STAY AWAY FROM THE DEALERSHIP! Your car is well out of warranty and it sounds like you want to put a lot of miles on it without having to spend much in repairs/maintenance so DIY/Indy is what you want to be doing or at least take it to a Toyota dealership.

You can replace them for less then $1000 if you go aftermarket/DIY or independent mechanic. More people will likely steer you where to go but if you have a RWD you can get aftermarket suspension parts, especially control arms pretty cheap and they are not the hardest things to do yourself from what I have seen. Unfortunately Lexus did not properly design the suspension of this car to last/be durable and dealerships absolutely gouge you for parts/labor.

 

 

I would definitely take it to an indy shop and only tell them to inspect all the control arms. Ask this forum for a recommended independent shop near you. You'll likely get a recommendation for a good shop that will not rip you off. I would be surprised if ALL of them actually need to be replaced at once.

 

Unless the control arms are cracked or damaged, all you need to do is replace the bushings.

 

here you go.
​​​​​​https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...tures-etc.html

​​​​​​https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...ue-spec-s.html

​​​​​​https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...ml#post9649204

​​​​​​https://www.ebay.com/itm/Control-Arm...UAAOSwa8dZyRzd
https://www.1aauto.com/lexus-ls460-c...xoCvdwQAvD_BwE

 

You can buy all the parts cheap on Rock Auto, then find a good mechanic, it is bolt on stuff, not very difficult. I would think with an alignment you can be all done for around $1500 or less.

 

Most mechanics would disagree with you. It isn't the worst job, but it isn't like the old days.

 

I think you can buy them in pairs and it might save you money doing it that way, I would just get all 8 for the best deal you can and then get a second opinion maybe from a Indy/Toyota dealership of all of the components are bad, it is probably cheaper just to do them all at once but if only 2 are really bad it may be premature. Are they making noise when you go over bumps? Do you have a RWD LS or AWD? RWD is what has all the aftermarket support for upper control arms. If AWD you may just want to get the bushings and then have someone replace the bushings because that is what actually fails. You have to ask around for costs, I doubt all the parts and labor could be a grand but probably just the labor could be a grand or less, look into a DIY to save a lot more money, if you plan on keeping it to 250K you are likely going to have to do this again, will save a lot of money to learn how to do it yourself. You definitely want to look around for the best deals and research before you buy, there is no need to immediately rush to replace those pieces, ball joints or shocks are a different story.

 

I agree with UDel, never take the car to the dealership again. The dealership will bleed you dry.

I would take it to a trusted independent shop and get their thoughts on the control arms.

 

$1500 is more like it if you can find anyone to do that. I disagree with the notion its DIY. Maybe the tops if your capable of pulling the struts out. The bottoms can be a bear to do. I did them myself with a lift and used to be a mechanic and they still were pretty difficult. I also agree that driving a car into a dealership for service is insane if your out of warranty.

 

This has been discussed many times. You're right, they CAN... but it makes little sense to do so. The cost of just the bushings, then paying to have the arm removed, the bushing pressed out, new bushing pressed in, and then the arm being reinstalled, is about the same price/cost as replacing ALL of the arms, ball joints, and end links if you purchase them from sites such as Rock Auto. I paid about 700 dollars for ALL 8 control arms, end links, and ball joints

 

 

Any decent Indy shop should be able to put in control arms, I don't think there is anything too unique with the LS460 aside from having more of them then normal and that they were not designed properly to last.

 

You need to check your grammar. What I think he meant to write was:

STAY AWAY FROM THE STEALERSHIP! 😁