Lexus: Cheaper to Keep 'er

[lncoop]

So, the admiral has a little ES 300. It's a great car and she loves it, but it's a 2000 model with 118k on the O, so it's time to spend a few bucks. It's at the dealer right now (yes, the dealer) getting a tranny flush and fill and new gasket and filter, new valve cover gaskets, new cam shaft seal and timing belt, passenger PDL switch, and a few other oddsies and endies. Total nut is $1200, which I gotta say seems very reasonable to me, especially for one of them fancy 'yotas. So, where's the rub, you ask. The original plan was to replace the strut mounts to eliminate an annoying noise the car makes when going over bumps. My service guy told me replacing the strut mounts should take care of it. However, he called me this morning and said the shop foreman overruled him and said the only way to eliminate the noise was to replace the struts. The difference between the two jobs is roughly a grand (600 vs 1600, rear struts only), but they agreed the best course was struts or nothing. They say the struts themselves are fine, so we're just talking a nuisance issue that doesn't impact safety or ride quality. Before I took the car to the dealer my tire shop had told me they could replace front and rear struts with top of the line Monroes for $1500, which means the Lexus struts are twice as much as the ones he wants to use. I understand OEM parts are higher, especially when it comes to fancy rides, but twice as much? She needs tires any way, so I'm inclined to let my tire man do new tires and new rear struts only. What am I missing? Is there any reason I should pony up double for the Lexus struts? I don't want to waste money, but I want it done right. The admiral loves her little Lexus. Thoughts?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Lexus: Cheaper to Keep 'er

Struts ain't rocket science. Monroes are great struts and will be vastly superior to the old ones she's got now. Let your tire guy do it but shop around first. There are shock/strut sales often like buy 3 get one free type of deals. I had new struts put on an old car of mine once at Sears. They did a great job and I could NOT believe the difference in ride quality. it was like getting a new car. I guess the old ones were in sad sad shape. Good luck. The price you're paying for all the other work sounds pretty fair and not a bad investment in that car I don't think.

 

[PopsRacer]

Re: Lexus: Cheaper to Keep 'er

So, the admiral has a little ES 300. It's a great car and she loves it, but it's a 2000 model with 118k on the O, so it's time to spend a few bucks. It's at the dealer right now (yes, the dealer) getting a tranny flush and fill and new gasket and filter, new valve cover gaskets, new cam shaft seal and timing belt, passenger PDL switch, and a few other oddsies and endies. Total nut is $1200, which I gotta say seems very reasonable to me, especially for one of them fancy 'yotas. So, where's the rub, you ask. The original plan was to replace the strut mounts to eliminate an annoying noise the car makes when going over bumps. My service guy told me replacing the strut mounts should take care of it. However, he called me this morning and said the shop foreman overruled him and said the only way to eliminate the noise was to replace the struts. The difference between the two jobs is roughly a grand (600 vs 1600, rear struts only), but they agreed the best course was struts or nothing. They say the struts themselves are fine, so we're just talking a nuisance issue that doesn't impact safety or ride quality. Before I took the car to the dealer my tire shop had told me they could replace front and rear struts with top of the line Monroes for $1500, which means the Lexus struts are twice as much as the ones he wants to use. I understand OEM parts are higher, especially when it comes to fancy rides, but twice as much? She needs tires any way, so I'm inclined to let my tire man do new tires and new rear struts only. What am I missing? Is there any reason I should pony up double for the Lexus struts? I don't want to waste money, but I want it done right. The admiral loves her little Lexus. Thoughts?

What a joke!!!! That noise likely isn't your struts and if it is, that's way too much $$$.. It could more likely be something like the Spring Isolators, or your Sway Bar Bushings.... If you disconnect the Sway Bar Endlinks and move it around, that will indicate if it's a sway bar issue... Energy Suspension makes some really nice Polyurethane replacements parts like Spring Isolators, Strut Mount Bushings, etc, for great prices and they usually last alot longer than alot of OEM junk...

