beworthy3

Hi All. I am the new owner of a 2002 LS 430 UL with 95K miles. The car was my grandparents and they simply did not want it anymore (crazy right) so they gave it to me. They have maintained the car very well over the past 20 years. It has been garage kept in Nevada. (Air suspension was removed in 2022)
1. Is this a car you really only take to the dealer to work on or is it something I can have a non Lexus mechanic work on. I have a trusted mechanic for my other cars. I do some wrenching myself but still need a mechanic for things out of my expertise
2. One of the wheel bearings is making a little noise at highway speed and I was wondering if I should get the OEM part or if there are any good aftermarket solutions when it is time to replace. And if the dealer should work on that or not.
3. Hearing a slight clunking noise from the front suspension at lower speeds going over decent bumps, not 100% sure what that is.

I love this car, always have and knew it would eventually be mine, I can remember being with my grandparents when they were looking at it in the showroom. Rides so luxury and looks great. If there are any other comments that people may want to throw my way from experience from their time of ownership I am all ears.

alextv

I have always worked on mine myself even changing timing belt. As for changing the front wheel bearings it is as easy as taking tire off and same amount of time involved and I bought aftermarket off ebay.

beworthy3

after looking through some threads my assumption that the clunking noise im having is the LCA bushings

lorenr

iTrader: (1)

For a 2002, stay away from the dealer. I bought a 2002 from my neighbor eight years ago, she saved all of the maintenance receipts since the car was new. You would not believe how the Lexus dealer beat her up.
Since then I've changed the oil, filters and repaired a few things.
When I got the car the ML radio was bad. Lexus wanted $3200.00 to repair it. Bought a brand new Lexus radio in the box off of e-bay for $275.00. Took it to Best Buy. They installed it for $90.00. They also got a nice tip.
Keep in mind that many things on a 2002 can be repaired. Look it up on this web sight.

Easy car to work on.
Loren

beworthy3

Good to know. Yeah I have all the maintenance receipts and they were stealing money from my grandparents basically. I gave up on dealerships a few years ago, glad I can continue to stay away

TominPT

If you can't find a local independent mechanic familiar with Toyota products a Toyota dealer is another option (I used one for a timing belt job and price was the same or less than an independent mechanic). Also, I would recommend you use only OEM parts unless it is certain the aftermarket is the same as the OEM part.

weldthedif

I do 100% of my own work, and I am not a Lexus Technician. There is a ton of free information on Youtube and this forum, with the right tools, time you can fix just about anything yourself.

jhubb01

Check out the Car Care nut on youtube. He has ('03 I think) with 600,000 miles on he has restored totally a new car. Also has tons of mechanical knowledge.

erse

Are you in Vegas? If so I can recommend a couple of shops, not Lexus specific guys but solid all around shops. Definitely stay away from the dealers unless you hate having money. That's applicable everywhere but especially important in Vegas

YoshiMan

As far as the wheel bearing goes, a good aftermarket brand in my experience is Timkin. Never have had an issue with them on multiple cars I have had. Rockauto sells them and are one of their official dealers.

JffGRY706

welcome,
I used to have my car serviced at the dealer, expensive oil changes mostly however it always incluced tighting the flange bolts
these things must come loose a lot. might be worth checking.

Freddy12

Congratulations! You have the same year as me,almost identical mileage. I have never been to dealer only my local independent mechanic who really knows his stuff and very honest. I did the hood and trunk struts myself and other things listed below over the last 4 years:
Front wheel bearings
Timing belt,water pump and all related to that ,AISIN kit
Radiator fluid at same time
Valve cover gaskets
Oil and filter synthetic
Cabin and air filter
PCV Valve and Spark plugs
Sway bar Links
Transmission fluid( advice differs on when to do this)
Y-PIPE
Battery
Alternator ( Denso)
All parts OEM
Love the car,best drive ever. Most of this was just wanting to be sure since first original owner was a older gentleman who did not keep records but car was in lovely condition. Timing belt a must unless you have records. Quotes from Lexus dealer were ridiculous!
Enjoy your ride!

beworthy3

The car was in Vegas, that is where my grandparents currently live. They always got it serviced at the Henderson dealership. It is now with me in New Jersey.

Thank you! I have a trusted mechanic and I do a decent amount of wrenching on my other cars, brakes, fluids, and some other things. But ive never given wheel bearings a try, that seems to be the first major thing that needs to be done.

I have driven the car a decent amount in the past week to sort of shake things loose that need to be replaced. My grandparents have not driven the car much the past few years. The car is in excellent condition but I know some things might need to be replaced. I think the LCA bushings might need to be replaced too. Timing belt was replaced around 76k.

Definitely seems like this is one of the best cars ever, rides like a dream and just has a major cool factor. Glad to be apart of the club

lorenr

iTrader: (1)

Lower Control Arm bushings take about an hour. If yours are original they need to be replaced.

If you get the ones from Japan with Toyota part numbers for the RC F & GS F, they are less than $100.00. They are a better, newer design.

Loren

beworthy3

Yup im going to order the ones from the GS, should be able to do that all myself