I've been told my lower control arms need to be replaced and quoted a price of more than $2300. A quick search online suggests the cost is probably closer to half this. The dealer claims that the cost is because the engine needs to be "dropped" in order to reach the arms. Does anyone have any experience with this repair and/or knowledge as to the cost? I'm in the Austin, Texas area for comparison purposes.

Also, assuming the engine doesn't have to be moved, is this something I can do myself? I'd rate myself as a "medium" when it comes to car repair experience. My most significant DYI auto projects are probably replacing brakes, AC compressors, and a starter. How challenging would replacing the control arms be compared to these projects?

Thanks for the help! I'm a PhD student so every dollar counts!

Ed

 

 

I'm in the same boat as you with my 2003 ES300, yesterday I was quoted $1300 by an independent shop for both front lower control arms because the engine and trans housing have to be moved a few inches up in order to gain access to a couple of bolts. Book work time is almost 9 hours which seems quite outrageous, even my BMW is cheaper on that side.

 

yes its a crazy price for sure
My Cadillac was only like 200 in labor to replace the control arm however the control arm was like 400 lol

 

You are paying to un-bolt the engine & transmission mounts to move it for access to the control arms. I guess there is no shortcut, but a shop that works on a lot of Camry's should be able to do it faster.

 

why does the LCA need to be replaced?
the reason i ask is that if its say Bent in some way and not because the bushings just went bad over age but if it got bent somehow which is possible from hitting pot holes hard enough or bouncing off a curb at a good hard speed you can always file an insurance claim with your insurance
if you have full coverage if its say from bouncing off a curb it will be covered under your collision as a at fault accident damage to only your vehicle no injury.
if it was from hitting a pothole hard enough it would be not at fault accident or not at fault pot hole
and you just have your deductable.

I actually hit a pothole hard enough 6 years ago where it causes the cradle to bend on my Cadillac before i bought the Lexus.

The reason I had to have the LCA on my ES350 replaced years ago was that I hit a curb slid of the highway in Avon CO right into the curb when i got to the bottom of the highway exit ramp slid on ice and cracked the wheel blew out the tire and bend the control arm. i could have had that covered under the insurance but i wasnt going to have a at fualt no injury one car accident on my insurnace file

 

Wow! That sounds like a lot more than I would pay in order to get this sort of thing fixed. Is there anywhere else that you can go, maybe somewhere that knows the brand better and that can help you to figure out a better price? The part goes for a lot of $$$, but it shouldn’t take that much in labor to get the job done the right way.

 

You can jack the tranny without touching motor mounts to get to control arm bolts actually