixed it.

I would say if torn boot check to see if it has a metal band securing it to the inside or a zip tie. If zip tie then that doesn't mean the tie rod is necessarily bad. Usually when a repair is done the metal is not reusable and so a repair is with the zip tie used to resecure the boot. Boots are usually good on the first job and so it's not thrown away, it's reused. (look at used racks for sale on eBay you'll see many have zip tied boots)

edit I had this job done during a PA state inspection and so I threw away about $250 (parts price markup v. internet) letting the inspection shop do it, rather than DIY, or taking it to the indie with internet parts, so I could get the car back in hours rather than running around to the indie maybe the following week....I notice on the forum the talk is usually about the tie rod ends only. Shop told me inners were bad as well as the tie rod ends, at 121k, and all I can say is after this job was performed the steering wheel is 100% straight and never goes off anymore which is satisfying like a GoMM at work.

Still on originals at 197K.

based on the above, YMMV and when they have play period, no predetermined mileage

Nice, you guys have an annual safety inspection too. Was there ever an issue with emissions? I'm thinking with my Maxima it started at around 215k. My cousin plays the reset the computer game, wait for I/M readiness, and drive to the inspection station (not a good game with my wife's her car took 843? miles before the EVAP went into ready common with GM). That started at around 247k with the Nissan (EGR)....

I actually just passed MA safety inspection yesterday and the shop was very thorough. They did jack the car up and test for wheel play. I've never had a problem with emissions but this was the first year my inspection report says N/A for emissions. MA does not test for emissions on cars once they are 15 years old and I have an 04. I'm sure it would have passed no problem but going forward it will pass even with a CEL illuminated.

When they are inspected and the boots are damaged or there is play, other than that they don't need to be replaced.

Originals here. 2001 with 147,000 miles

Wonder what happened to mine.....when I got the car, the steering wheel was off center. dag that in retrospect is not a good sign. None of our other cars have ever been off!! But I took it to the lifetime alignment in early '17 and it was centered for another 1+ years. Bet the 2nd owner hit something--I did pass inspections in '16, '17, '18, and failed '19 due to inner/outer tie rods.

Now I'm starting to wonder, would Mevotech control arms be better than doing that LCA bushing? I was in the it has to be OE state of mind, but kind of not anymore. Not with the tie rods I wasn't, look at the prices for Toyota parts.

I used the Mevotech control arms rather than replacing the bushings. That gave me all 4 bushings new and saved several hours on the job for about $80 more each side. Well worth it to me. So far so good on the Mevotech.

I didn't believe in Mevotech before, and said as people here have, you don't really need that small bushing anyway. With the tie rods the costs between Mevotech and Lexus OE is dinner out for 3, at least 3X. But why I went Mevotech was the shop doing it said they would warrant 2/24, but if I chose Lexus OE, 1/12. Mevotech is in fact lifetime warranty. I thought of this because I was watching the YouTube for my wife's control arm and the guy was installing a non GM OE part which still looked decent...if the differential is a multiple, I really have to consider aftermarket especially on a car this old.....the Lexus inner tie rod is $210.23 and the outer $118.45. per side! amazon prices are $41 and $32 respectively for Mevotech--it's the lifetime warranty that implies might be ok. Just like the Bilsteins for my wife's SUV are lifetime and the fronts made in Germany too (GM OE lists for way more but sells for about $15-$25 less--but they leak in 60k!!). the rock auto prices on mevotech are heartbreaking when a shop marks them up! lol

So my car has Mevotech inner/outer tie rods and the garage warranted them 2/24....

So did you feel any difference with the mevos? I need to actually replace all my bushing and lower ball joints and I'm torn if I should put those on or OEM press in units since I don't want to lose my ride quality. I have both options parts wise already and was gonna do a write up once I decided on what I'm using.

The most noticeable difference for me was the quietness. Steering feel and smoothness over bumps improved too. I don't know what good Lexus parts would feel like since the front end was already noisy when I got the car. The control arms and ball joints were the first things I did after the struts. Like Johnnav I would rather spend my money on other things rather than an old car. Between control arms, ball joints and struts I saved around $2000 over Lexus parts. I just want to get at least 5 good years out of it. I got 10 reliable years and 165,000 miles out of my LS400 using economy parts without any problems.

Another point on the Mevotech control arms and Moog ball joints, I marked the position of the camber adjustment bolts before disassembly and when I brought it for alignment afterwards everything was in spec.

Absolutely....because what I was experiencing was if I went to the car wash, where the car is dragged by the LF wheel, the steering wheel was even more crooked upon leaving. It would straighten itself out over 5-10 miles. I took it twice to Firestone (lifetime alignment) and told them the wheel was off, and I would get it back the same and the paper showing all green except for one rear wheel's camber. After new inner/outer tie rods, the wheel is 100% straight! I saw the tech spending a lot of time under the lift going back and forth--so I guess he did a nice job. I did not align it there since I have the lifetime, but driving over to Firestone the wheel was already straight and seemed to be fine.

This stinks--Firestone said their rack was just recalibrated and they have a ticket in with corporate to reconnect the printer, so I don't have a printout!! They said if I really need one come back the following week and they would simply do it all over. But I saw my car on the rack with the guy working on it. Just that I will never know how off it might have been after the tie rod job.

I have no issues with the mevotech products on my car. And when I say heartbreaking, they seem to be only $18 each times 4 on rock!! I was charged way more than that!! As mentioned amazon is around $40'ish each....

edit p.s. what I've learned is the next time I buy a used car, if the wheel is off I am going to assume there's more than an alignment going on...(worn something) meaning just because an alignment can correct it, there is something else that caused it. Our 2007 and 2011 have perfectly centered steering and the 2011 is pushing 90k now....