I'm in the process of trying to sell my 2009 RX (75K miles which is about 1/2 of the average!)

One buyer claims a (not dealer) mechanic said one side of the rack and pinion was leaking and the boot was torn - and that it would cost $1500 to fix!

This seems really high - I'm not going to drop my selling price anywhere near that much. Has anyone has this issue and if so what was the cost to remedy?

Trying to figure out how much BS this buyer is slinging....

 

The boot itself is dirt cheap, not even over $30. But rack must come out for it to be installed and it is an absolute PITA for a DIY'er, I'd assume a shop charging 1-2 hour labor for remove and reinstall.

This generation RX is notorious for leaking racks, if you're going to repair it, might as well fork up the money for a reman rack. I was about $500 in for a reman rack + indy shop install. Lexus quoted me $1200 for OEM parts.

 

thanks lexuswiz; i was just thinking about this same thing and was kinda wondering the answer myself; Yikes though!!! 1200 bucks!!!! how can i tell if mine gets to the point where it might be starting to leak? will the power steering fluid reservoir eventually run dry like when I had my high pressure power steering line go bust on me?

 

Say matts6887, have a reread of his post, yea $1200. at the Lexus dealer vs $500. for a reman one, w/ 1-2 hrs of swapping it out.at your local indy shop. I really believe you could find a reman rack cheaper.....

 

To the OP: this is very common across at least 2004-2009 model years.
I had a reman Maval rack installed at an independent specializing in Toyota and the out the door (rack, tie rod that he had to replace, all-wheel alignment, etc) was right around $1,200. Pricing with the OEM part was right around $1,500.

 

Odds are everyone's rack is leaking at this age/mileage including mine unless the seller finds another one that has had the rack replaced- so good luck for him on that and if he does it will have high mileage anyway most likely.

Yes it's scary to a buyer to see a torn boot so I would get that fixed asap because the buyer will expect the rack replaced too.

Mine has a very slow leak and it took 16 years and 150k miles to show itself thru leaky/torn boot- so I replaced the inner tie rod end with boot and it's holding up all year so I don't think my leak is anywhere near emergency level yet. lol

When it starts tearing boots every year I'll put in a new rack.

 

well yes the shop i use probably does use reman stuff to get the price down i would think but i hope i dont have to get to that point soon as i just recently had my radiator go bust which was a big ticket repair but so far they havent said that i needed to get it done as of yet.

 

You can replace the steering boots without removing rack, just the the rod end. Add some Lucas Stop Leak, and problem solved, $30 total, 2 boots. Mine were both torn and leaking, but 3 years later, no leaks, all good. DIY medium job, removing rod end hardest part. There are YT how tos.

 

thanks for this info there dude! where are these boots at and are they easily accessible?

 

Thanks to everyone! Wow - so many replies!

I was looking around the forum some more and discovered that there is a service bulletin/remedy out there on this from Lexus - TSIB L-SB-0016-14 https://www.tsbsearch.com/Lexus/L-SB-0016-14

I called the dealer and asked how much - $700 parts and labor but the parts have to be ordered (1 day or so usually) So I figure and indie shop might be about $500 for the same. This of course assumes this is my particular issue - but since it's so common, more than likely, right? Now to search for someone that can do the job...but the RX service is essentially Toyota service so maybe it's not hard to find someone.

I think worst case a reman rack maybe - just depends.

 

yea this reminds me to have mine checked the next time i go into my indy shop down the street i use for oil changes to have my oil changed and other work to have it inspected to see if is leaking which i hope mine isnt.

 

i just checked with a local lexus dealer and they told me that bulletin is now expired or something and it was never warranty extended so unfortunately for us folks that need to have it fixed it looks like we will have to bite the bullet on this one.

 

Lol I had to go back and edit my post a little I was helping a another forum member at same time on a cv axle install and got wires crossed half way thru- I replaced my boot and inner tie rod on passenger side with oem- $30 for boot and $90 for tie rod end.

No way would I replace the rack unless it was soaking and tearing boots and I knew i needed it bad- new boot is all I would do and maybe some of that stuff Mesquite77 mentioned.

This is a DIY job for someone with average skills- I did mine without an alignment in my driveway but I carefully measured everything.

 

I didn't expect extended warranty, but am hopeful this remedy will take care of my car vs the complete replacement approach I was told it needed (according to an unknown indie who was likely up-selling or ignorant of any overhaul procedure.)

 

Thank You- I was waiting for someone to do a review on this with good results cuz I thought it was snake oil.

I will be buying a bottle of this Lucas Stop Leak.