anthonyiez

do mean ball joint or wheel bearing?

not in my shop...you get what you need.

now that is a wrong statement. How is that? He takes his car in because it is making a funny noise, and is told he needs calipers, rotors, and pads. Well, which part is making the noise? All of them? I don't think so. As a mechanic, I will explain which parts need replacing, and why. Those that don't need replacing, get re-installed. This is why Midas and all of the other franchise places can offer a "fixed estimate". They simply replace everything, and that's why there are no surprises. However it is rather expensive.... i'm saying that by painting all mechanics that give you a list of what you car needs, as a "rip off artist" is wrong. some cars just need a lot of repairs. yes, you have to take the time and explain everything (if they want to listen, some don't). i had a ford exploxer in yesterday that needed all 4 front ball joints and 2 front tires. now am i a "ripoff" artist because the vehicle had 4 bad ball joints and it wore the 2 front tires out? my response wasn't in direct relation to the above mentioned car. it was an attempt not to let my choice of profession be painted in such a general manner.

you could buy a battery buddy...google it, they work good.

now that is a wrong statement.

has to be a 4-wheel. i can't imagine anyone just aligning the front wheels of a car that has 4-wheel alignment capabilities.

toyota pads, shims and a fix kit. parts should run you about $85

cool... i'm all for people experimenting on their own cars.

search here or clublexus.com and you'll easily find the answer.

yes finding a good machinist these days is tough, at least around here. i know one, that is very good, but because of that he's running about 60 days behind on engines and that's for common vehicles.

i would say, at that mileage, that the caliper slide pins are probably hanging up.

see, my problem is i'm in business to fix customers' cars the first time, nobody is going to pay me to experiment :whistles: while this might be possible, i've never tried it, it would cost someone more, in labor, then to replace it. also when it does finally break, and it will, they will be back here complaining that they just paid me to "fix" it. i guess my paradigm is just different. B)

try like hell to find a low mileage used one. i wouldn't trust anyone to rebuild it back to lexus tolerances.

w/o reading the entire thread... i have been seeing premature tire wear on all hybrid vehicles. while i don't have an answer for you, i can say that i'm not surprised.

search is awesome... change the caliper clips that the pads slide on. also make sure the rotors aren't grooved real bad causing the pads to "caught" on the rotor when changing directions.

i'm with al. sounds like its hydrolocked, although i've never seen this on a toyota product, its pretty common on some gm v6's. now the key is to find out how the coolant got into the crankcase. intake is most likely for that amount of coolant.

my best guess is the rf stab bar bushing is bad. more than likely u might have a p/s pump leaking a bit on the bushing. this is what typically kills that bushing.

u need to order the regulator

wow, $1k in labor for what is about a 5-6hr job. now that's a deal.

i'm not familiar with ny's inspection process, but in pa all suspension items need to be checked as part of the yearly inspection. for a garage to miss something as important as a ball joint is unreal imo.

do you have annual vehicle state inspections in ny? if so this should of been caught long before it got bad enough to break. if you do have a state mandated inspection program, i'd go back to the last place that inspected it and ask them about it.

bend over

$5K...i wish that's all mine cost <_<

for the time its going to take to replace them, do yourself a favor and don't cheap out on the parts.

search... caliper clips or as toyota calls it, a fix kit.