New Member Needs Ny Mechanic, Advice

rct20 · December 28, 2003

Just joined today (12 years too late). Got some specific issues with Maintenance especially in New York, NY. Need some advice on non-dealer repair options.

1991 LS400 79,000 miles. Garaged in Manhattan (therefore accumulating many nicks and scratches). Facing supposed repairs of up to $3000 for speakers, ball joints, power steering pump, and axle boots according to Manhattan dealership. Would like to evaluate mechanical issues with non-dealer repairshop, and possibly replace speakers myself. Any ideas ?? Is it worth doing any further repairs of this thing or should I just sell? It actually runs as well as ever. I question the dealer's integrity as they once told me to buy a rebuilt transmission claiming "shavings in the pan, and basically shot", while a Aamco did a diagnostic and determined all that was needed was new fluid, and compute scan showed no evidence of any debris in the pan.

What are the risks of continuing to drive with supposed worn ball joints and cracked axle boots?

LEXUSMASTER · May 24, 2004

you can drive for quite awhile with the ball joints, the only down side is if they are bad you may wear your tires quicker since the alignment is not accurate. The subject of axle boots is subject to how cracked they are. If they show signs of dry cracking but not leaking, then it is elective surgery. If they are leaking grease from the cracks you need to replace them before you damage the whole axle which will triple the cost. If you want to replace speakers yourself go to crutchfield.com and they will give you exact fit applications and when they ship them to you they ususally can give you printed directions.

SporK · June 3, 2004

There are some great guys in Brooklyn who know lexus very well. PM me for their location.

Also: Bad ball joints = lose of wheel. Of course it all depends on how bad they are, but if you are driving with worn joints and you hit a semi large pothole, you could be in trouble. As for crutchfield, they're very expensive. You can get speakers installed from a shop for cheaper than a DIY from crutchfield.