My trusty Lexus dealer tells me that the front control arm bushings on my 2014 RX350 are cracked an need to be repaired. He also tells me that the bushings can't be replaced--the entire control arm needs to be replaced, and BOTH left and right control arms have to be replaced. He quoted $2,075 for this work. Any thoughts? Anybody else have experience with this issue?

 

Welcome to CL. I need to advise that your so called trusty Lexus dealer is lying to you and just trying to empty your wallet.

As explained in this prior thread linked below, and the excellent video linked in that thread from the Car Car Nut on youtube (who is a Toyota Master Technician), those minor cracks are normal with age and miles. You can drive for years with those cracks and they will not change.
Unless you feel a problem with the steering etc. However if you do have a steering problem, I suggest you get a second opinion from a reputable local independent repair shop that works on a lot of Toyotas. FYI the mechanical bits of the RX are 90% identical to the Toyota Highlander.
​​​​​​https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rx-...20k-miles.html

 

Thanks for the information and advice.

 

"Trusty" and "Lexus dealership" are unfortunately a contradiction in terms in most cases these days. You are always better off with a well-respected indie shop in your area. Time for you to search for one.

 

Thanks. But I was using the phrase ironically.

 

I recently had mine change on a 2013 ... it wasn't bad but decided I'd get the job done since I was doing some (mostly rear) suspension work on what is now a 10 year old car.

I replaced the both control arms (since the oem bushings alone didn't seem readily available) and trailing arms.

Now I'm hearing little knocks hear and there which presumably might be coming from the cabin.

 

The rear trailing arms bushings usually fail before the front control arms. Mine were knocking a bit. They had some big tears. After replacement with some Mevotech ones from Rock Auto all was quiet again and it handled better.

 

I replaced both control arms with their 2 bushings and ball joint attached at local shop for $900. It stopped many clunks and firmed up the reaction to bumps quite a bit. Sway bar links and bushings cleaned up the rest. Find a private shop and you'll pay much less.