guyrat7

Hi All,

Time has not yet come to change my drive shafts but I do hear a faint ticking when I take hard turns.

My garage quoted me a reasonable price for aftermarket shafts. They also told me OEM will cost me three times more. I could not speak to a Toyota garage (they have more than enough business and do not return calls i think)

Has anyone replaced shafts with OEM parts? How much of a price variation are we looking at?

(2004 rx330)
Thanks

Lexuswiz

iTrader: (1)

Usually OEM through the dealer has a huge price gap. Looking at your location, it could even be more then in the states. I'm not sure but does eBay and Amazon have their variations in Australia? You can sometimes buy OEM and even through Toyota/Lexus dealers for cheaper then maybe your closet dealer, not all Toyota/Lexus dealers charge the same.

I would recommend OEM for driveshafts unless you can find out who Toyota/Lexus outsourced it too, I have seen a few and had myself one bad experience with no-name aftermarkets on Toyotas.

SkiMe

HUGE difference in price.

Parts ONLY:
Aftermarket shafts for the pair - $178
OEM - $1,200

Lexus dealer was higher by $100 or so more dollars.

I went through this recently and had a defective Aftermarket (Empire) axleshaft. It was manufactured too short (3/4") and created all kinds of problems. Had to tow to Toyota dealer and they installed OEM axleshafts. Empire reimbursed me for the entire repair ($1700).

I will add that others have used Empire Axles with success. This was just my experience......very thankful they paid for the repair.

05RX330AWD

The only benefit of aftermarket drive shafts is that you could replace U-joints individually if needed afterwards with some available on Ebay.
I imagine anything OEM "in the land down under" is pricey as here in Canada.
Used OEM from the Wreckers averages the $500. US price range in North America.

guyrat7

Thanks guys,

its call Land Down Under for a reason. Expensive parts and labour. Hell, the tradesmen seem to earn as much as a surgeon here.
That is a huge difference in price SkiMe. yes I was expecting something like that.

05RX330AWD yes it will be pricey. Wreckers will be pricey too but it will be a used part again so I am not that keen.

Lexuswiz, we have ebay.au but ALL of them are aftermarket. Had a bad experience with an Audi when I bought aftermarket control arms on ebay. Lasted about 4 months.

Well, time to cut down on night outs and save for the shafts.

05RX330AWD

That's the spirit mate, I would need to be cutting day & night outs to save for the shafts in Great White North (Canada).

shikbas

Stick with the oem ASK ME

Lexuswiz

iTrader: (1)

Bummer on the eBay, I was going to mention shipping but that may cost and arm and a leg to get to you.

Also, probably not a bad time to switch to generic beer for OEM shafts ay mate? haha

SkiMe

Here is the difference from OEM vs. Empire. The shafts on the OEM were thicker in diameter.....

And the picture with the tip of the spleens ground off, that was the amount of the shaft that was engaged. Lets just say that engagement lasted for about 10 blocks.....

quantfutur

I know this is an old thread but now in 2022, I have a 2005 RX330 with 234k miles on it, and the drive shaft cracked. About four years ago I had problems with a u-joint but they cannot be replaced (it's all one unit), so a garage that specialized greased it and I got another 70k miles. Now it is in the Toyota dealership, Lexus is delivering the $1300 OEM, two hours labor will be $420 and $148 for rental two days, so feeling fortunate that it will come in under $2k. Wasn't sure about waiting a week for a Gorman after market to be shipped via ground from CA, but sounds like some people on this thread had bad experiences with after market drive shafts. Hope to get the car to 300k. Slight leak in the right steering column. Will wait until it worsens. Had two tie rod ends replaced, other than that just regular maintenance. Had the first generation RX300 and this car has really improved. Will buy 350 or 400 when this one dies.

Margate330

Hi quantfutur, are you saying the dealer is charging you $1,720($1,300 parts + $420 labor) to replace only one CV axle?
I'm guessing this is a front axle?
Wow, that sounds outrageous in my opinion.

quantfutur

Hi Margate330,

They replaced the drive shaft - $1350 for the part (the part had to be delivered from the closest Lexus dealership to my location on Cape, even though all the dealerships get theirs delivered from same location in Boston), $300 for labor and $78 for their rental car (wouldn't give me a loaner). I could have gotten a drive shaft shipped UPS from the South or CA - would have taken a week - and saved $900 on the part. But I needed a car and the rental would have eaten half that money. Also, I have read too many stories of after market drive shafts that were a disaster. The only reasonable choice would have been a used car parts location, wish I had thought of it. Could have purchased, had it brought to a local company that perfects them, all done in a day or two. So I figure I 'wasted' close to a thousand. Oh, well. Just wish local mechanic had noticed the deterioration sooner, when my drive shaft could have been fixed. The following week I had the front right wheel bearing replaced. That was $400, mainly labor. Incredibly I have only had two wheel bearings replaced (right front and rear) in 235k miles.