Monroe are better than alot of OEM parts but Toyota doesn't do bad on the struts themselves, but they don't always do well on the mounts... I had a Supra that I had to keep replacing the Upper Strut Mounts on before Energy Suspension was popular... If it were me, I'd start digging into the Rubber components first if noise is the only problem... A worn out shock can get thumping when it tops out or bottoms out over bumps and you'll hear a thump, that's the only reason that I would replace the struts from noise alone, if it were me.

http://www.energysuspension.com/


FWIW, these are what I'm running now. They are Sway-A-Way Racerunner Offroad Racing shocks and cost me a LOT less than what those jokers are trying to charge you.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Lexus: Cheaper to Keep 'er

Actually, I received the shock mount diagnosis from my tire shop and from Lexus. Two shops independent of each other, same diagnosis, so I'm inclined to believe it. I appreciate the confirmation of my suspicion that there's no reason not to go with non-OEM struts though. I'll be looking at another 1300-1400 with that and tires, but I figure 2500 dollars approximates sales tax and a couple of payments and will give the admiral at least a couple more years in a paid for car that she loves. Tough to see the down side. Thanks for the input guys.

 

[PopsRacer]

Re: Lexus: Cheaper to Keep 'er

If I were you, I'd call down to Park Place Lexus and confirm the parts' prices... They usually seem pretty reasonable and are a whole lot lower priced than the local Lexus stealership here... IMHO, I don't think you should be paying more than $220 per strut


http://www.parkplacetexas.com/parts/Default.aspx?dealershipid=5

 

[jkust]

Re: Lexus: Cheaper to Keep 'er

Ya know my daily driver is a 2000 with 135,000 miles on it. If I had a $2,500 bill, that is maybe the tipping point in my head where I'd think about letting the old girl go. even if it were ware items like yours. Now being yours is a Lexus with only 118k (barely broken by Lexus standards), I think I might just put the $ into it. I actually wouldn't hesitate at all with buying non oem. We've had our 2000 which is a minivan with some expensive systems to replace (but none have failed yet) for probably 7 years now and have spend maybe $1000 on it in repairs and maintainance. When you get a car nearly new, that was nice in its day, that you originally selected because you really liked it, you tend to age right along with it. Most folks I know don't keep their cars more than 3 years. I know if it ever finally dies, it will be hard to get rid of it. One thing I did repair were the sway bar and links. It rusted through and broke and made thumping noises as the broken ends contacted the underside of the car. One shop estimated $1000 and the other charged $200 and the bar only came oem (since the non oem had fittment issues). I think there is a big difference amongst shops for certain repairs. I do avoid the dealers with their high overhead and instead use an actual mom and pop shop who charges about 50% of a dealer.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Lexus: Cheaper to Keep 'er

Actually, considering 5% sales tax and a couple of $400-$450 monthly payments for a comparable newer car, three months max, and probably two, is all that would be required to exceed what I'm shelling out for repairs that I've known she's needed for a long time. Factor in the ridiculously high resale value of the car (they go for much more than they should around here) vs what the dealer would give me for it, the very good condition of the drive train and interior, and the admiral's fervent desire to continue driving it, and spending the $2500 is a no brainer as far as I'm concerned, although I'd much rather be spending it on a toy.

 

[cribber]

Re: Lexus: Cheaper to Keep 'er

Definitely let the tire shop do your strut work. Tire shops specialize in making your car roll properly and struts are part of that equation. I only use the dealer for things that my local guys don't have on hand.

 

[scipper77]

Re: Lexus: Cheaper to Keep 'er

I just did 4 struts over the past few weeks and it's a lot of work compressing the spring and swapping out the parts. For me it waqs worth it a my third vehicle now has 4 new struts and 2 new rear springs for around $350.

What they do sell is something called quick struts. It's the strut, strut mounts and spring allready assembled. This means no messing around with the springs. You just remove the old assembly and put in the new one. They will run you around $200-250 a piece. So for $500 you can have all new springs, struts, and all the mounts if you do the job yourself.

 

[PopsRacer]

Re: Lexus: Cheaper to Keep 'er

I just did 4 struts over the past few weeks and it's a lot of work compressing the spring and swapping out the parts. .

Shops around here usually only charge like $30 to compress the springs and move the over onto the new struts for you.. To me it's worth not having to hassle with the hand crank ones...

 

[bassman284]

Re: Lexus: Cheaper to Keep 'er

lncoop, I would call it a near nobrainer. 118k is basically no miles at all on that car, wife loves it, $2500 pretty much makes it new. Life is good.

I have a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee with ~188,000 on the clock. I bought it in 1999 with 62,000 on it. Consumer Reports savaged this model for reliabilty. Actually, CS has savaged ALL Jeeps for reliability. Since 99, I've put about $1900 in repairs other than routine maintenance. It's never stranded me on the road. Stranded me at home once about 8 years ago when the water pump puked.

