RedZaw

hello again. New sc430 owner here. I just bought a 2006 SC430 with 37k Miles on it. Wonderfully mai tai ed car by two owners. Had a PPI done at a Lexus dealer before buying. Two recommendations were made. Ball joints have some leakage and it was recommended I replace those soon - and also because Lexus recommends the timing belt be replaced every 9 years / 90k miles - this was also recommended - since the vehicle is 11 years old. Lexus quote on the timing belt was about $1300 / quote on ball joints was about $950. Everything else on vehicle is in great shape - new tires - new rotors - new brakes - etc.

Here are my questions.

1)As hands on daily drivers of this car, what is the opinion about the need to replace the timing belt now with such low mileage? Is it likely the years have degraded it to the point of potential failure in the near future?

2)Ball joints are only showing minor leaking - nothing dropping from car - just build up. Something to tackle asap - or do I push that one off a bit?

3)Dealer service/repairs vs. Indy Shop?
(any recommendations for Los Angeles area on Indy Shops?)

very much appreciate the thoughts and insight - was hoping to have the first couple grand go towards mods - not repairs

tarheel49

The manual I believe says 90,000 miles or 6 years. So yes, I would replace.

Bgw70

1. I would like to tell you to keep going on the timing belt but remember this, if the belt does fail, you will most likely destroy the interference engine...if you can locate a reputable Toyota/Lexus Indy, have him do the work. Also, see if they will let you supply the parts and replace everything...all tensioners, pulleys, water pump, drive belts thermostat etc. then you are good for another 9 yrs or 90k miles.

check out Rockauto.com or Amazon for the Aisin timing belt kit...it's the OEM company.

2. As long as you are happy with the way it handles and it stays aligned, this can wait a little while.

riknchar

I'm in the same boat, RedZaw... I bought a 2006 SC430 last year with 18K miles. The car/engine are like new looking, and the car starts and runs flawlessly. I'm debating on whether to go ahead and have the timing belt changed now, simply due to the age. I'll probably bite the bullet and just do it, for peace of mind.

My last SC430 was a 2002 with 43K miles that hadn't had the timing belt changed. For that one, due to the age (14 years old at the time), I went ahead with the change.

The most economical way to do the timing belt change is to order the OEM timing belt kit via Amazon ( It's only $174 and includes a new water pump, idler bearings, hydraulic tensioner, etc. It's probably a good idea to have the thermostat changed while the work is being done, and that's a cheap Amazon part also ($12). I had my independent shop do the actual labor of changing the parts, and they only charged around $400 for the labor. So my total cost was around $600, vs the $1300 the Lexus dealer would charge for the same job (with the same parts).

While the likelihood the belt will fail is very low, the cost to repair your engine if it does is astronomical, so you may want to do it just to be safe (and $600 isn't as bad as $1300, if you can order your own parts and have a good independent shop do the work).

Good luck!

mandyfig

Plus 1 on the Timing belt replacement. Peace of mind. In my case, I had a high mileage car and when the belt was replaced, it had minor wear and tear. The pump was still solid, the bearings as well. However, the fact that you have a new lease in the timing belt gave me the sign of relief that it is not going to fail in the next 60,000 miles. I put in about 4,000 miles a year. Well worth the investment.

sixonemale

I have an '06 and just last year at about 75,000 miles I had the timing belt, drive belt, pulleys, water pump, thermostat, etc., replaced since it was over the 9 year mark, but under 90,000 miles. The timing belt that they took out looked almost brand new, but I now have peace of mind for the next 9 years. I ended up buying a Lexus OEM timing belt kit on EBay that was actually shipped from a Lexus dealership out of Scottsdale, AZ. They still have kits listed on EBay for about $385 that say Toyota on the boxes. I had a trusted independent shop do the work, but wanted OEM parts only. So yes, since you are over the 9 year mark I would have the timing belt replaced, but make sure the pulleys, water pump, drive belt, thermostat, and proper long life coolant are also changed out.

sippy2

I am in the same boat as well...2006 with 38k...just purchased...my plan is replace the TB and WP within the next year and probably will have a reputable independent shop do it. I am expecting in the $700-900 range. My thoughts are using the Aisin after reading this thread. https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc4...rts-price.html

mandyfig

$600 TO $700 Tops if you get the kit, coolant and outside Toyota labor. 4 hours of work max.

jspringato

At what mileage have these belts actually failed?. I'd like to get 100,000 miles out of it. On the Miata forum I remembered someone posting that California required a 100,000 mile timing belt change interval.

Bgw70

There won't be many here that have experienced a broken timing belt because if it does happen you usually send your car to the salvage yard.

to find an answer to your question, why don't you just use google.

Coleroad

ask my brother in law how important it is to change the timing belt as maintenance. His suv is in the scrapyard now because he didn't. It broke in the driveway right after startup. Some people learn the hard way. Some people learn from others mistakes.

Prasha

How does the warranty (astronomical loss) on parts + labor work if compare $600/$1300 ?

texsexlex

iTrader: (3)

....like Bgw70 said, there isn't anyone on here that has encountered that problem & if I'm correct, I think it's suggested to be changed @ 90,000 miles.....you could probably get many more miles out of it, but why chance it ???

Coleroad

If I recall correctly, I think one person on here had said one tooth on the belt was missing when they changed their belt.

Jabberwock

I recently bought a 2004 with 27 k miles and had the TB changed almost immediately since it was 12 years old. My reasoning is that I'll likely keep the car for about 7-9 years and I will likely drive it about 5k miles per year. So at some point in the future I would have changed the TB while I owned the car, so since its not a budget issue now why not change it immediately and not have to worry about it again for the entire time I am likely to own the car.