Liftgate Struts

[Morbius]

My wife brought our 2008 RX350 in for service, I asked her to have the dealer look at the rear hatch (lift gate) as it was closing on its own. Where does the dealer get off by charging $540 to change out the two struts that support the door?

I can and will purchase the parts for under $50 and do the job myself. When my wife asked the dealer why is it so expensive, the dealer replied that the aftermarket struts do not last long. Well neither did the OEM struts.

Update. Our RX350 was 9K out of warranty but the dealership replaced the struts under warranty. I did have to call the dealership's customer satisfaction line and tell them I was not happy with cost of the parts for the job. They should have done this from the start, but in the end I did not have to pay for the work or parts.