My last payment was in 2003. I have been kind of thinking about replacing it for the last 4 years but I really like it and I am not that enthusiastic about the potential replacements. What to do?

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Lexus: Cheaper to Keep 'er

On my Lexus GS300 I had a bad strut that was making noise. I replaced them myself and used KYB which are very close to the same ride as OEM.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Lexus: Cheaper to Keep 'er

Yesterday I talked to a mechanic I used back in the day before I had trucks under warranty. He said if it does need struts, and he's not prepared to say it does until he looks at it, he'll outfit the entire car with Monroe Quick Struts for $900. Whatever it needs I'm going to let him do it because I really like him and would love to give him some work. He was always good to me when I used him, and even though I haven't in a long time he still insists on looking over trucks before I buy them and won't take a penny for it. I do always put a case of good brews in the cab.

 

[tswiczko]

Re: Lexus: Cheaper to Keep 'er

You could use it as a back-up tow vehicle

 

[PopsRacer]

Re: Lexus: Cheaper to Keep 'er

..., he'll outfit the entire car with Monroe Quick Struts for $900. ....

That's more like it.... You could get those struts shipped to your house for $465.75 total and pay him to install them, but the price would likely come out close to the same as he's charging for the whole kit-n-kaboodle, so that's when you know you're getting a good deal IMHO.


http://www.amazon.com/Monroe-271679-Quick-Strut-Complete-Assembly/dp/B0012WYIVM

 

[jkust]

Re: Lexus: Cheaper to Keep 'er

lncoop, I would call it a near nobrainer. 118k is basically no miles at all on that car, wife loves it, $2500 pretty much makes it new. Life is good.

I have a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee with ~188,000 on the clock. I bought it in 1999 with 62,000 on it. Consumer Reports savaged this model for reliabilty. Actually, CS has savaged ALL Jeeps for reliability. Since 99, I've put about $1900 in repairs other than routine maintenance. It's never stranded me on the road. Stranded me at home once about 8 years ago when the water pump puked.

My last payment was in 2003. I have been kind of thinking about replacing it for the last 4 years but I really like it and I am not that enthusiastic about the potential replacements. What to do?

I don't get the whole professionally rated reliability thing. I am either the luckiest person ever because literally every car I have owned in the last 10 years has been rated poorly yet required only the most minimal of maintainance, or the pro's are bias. My buddy had a 1999 Jeep GC that had 180,000 on the clock and only a Hummer H2 collision finally killed it but only because it was technically totaled. All my American Cars get hammered year in and year out by the reviewers but I just laugh as I write a check for a $45,000 car that now cost $20,000 two or three years later because of perception.

 

[jtmarten]

Re: Lexus: Cheaper to Keep 'er

I'd opt for a good indy mechanic vs. the tire shop. Cheaper than the dealer and prob more qualified than tire guys. The rear struts may be a pain if you have to remove the entire back seat, etc. to access the upper mount, but swapping the struts themselves is very easy. There should be no reason you can't just swap out the mounts. Labor wise it'll cost the same as installing new struts, so it would only save the cost of the struts.

 

[lncoop]

Re: Lexus: Cheaper to Keep 'er

You could use it as a back-up tow vehicle

I used to have a Duracraft fishing boat in addition to the barge. I wanted to be able to fish and run yo-yos when we went to the lake house, so I kept telling her I was going to have a hitch welded onto the Lexus so she could tow the fishing boat. She didn't think as much of the idea as I did.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Lexus: Cheaper to Keep 'er

Seems kinda expensive to me to buy the whole unit including the spring if the spring is still good. Also, if you keep the same spring you have now, at least you have preserved a similar ride to way you currently have. Who knows how the new spring is going to feel. If you like the ride you have now, I would go with just replacing the struts. Like I said in my previous post, I went with the KYBs which were the recommended strut on a few Lexus forums that I visit. I purchased mine on eBay for around $350 or so for all 4. The job was not hard at all.

Whatever way you go, I recommend immediately getting your wheels realigned(all 4 wheels) after you do this. Its very easy to not mark the adjustment bolts correctly when they get put back together.

 

[scipper77]

Re: Lexus: Cheaper to Keep 'er

The quick strut rout sounds perfect to me. The springs can break due to age/rust etc... If you can get new ones it's a plus even if the old ones are fine. While you have a mechanic in there you might want to look in to replacing things like tie rod ends, sway bar link ends, or maybe even the ball joints. At 118k miles the suspension is getting ready for a refresh anyways. You might just save on labor getting it all done at once.