I’m in the same boat right now. I ended up purchasing parts from Moog and Fig Engineering for $1,000 for all eight control arms. I’m currently looking for someone to put them in. I have gotten an estimate of $1,400 to put all eight in but I think that guy is trying to rip me off. It would still be $2,200 less than the dealership quote you got.

I’m actually in Arlington, TX, not too far from you! I’ll definitely consider it if my other plans don’t work out. I’ve been getting stone walled because other mechanics around here are not willing to put in parts I bring in. What do you think about changing transmission fluid? I checked the service records and it hasn’t been done and my LS has 96,000 miles. I’m thinking of getting like 4 quarts drained and replaced. Think it’s safe at this point?

This is the email received from A1 auto care in Arlington:

Thank you for your prompt reply. Here is the breakdown.

1) For R&R all eight control arms, the labor is $1,410.00. This is with labor consolidation! It is a lot of work that would take us the better part of three days to complete.

2) Four wheel alignment = $85.00/per axle x 2= $170.00.

3) Full synthetic oil change is $93.00.

4) As for the transmission and differential services. I would not recommend conducting these repairs if you are uncertain of when they were previously done. I have seen transmissions and differentials give out right after doing these service. For reference, the transmission service on this vehicle is around $400.00. Differential service is not something I can do here. But doing these, I feel, are risky moves.

I hope this helps in your pursuit of quality vehicle repairs.

Craig
A1 Committed Autocare

I think so too. I’m waiting on a quote from TLS down the street. I hear they are good mechanics.

This is the write up that the guy at A-1 gave me to justify the $1,400 estimate.

Whoever this A1 auto is, they have never worked on an LS460 and have no idea what they're talking about, and that's fine, it's understandable, you can't expect them to have worked on every car on the road. But this is exactly why it's important to find an honest independent who has worked on these cars, because anyone who has done control arms on these cars can do this job in 2-3 hours, easy. And I'd be willing to bet there are plenty of certified Lexus techs that can do this job in under two hours. There really is nothing difficult about this job, it's suspension work. Nothing more, nothing less. If anything it's easier than some suspension work I've seen. Try doing lower control arms on a Toyota Highlander, I'll take the LS460 over that any day. Or try doing control arms on any rusted ten year old truck...you'll be using a torch and sawsall to get everything out...and you won't be able to charge the customer extra for it.

The problem with the 460 is there's not a lot of them out there. Mechanics aren't working on them on a regular basis. And when a $80,000 luxury car rollls into the service bay, no one is going to hesitate to charge maximum labor and price because they worry about what they're getting into. Lots of independent mechanics have been burned with luxury brands like BMW and Mercedes. Hell, I know some places that won't even touch a BMW, Mercedes or Audi. Sounds like some are scared if the LS460 now.