Is this common in vehicles?
 

So I go to my local Lexus dealership and have booked an alignment. This dealership gets a five rating from its customers. I do trust them, they do good work but they tend to be pricey in their servicing.

After diagnosis they say they cannot do an alignment because:
1. Left front lower control arm bushing delaminated. To fix costs $993 cdn or about $750 us.
2. Left rear trailing arm bushing delaminated. To fix costs $1428 cdn or about $1000 us.
And an alignment is still to be done after this.

The service advisor gave me this info and I told her I would get a second opinion. She said no problem and then I said "I might trade it in".
This elicited a big smile.

Your thoughts please? 2011 Lexus RX350 base. 80k miles. If I keep it I will likely get it fixed but are these repair quotes reasonable? I could go to my indy shop though and get another quote.

She said the bushings could have been damaged by salt on the road. I expect them to give me even less now as a trade in. Such is life.

Your thoughts are always appreciated.
Have a great Xmas everybody,
Cheers, Guy.

From the prices quoted, my guess the bushings are integral to the control arms.

Best
Les

I would go to you indy shop and see if they pick up the delamination. You could get under the car using ramps and use a pry bar to check bushing movement.

Bushings do wear and tear but not so much at 80k miles on a high quality car.

Rock Auto complete Moog front control arm for 2011 RX350 with ball joint $50 per side.

The indy shop should be $200 for the part and $125 for install - or thereabouts. By no means a factory part but it's time to be practical given the age.

If they are quoting you replacement of the entire parts and not just the bushings, get a quote from an independent. Most likely, there will be aftermarket bushings available. The next trick is to try to figure out which of the bushings made are likely the best, or least worst, as most are made in China now.

Make sure that there is no oil leaking from something else and getting on the bushings, as that's going to cause them to deteriorate. Also, consider that the others may not be far behind.

I'm getting ready to do all the bushings in a 23-year-old Honda, as they've all passed their useful lives. Not fun, or cheap.

the diagnosis is 100% believable and checkable, but likely correct on a heavy car with high mileage and harsh conditions. The charge from a dealer is obviously atrocious and as mentioned above a charge for quick bolt-on of a new part vs a repair of existing (remove and reinsert aftermarket bushing)... Your choices are a) Eat it at the dealer, it's not totally insane in today's world b)Get it fixed elsewhere for possibly less money but maybe not much less with labor at $200 an hour nowadays or...c) try an alignment only shop see if anyone lied (but you risk wasting your time there too, bushings are probably shot) or...d) do trade in (elsewhere) if you are serious...

Sometimes we do not have the time for the cheapest solution.

similarly Wife's Q7 needed new engine mounts (fluid filled and electric connector!!!) dealer wanted $4000, indy did it for $1600. it was twice the hassle and more time and some after repair revisit (steering was no longer centered, needed reprogramming). In that case the $2400 diff made the hassle OK. Other times it is not worth your time and I suspect you are not gonna save a ton here (taking control arms out and taking bushings out and putting aftermarket ones back on, reassembly, labor, meh)

Not a DIY?
Nothing better to do over the holidays?

if you are in a car dealership your getting ripped off.

Your first line is your mistake, avoid the dealer. Have it looked at by an indy shop.

Not every shop runs as efficiently as Super Bob's Garage. :)

On the alignment why did you have it scheduled for one? Tire wear or pulling issue?

I'd have the whole car looked over by a good Indy since you're considering selling it or trading it in. With 80k miles, it's got tons of life left in it, unless rust is an issue.

Exactly!

They saw an old guy in a Lexus and thought "he can afford some repairs. What should we tell him?"

Sounds like a load of sheiße to me. I probably wouldn't go back.

Agree
Yep
LOL
That's a good point. If he took it in for an alignment because it was pulling, and the tires were wearing badly, then that might be a clue that there could be suspension wear. Then the only issue is paying dealer prices which is generally what happens at the dealer.

When my car was CPO, I took it to the dealer and got great service. I took it to the dealer for something once after that, and never went back.

Must be your climate as my 2011 RX 350 with 120K has no issues with the control arm bushings, and if they were bad, I would replace the bushing, not the whole arm. The roads in my county suck. I would have someone else look at the bushings to see if they are bad. Does the steering have slop?

Trade in value at the Lexus dealer in Dallas was $8,500 USD in 2023 when the car had 99K miles. People, private sale, are going to be weary of these motors because of, what I have heard is, piston slap. They knock. They all did from early on. Not an issue to me.

BTW... your cab air filter needs replaced and your tires with 10,000 miles on them need balanced too. ;)

Dealership
Cabin Air Filter Replacement - Parts $150 Labor 100
Tire Balance - $300

Cabin Air filter at FLAPS or Amazon $15, time to replace filter at home with no tools, 10 mins max.
Rebalance tires, yep, when I replace the tires.

Exactly. Neither does OP. At 160-180k miles maybe take a look. Dealership and national chains are thieves. National chains are worse. Goodyear, Firestone, Conrads, etc. will rape your mom and charge you for it.

"Oh, they are delaminating" Are you kidding? I have a 2004 RAV and the control arms bushings are fine with 260k miles. Tired maybe but not "shot" which is the time to replace.

Notice that they are saying both items are on the left side, possibly hit a major pot hole, roads in the spring can be pretty bad, inspect the rims also. Checked by a indy still the best way, once off warranty forget the dealer.