my 07 with 125,000 miles will not start, brand new battery, motor will not turn over

can someone give me an idea how much a Lexus dealer will charge to replace the starter and anything else while in there?

 

Lexus dealer? $2,500 probably. Independent? Less than $1,000.

 

Call them up and get a quote over the phone...

 

My Lexus dealer just called me back

He said my 13 year old starter was causing the battery to dead short and he quoted me $1700 to put in a new starter

To be honest I am relieved as I thought it would cost much more!

 

Thats a good price from a Lexus dealer. You can cut it in half with an independent still I'm sure. Its not an easy job though.

 

I first had it towed to my trusted independent mechanic, he called back and said it was an 8-10 hour job and quoted me $1400
then he called back and said take it to the dealer, he did not want to do the job and tie up one of his bays that long
said sorry but more shorter jobs are more profitable, he felt pretty bad as he has been taking car of my cars for many years
and said his guys really just did not want to take on such a big job

 

Yeah I don't blame them for that, its not a fun job.

 

AWD? If not it can be cheated by going in through the wheel well

 

07s are all RWD. AWD didnt come out until 2009

 

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Lexus OE starter assembly is about $265 and can be purchased online or at a Lexus dealer (online order and then pick it up from the local dealer). A re-manufactured Denso starter (Denso is the OE supplier) can be purchased from Rockauto for $140 after returning the core. I am not sure if the 8-10 hour labor estimate is accurate. I replaced my 08 LS460's starter at 115K miles on my driveway with hand tools and with my car's front on jack stands. It took me about 6 hours to replace it. Now that I have replaced it once and know how to do it, I could probably replace it in 4-5 hours. One suggestion is that you may consider replacing the passenger side engine mount since the passenger side engine mount needs to be removed anyway for replacing the starter. I wouldn't consider it as a complex job. Anyone handy could do it.
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The actual length of time it takes is not the issue when it comes to labor cost, its what the book says the job will take, thats what they bill off of. My Lexus dealer charges $160 an hour, so even if it were 6 hours, thats $960 just in labor. OE starter retail is $355, you can find them online for $265. But you can see why the job at the dealer gets close to $1,700.

 

I changed the starter on my 76 Monte Carlo in 35 minutes. I wonder if the Lexus would take more time?

 

Just a smidge lol

 

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Agreed. Dealer estimates and charges their labor by the book.
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I didn't know that, thanks. I thought it was always an option lol.

In that case you can cheat it by going through the wheel well and taking the exhaust off as needed to get tools on the starter, if they have ever done a 7 series before the process is similar. I would avoid taking the manifold off if possible and as stated above you are likely getting screwed by book procedure and listed time