Suspension hlelp - 200k miles

[jdlamoreaux]

I just took my 07 yaris sedan with 200k miles for routine maintenance at a garage I just started going to. They do very thorough inspections which I like, but the problem is, they give me all these options and recommendations and I have no idea whether or not I should do them. Today they told me my several parts of my suspension are leaking/wearing down since they are original and could use replacement. They threw out a bunch of terms that don't mean much to me: control arm bushings, struts, shocks, etc, all to the tune of about $2,000 (the car isn't worth much more than that). I held off for now, it sounds like the car won't just fall apart but I do get concerned. I just don't know enough about suspension to make an educated decision. I don't see the value in putting in that much money at this point. I'd like to drive the car as long as possible but spending money that is within reason and will help keep the car running.

[seatech30]

Here's some of the items i've been thinking about changing on my used yaris 2008 sedan,I bought not too long ago. I think one of the owners wrecked it on dirt roads. The stabilizers are easy to check, and I already did these. The shocks were already done by past owner. You can get these on rockauto for much cheaper than retail store. I keep hearing that struts don't need to be changed, but maybe someone else has a different opinion. You could probably do the shocks yourself, just rent/borrow the coil compression tools. Unless you've been wrecking you car on speed bumps or dirt roads, you probably should be fine with just the shocks. Do you hear any noises/creaks when going over speed bumps?


Suspension ARM SUB-ASSY, FRONT SUSPENSION, LOWER RH 48068-59095 48068-59145 1 $233.97 $95.78 $87.79 MEVOTECH CMS86139
Suspension ARM SUB-ASSY, FRONT SUSPENSION, LOWER LH 48069-59095 48069-59135 1 $233.97 $96.78 $87.79 MEVOTECH CMS86138
Suspension LINK ASSEMBLY, FRONT STABILIZER LH/RH 48820-52030 2 2 $80.20 $21.79 MEVOTECH MK80879

[Brighton]

After 200k and/or 12 years, it's to be expected that pretty much everything rubber in the cars chassis is in need of replacement or at least an inspection.
Some of the suspension stuff is easily DIY (struts, sway bar bushings and links) while others shouldn't be done without proper tools/know how (Control arms)

While I suggest paying a professional to replace crucial parts such as ball joints, tie rods and, control arm bushings (since those can cause catastrophic problems if they fail.) Stuff like sway bars and struts can fail and it won't be the end of the world, and in most cases they just cause annoying noises and poor handling characteristics.

If you want a little DIY trick to getting more life out of your car without throwing parts at the car, you can get a tube of polyurethane and fill in all the gaps in the rubber bushings for control arms, sway bar links, engine/trans mounts etc.
THIS IS NOT a permanent solution but as long as you let the stuff fully cure (48 hours +) it will buy you time. If you are going to do this, fill up all the bushings and then lower the car back down so the full vehicle weight is on those components and then don't drive it for a couple days.

[tmontague]

I just took my 07 yaris sedan with 200k miles for routine maintenance at a garage I just started going to. They do very thorough inspections which I like, but the problem is, they give me all these options and recommendations and I have no idea whether or not I should do them. Today they told me my several parts of my suspension are leaking/wearing down since they are original and could use replacement. They threw out a bunch of terms that don't mean much to me: control arm bushings, struts, shocks, etc, all to the tune of about $2,000 (the car isn't worth much more than that). I held off for now, it sounds like the car won't just fall apart but I do get concerned. I just don't know enough about suspension to make an educated decision. I don't see the value in putting in that much money at this point. I'd like to drive the car as long as possible but spending money that is within reason and will help keep the car running.

You need to figure out what the car is worth to you. The insurance pay out only matters if your vehicle gets totalled, it should not dictate how you decide if normal wear items should be replaced or not.

Easiest solution: fix all of this yourself, you could essentially have all new suspension on your car for around $500. If this isn't a realistic option for you then you are stuck paying a shop to do it. $2k seems a bit steep to me, may be worth shopping around.

