mrag

I just bought my uncle's 1992 ES300 and have been reading and searching here for the last hour, but still need to kind of do the "noobie jump." (my pre apology if I've overlooked the obvious).

A little extraneous background: My last Camry was an '89 LE and it went to Toyota heaven at about 250,000 miles (speedomoter broke at 243,000) but the engine is probably still going (car done in by misc dollars of front end suspension work $$, an a/c that I had to jam a stick under the dash to keep on, a wedged sun roof, some leaking gaskets, etc but I still could get 35mph on a trip and it only ever saw dino oil). I'm very anxious to see what this ES300 yields since it only has 75,000 mile on it today.

Can I just assume I can get most maintenance items from my Toyota dealer-are there certain items where I definitely want Lexus parts and or Lexus service (timing belt maybe, cv joints)?

My immediate problem is the outer passenger boot just cracked. Lexus wants $380 (for the outer boot only), my local mechanic is saying $240 (thinks he can use Toyota and includes inner and outer boot). From past experience I would mainly only use "Toyota" parts (water pump, boots, oil filters, etc-is that sound?) I assume this is not a problem job for an good mechanic.

If I'm way off base here, would you just give me a link to help get me started on this. Many thanks...Al

Pheonix

Same thing. Dude you can buy two new axles & have someone put them on for around $300-400.
http://search.ebay.com/search/search...xle&category0=

New boots would be like... $100. & you don't change the CV joint, that's . When you can buy the entire axle itself for like $20 more. Tell your service people to quit smoking crack.

There are no "Lexus" parts, minus cosmetic, the steering system, trim, and things like the radio.

Find an indy mechanic that's not trying to bend you over & "cuddle".



Yes, mechanically, as long as it's not the steering rack, Camry parts.

mrag

Thank you for your response. And sorry to be dense about this. My 1992 ES300 has 75,000 miles and it would appear the outer passenger boot literally just cracked based on how "clean" everything still is and that Lexus dealer just did a timing belt, etc 1000 miles ago without noting it. My personal experience with my old Camry at least on water pumps and exhaust systems, was only buy Toyota parts and one knowledgeable mechanic (out of my immediate area) said only buy Toyota cv boots as after market versions never last near as long (like maybe 2 years).

That said, I looked at an Ebay link for a :
http://tinyurl.com/c2u2p

and a whole "new" axle with new boots looks to be $65 with shipping (Toyota wants about $40 for THEIR boot kit) . Since the labor cost is the real issue, which one will actually last the longest-I intend to go 250,000 on this car. Are these Ebay sellers legitimate? And should I bite the bullet now and also do the left axle?

I'm not sure, but on my 250,000 mile 89 Camry, I don't believe I ever replaced the cv axle. Again, sorry for these newbie type questions.

Pheonix

Most ebay stuff is. it's the same parts you'd find in an auto-store. AFA longevity of the axles/joints, that's up in the air.
About the only person with a comment would be Sean McElligott. he's split both OEM, and aftermarket CV joints, and snapped an axle half-shaft in half.

He's the horsepower king by a wide margin, but OEM VS Aftermarket doesn't appear to have broken in any less amount of time.


At some point I'll put some ebay axles on mine, I'm sure.

khhoang

the problem with buying items like this on ebay is warranty claims due to defects. you may be SOL if the axle snaps in half after a year or two and you want to hunt down that same seller. most local autopart stores offer lifetime warranty on these reman axles and the prices (after core exchange) is comparable to that ebay price.

Maxx941

iTrader: (1)

If money is your issue buy them off ebay, and install yourself. There no hard at all.
$60-$80 each is a small investment. Even if you replace them once or redo the boot before your 250 mark, your not out much money at all.
If you feel more confident about the Toyota brand, Do what makes you more comfortable and gives you peace of mind. GL.

mrag

20 years ago, I would be spending the weekend with hammer and bar trying to do this job myself. Given what I feel is a very recent tear in the boot, not replacing a cv joint previously in my 250,000 mile 1989 Camry and faith (?) in the quality of Toyota parts, I'm probably going with just replacing the boot.. I like Maxx941's counsel-go with what gives peace of mind. If much higher mileage, I'd probably opt for a remanufactured half shaft from a local, established parts store (with a "lifetime" warranty).