Neofate

iTrader: (1)

Hey guys,

My brother has recently acquired a 1997 ES 300, very clean -- with only 60k original miles.

Of course with this bit of age (which is nothing as we know for these Toyota/Lexus breeds) -- there are some possible suspension wear/problems.

The way he described it to me (and he may post a thread here himself ) -- was that when he is backing up a bit it sounds almost like the squeal of new breaks, -- you know that annoying noise that just exists sometimes but isn't indicative of any real problem.

Well thing is, the car is 13'ish years old, low mileage but over a decade old. He says over bumps you can hear this 'noise' .. and it is relegated to the 'rear' of the vehicle. (Like speed bumps, etc). I'm sure there is more to the description of the problem.

Anyhow,.. he called around, and took it to a local shop.. I think something like NTB (but maybe a more specific suspension shop).

He said the mechanic came out to examine the car after describing what the problem was.. and pushed down on the corners of the car and quickly determined it to be the struts. (I suppose, being that it is relegated to the rear.. the rear struts would be the exact culprit).

He futher said that if it were him he would go a with a 'quick-strut' (I might be misguided on the name of this package) system (and mentioned several brands).

Further the mechanic added that this system would fix the problem, and give the car a 'new' like ride.. much better than the 13year old suspension currently provides.

From what I understand this 'quick strut' system is much less labor intensive, which will obviously save money... it also is designed for the total car -- front and back.

I believe the price quoted was about 900-1000$ for the parts and $300.00 for labor.. so around 1300.00 to have this done.

I come here asking , on his behalf, does this sound like a good option/plan? I know suspension problems can be a pain and expensive to deal with.. The mechanic mentioned this, and we already know it as well -- that sometimes you can take your vehicle in for a noise, or suspension related problem and spend hundreds of dollars (or more) on simply diagnosing the situation.

Does this sound like a reasonable repair/fix for the vehicle? Or is this something you would advise against?

If you advise against this -- what avenue would you recommend he try? The big factor here is (A) The car is clean, runs well,.. etc.. and if this will make it ride better and fix this noise.. great... but (B) -- It is also a 7,000.00 vehicle, which is something you don't want to sink thousands of dollars into regardless. He is willing to spend the 1300.00 if it will do what has been mentioned, but doesn't want to sink money unnecessarily into the vehicle that is relatively cheap.

He sold his recently purchased IS 350 (2010 model) for 28k (lost 2k on it) and bought this for the sole purpose of speeding up paying off credit card and 'ALL' debt. So driving this cheaper vehicle will allow him to be debt free in about 18months.

So maybe that paints the picture better.

I just thought I would post for him to get your input. I have always gotten great help and feedback from this forum regarding my own LS 400, and my first thought was to run this by you guys.

Any and all comments are highly appreciated,

Thanks,

LiCelsior

iTrader: (32)

id say to bring to another mechanic and see what it could be....struts are not that expensive, especially OEM speced KYBs..

RXGS

iTrader: (2)

Could be sway bar bushings, and neofate, have you not been on in a while? hows the ls400, i'm asking because if i remember correctly, you bought it with quite a lot of miles

01LEXPL

iTrader: (10)

if it is a creaking sound, or almost a metal on metal noise than it is the swaybar bushings 90% of the time.

I too ran into this with the same car [2001], and it was the bushings.

One way to confirm is ask him to have a load in the trunk. So tons of groceries.

That is how i noticed, the car drove fine no bad ride quality or anything, but would still make the noise.

However when the trunk had eight in it, the noise would mysteriously go away, once empty again and nothing in the back it would reappear.

then took it to a reliable mechanic and he told me of the common bushings issue on these cars.

In either case if he does get the bushings done, it will run him a whole <100$ with labor. If he gets the 1300$ fix done and the noise is still there, well...

ALarsh

I would advise against doing a full strut redo. I have a 1997 ES300 with 63,000 original miles so we are in the same boat. My struts are perfectly fine, yes 13 years old but the ride is still great. I would check into the bushings.