I was wondering if anyone in the forum had experienced a broken tie rod on their ES300? I have a 98 and was exiting the freeway, when I went to turn left I heard and felt a snap, I briefly lost control of the car. I was able to crawl (10 MPH) to a Pep Boys a couple of block away, they were going to close in about twenty minutes but the mechanic outside did confirm the tie rod was broken. HE also mentioned that the rack and pinion was probably bad though he didnt put the car on the lift or anything.

I am not overly concerned about the expense of the tie rod replacement but I do fear the rack and pinion job. Has anyone experienced that?