hmkim

My wife had an oil change for her 2006 ES330 at a Lexus dealership this morning. The dealership says the front suspension lower control arm bushing are torn and wants $1,800 to fix the problem. I just test-drove the car and didn't feel anything abnormal during the drive.

My questions are:
1. How critical are the torn bushings for safety?
2. Does $1,800 sound right?

Thanks.

surgeon0

Torn bushings are bad so your turn roll must be bad. Notice any bad lag of car weight during stops? If they are completely ripped it is a safety issue.

Did not check oem prices but aftermarket are less than 100 and its an easy diy. So far I replaced bushings in all our cars, which takes time. Assembly is about 15-30 mins per side. 1800? You an get several new big oem suspension parts and installed for that price.

Ask if they were planning to replace LCAs, struts, and something else for that price. Just curious.

jaredmac11

$1800 is way too high. I was quoted at $300 for 1 side at my mechanic. Granted, a dealer is always going to be more. They also let me provide my own control arm (dont believe you can replace just the bushing on this job)

Instead, I did the job myself. I was able to replace both control arms on my car in about 4-5 hours of time for $160 in parts.


I would call another reputable mechanic shop and consider having them do it. You will be happy to save $1000 or more.

tomf

I believe on later model ES's the engine and transmission must be removed to replace the control arms. See this thread
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/es-...placement.html

Fixed link.

jaredmac11

Good catch, I worked on my 1997 which is much different

surgeon0

Yeah good catch. Fixed link.
clublexus.com/forums/es-1st-to-4th-gen-1990-2006/611120-lower-control-arm-and-ball-joint-replacement.html

808mcv20l

Holy Crap, dumbest design ever! another reason to love the 97-01 models even more. Gotta say they are one of the easier cars to fix once you know your way around them and Toyota has used these engines to so many different vehicles, only Chassis differences like the 02-06 which is insane.

OP good luck on that repair

jaredmac11

I cannot believe that.

Absolutely wild that you have to do all that work for a control arm!! I've replaced control arms on 3 vehicles and they are no problem at all, generally.

Sorry OP. Call around to a few shops. Person in that thread did his for $1300, which is a steal considering all that work. I'd consider replacing anything else that can be done while doing all that work....