Took my car to Mr. Tire for an alignment as no wait and $75 special - my RX was pulling to the right a bit and it appeared my tires were not wearing evenly - I cheaped out on the alignment when I installed the tires originally. They told me the tie rods were frozen (rusted?) they tried to use a blowtorch but could not move the tie rods. They quoted me $1,050 parts and labor for left and right inner and outer tie rods not including the alignment. Went to Auto Zone - it was $250 for the parts and my local indy installed them for $160. So I was done at $410 instead of $1,050. At least the indy confirmed the old ones needed replacement.

Took it right over to the dealer as it turns out they only charge $99 for an alignment (amazing considering what they charge for other services). And I picked up a 2012 RX 350 loaner. Think it will work out that with the holiday weekend, I will get to tool around in the loaner until Tuesday. As an aside, obviously the 2012 is nicer than my RX that went in service in '98 and has 214k, but no way would I drop $50k on it and it's not like my ride is a horse and buggy in comparison.

 

Glad to hear you were able to save money, and get the job done!

I didn't know they gave a loaner for an alignment. Sweet!! I know where I'm going for an alignment. I just placed an order online for a set of 4 new General Grabber HTS tires for $520 now, and then after rebates they will only be $390.

 

Did you price out the OEM tie-rod-ends?

Salim

 

I didn't Salim, and I probably should have. But after I left Mr. Tire I found out my indy could take me the next day, that Auto Zone had Duralast tie rods in stock, which seemed acceptable and were $40 less than Advanced Auto and that my dealer would only charge me $99 for an alignment and give me a loaner, so I just pulled the trigger and got it all done. My RX is sitting done at the dealer and I have the 2012 until Tuesday. So for now I feel it all worked out great. If there are issues with these tie rods down the line I suppose I won't think it worked out so great...

 

Well my dealer seems to have a pretty low threshold to give out loaners but give it a shot! Nice price on the tires. I bought Goodyear Integrity tires to match my spare and I think it ran me $560.

 

Salim,
OP said it was the INNER & ends, not just the ends. $250. for just the ends would be more than a little excessive, I'd say. I would say the inners are probably more expensive than the ends.

 

Just to be clear, the inner rods were $109 each and the outer were $16 each.

 

Guess I'm too cheap. Got inner tie rod from Ebay for $11.69 including shipping. And free tool loan from Partsource. Will do myself.