I am looking at a 2010 LS460 AWD with about 45k miles. I am a little concerned about what I have read regarding the control arm issue. It is at an Infiniti dealer who advertises a 135pt inspection on every vehicle. They seem very nice but I am inclined to additional caution. Would a the Lexus CPO inspection reveal this give a reasonable certainty that the wear is minimal? Is that any more reliable that contacting a regular luxury car repair firm to do a pre purchase?

 

Any mechanic can check those bushings. I would make sure to get an outside mechanic to look at it. Further, try to get at least a 36 month warranty.

 

I don't know where in Canada you are... but when I bought my 2009 CPO, it took me about 2 weeks to notice the sound... had to push-and-nag the dealership but they finally replaced them...

so to answer your question: I don't think a Lexus dealer doing a CPO check would make a big difference !

 

Agree with Superdenso. Have a local shop inspect it. Since it's a non-Lexus dealer that's selling it, I'd even let Lexus inspect it, as they know specifically what to look for.

 

And keep in mind that, replacement of the CA's need not cost thousands of dollars. It can be done for lees than 750 dollars including parts labour. It's not the end of the world if the issue rears it's ugly head down the road.

 

Quick question since I'm about to do mine, is Beck and Arnley still the better brand that people are using, or is getting OEM more likely to last longer?

 

only OEM on LS, or you'll be back in 5-10 k miles. Loling at folk installing chinese/taiwanese crap. Order parts from Ukraine. E.g. i just got both front lower toe arms for 200usd total, toyota part.

 

Well since it's the "quality OE" that failed prematurely in the first place, I wouldn't hesitate to use "cheap Chinese Crap". Especially at 1/5th the price. I'm confident it will last far longer than "5-10k miles". There are several members here who have been pleased with the performance from their supposedly inferior, replacement CA's. Doublebase is one example. He did use a Beck Arnley wheel bearing that failed after a couple thousand miles. Also, don't assume that all of Lexus' parts are made in Japan.

 

Price really isn't the first concern when I am purchasing parts, I just want to use the best ones. If the oem parts are the best I will buy them, I just wanted to make sure there wasn't a better set out there.

 

Quality OE lasts 6+ years and usually 70K+ miles. Cheap crap can fail in a year.

Again, those of us who own and have owned BMWs still chuckle at how control arm bushing failure after 6+ years is considered abnormal

 

Any mechanic can check them... basically uou're looking for tears in the rubber bushings, which are quite easy to spot. Surface cracking means that they are starting to go and will require replacement within, usually, 12-24 months depending.

Actual tearing of the rubber means they're done and need replaced.

 

I am pretty sure I have read that Lexus improved the bushings on all 2010 and later models. Can someone confirm that?

 

I used a mixture of Beck Arnley and Mevotech in mine....15,000 miles later and they're fine. The way I figure it is...the Beck Arnley's were a 1/3 of the price of the OE stuff, which means it'll have to fail three times before I lose money. I'm hoping I can get 100,000 miles out of them like my originals, if not I will just replace the one that has failed. I don't see any reason to go in there and just replace them all anymore, I wouldn't do that with another car, why would I do it with this one? And the arms are so easy to get at and replace.

But I'm certainly not endorsing/recommending Beck Arnley - they just happen to be what I bought - but they do have a little warranty...12,000 miles one year I believe. There's other brands out there obviously. And if price isn't a concern, then yeah I'd buy the OE control arms...supposedly they "updated" or "fixed" their problems. Personally I think the geometry of the suspension is the problem and until that changes any control arms are going to get stressed and fail in these cars.

 

Thanks so much! That's exactly what I needed to know.

 

Confirmed, I used Beck Arnley on my uppers, lower front, with 555 as lower rear and are still good despite the horrible road conditions here (city driving, potholes that would make moon craters blush). FWIW the castle nuts were better than original (which fell apart during removal) in this case. Breaker bars, 6mm hex/allen wrench and cordless impact wrench go a long way on this job.