Gentlemen: I need your help. My car was dx at dealer with actuator needing replacement, all warning lights for ALB and brake on. I didn't get it fixed then, dealing with cancer expenses. I took it to independent mechanic who assured me it would be Ok to drive until I could do better. Was also questioning dealer saying 6 of 8 bushings were cracked. The worst happened 3 days ago. Brakes actually 90% failed, 30 miles from home. Required pressing brake almost through floor, at 20 mph speed. My mechanic looked yesterday & says he can’t fix it, hydro booster, so I assume it’s that plus the actuator. It had been making some noise for 2 wks. The day of failure, an audible warning alarm never stopped buzzing, unless I got out of drivers seat in park or turned it off. Is there a cheaper way to fix vs the $8000 estimate from dealer. I found OEM actuators on EBay new from Lexus dealers that and the hydro booster will run about $1900 ( if I only need one). I did find a mechanic who will use these parts. Thank you. It’s def a major stressor and I need my car but can’t afford a large bill at this time. appreciate any tips or wisdom. I don’t know cars but whenever I have a problem, I now come to this forum for advice and perspective.

 

The cheapest way is to do it yourself. I am not sure if you can do. You will have to pay for parts, at least, they are expensive (brakes). There are refurb ones from China at half of the price. I have no experience with those. If you can't do work yourself, you will need somebody with proper tools, I hope a member from Florida can recommend you a good mechanic nearby.

There are aftermarket control arms and bushings. It is relatively inexpensive compared to OEM. The major expense will be labor.

 

1. unsafe to drive as is. only front brakes are operating and at half **** at that..
2. ali units - garbage. they do no refurb, just surface clean and beautify. those are ticking time bombs

 

Do an online search for toyota, Lexus, asian car independent shops. They will likely have the correct computer software to do the job, yes, it takes a computer to do this job. If you let the shop provide the parts, they can warranty the job. If you choose to supply the parts, you'll get no shop warranty. The actuator fail is well known here because it is expensive to replace.

 

What about refurb parts on Ebay?

 

Same issue, go buy the part number we discussed in the other thread from the actual dealer. That way you get a new one and with all updates

 

I am not asking for myself, I am trying to help the OP.

 

You can get lower prices by shopping around and staying away from the dealer, BUT if time is the essence? You’re in a tough spot. You’d have to buy after market control arms online and convince someone to install them. Then you’d have to find a brake actuator used online, and have someone install it, clear codes, etc. They’d have to have the ability to bleed the system. Etc. Imagine most independent shops wouldn’t want to be bothered with any of this^^^. And that’s the problem...your problems occurred BEFORE you had solutions to your problems (as is often the case). So good luck. If you can be without your car for a couple weeks I think you can save yourself 2-3 thousand dollars.

I think your best option might be to let the dealer fix your brakes. And then take your time and get your control arms replaced by an independent for around $1,200 bucks using aftermarket parts.

 

Sounds similar to miket's brake failure. At this point, a new 3rd party actuator or a rebuild service is your only option as far as I know.

 

Yep time for all new parts. It sounds like the actuator failed and now the pump failed. Brake parts alone are $2k. Like others have mentioned I wouldn't bother with reverb or used parts on my personal car.

Pump
https://www.ebay.com/itm/27428201675...Condition=1000

Actuator
https://www.ebay.com/itm/23335706933...temCondition=3


I don't like buying used, expensive, labor intensive parts like this without a 90 day return policy. Back in the day before everything was so inflated I gambled on a used combo unit like this for $800. It worked fine, you never know. This one only has a 30 day return. It would likely get the op back on the road for $1600-1900 including labor if he / she found a reasonable 3rd party shop or independent mechanic. With labor costing over $500 it is quite a gamble.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/27487003173...on=1000%7C3000

 

Nowadays the Lexus control arms are not as expensive and I would go with those before the aftermarket ones because I have heard the fail often.