MBH

I own a 2009 ES 350 with 141k miles. I've had it for five years (since 79k). Flawless performance, silky smooth steering, effortless ride. Smooth but competent. In April I accidentally jumped a curb with my front right and blew out the tire. Ever since then the ride has been firm and sometimes a little bouncy. All tires, including the one I bought in April, are 1-2 years old. All match. All in good shape.

The ride now feels like the tires are overinflated. They are not: the door jamb lists 30 psi cold; I usually run them around 33-35 (warm). They have been rotated twice.

Yesterday I had it looked at by my Toyota dealership. The CV boots are split and leaking slightly. The CV axles could stand to be replaced. Another option is to replace all four shocks. All of these issues, I was told, are due to wear and tear/ age/ mileage. Nothing is a safety issue---they should probably be replaced, but no emergency.

About a year ago I noticed a clicking or popping sound in the front end on sharp right turns, especially when backing out of a parking spot. This has gradually become more frequent; as of yesterday it is much more frequent.

Based on these symptoms I figured it was the CV boot/ axles, but again, the Toyota service tech and advisor told me that there isn't one specific thing they could find which would necessarily cause all these issues.

I find it odd that the ride quality would dramatically decrease after I jumped the curb.

Any thoughts? Please assist.

Clutchless

This is very hard to diagnose online, especially since dealer techs have already inspected it and eliminated several obvious possibilities.

Find a good independent Toyota specialist that is highly rated on Yelp or Google and let them inspect your vehicle. Obviously the dealer is not capable of figuring out the problem although they sound more honest than most car dealer service departments in that they did not push you to replace your struts etc.

You could start your search for an independent shop on this database of shops recommended by listeners of the old Car Talk radio show, then cross check the likely shops on Google or Yelp for newer reviews.
https://www.cartalk.com/mechanics-files

MBH

Thanks for your reply!

I just took my car to an independent mechanic here in town. They diagnosed that it needs new struts (all four) and a left front cv axle. Out the door $2500. Is that reasonable?

Clutchless

I responded to your similar post in another thread. It depends what they use and what they are actually doing.