When those control arms bushing go they accelerate the wear of your tires pretty bad and leave your car pretty unstable. That is something that I would say is very important if they are actually cracked and it just suffering from surface cracks in the rubber - at your mileage, chances are they are toast.

You can probably wait out on struts until you notice your car wallowing, rolling and bouncing when going over bumps. However you will save some in alignment and labor by doing it all at once. Endlinks can be worn and are virtually no risk to you if they fail. They are just noisy as heck and a nuisance.

Run the numbers yourself or trust me when I say it is almost always cheaper to replace wearable items then to buy a new car. Even more so when you have a reliable car like a yaris (assuming you have taken care of it). Cars are not cheap, no matter how reliable they are, sooner or later you will have to pay to keep it running safely if you do not wrench on it yourself.

[ex-x-fire]

I find that of all the cars I work on, Toyotas are up there near the top of cars that don't have suspension & bushing problems. They should show you the loose or worn things.

[tmontague]

I find that of all the cars I work on, Toyotas are up there near the top of cars that don't have suspension & bushing problems. They should show you the loose or worn things.

Agreed that before you spend money it is a good idea to have them show you the bushings. However, on all Toyota's I have owned the rear inner bushing on the lower control arm tears, sakenwoth Subie's, it is an area that sees a lot of movement and it is just a matter of.time

[jdlamoreaux]

Thank you for the useful information! I've never worked on cars and don't have any area or tools to do so. I wish I did, especially if a new suspension DIY is only $500.

Here is what the shop quoted me under "future needs":
Front struts leaking -- $1,112.95 w/ alignment
Front lower control arm bushings & end links torn-- $1,291.36 w/alignment
Rear shocks -- $495.12

So it's actually more like $3,000! Are these repairs pretty much a replacement of the whole suspension? I've never even been quoted repairs this expensive before.

[jdlamoreaux]

My Yaris has *always* been creaky going over speed bumps, never felt like it had great suspension, but I've never had a mechanic tell me anything was wrong with the suspension until now. I just always figured that since it's Toyota's cheapest model, the suspension was just a budget level thing and I never worried about the little creaks here and there.

[tmontague]

Thank you for the useful information! I've never worked on cars and don't have any area or tools to do so. I wish I did, especially if a new suspension DIY is only $500.

Here is what the shop quoted me under "future needs":
Front struts leaking -- $1,112.95 w/ alignment
Front lower control arm bushings & end links torn-- $1,291.36 w/alignment
Rear shocks -- $495.12

So it's actually more like $3,000! Are these repairs pretty much a replacement of the whole suspension? I've never even been quoted repairs this expensive before.

Wow, that seems like an insanely expensive cost for the repairs. They are either expecting your car to be a rust bucket and everything be completely seized which makes no sense, or they are charging complete full book time like a dealer typically does. Hell, that makes a dealers prices sound competitive.

I would get other quotes. Cheapest isn't always the best but in this case this is just grunt work and easy money (especially with the lack of salt in AZ). The rear shocks can be purchased for around $140 for both and should be less than an hour to replace (literally 2 bolts each).

Not sure if they are marking up the costs of parts or what is going on. I wouldn't be surprised if you could find a small shop to do it all for just over a grand.

Your shocks may be leaking but may still ride ok, eventually they will start to fail completely and you will bounce down the road.

[jdlamoreaux]

Thanks. I will focus on getting other quotes. I've been looking on YouTube at the replacement process for these parts, and you're right, it doesn't seem that hard to do with the right tools, so I don't get why they are quoting $3,000.

[tmontague]

Thanks. I will focus on getting other quotes. I've been looking on YouTube at the replacement process for these parts, and you're right, it doesn't seem that hard to do with the right tools, so I don't get why they are quoting $3,000.

They possibly could be quiting oem parts which will be a lot more money and then marking them up above wholesale to charge to you.

OEM is not needed for these parts. KYB excel G shocks/struts, MOOG endlinks or other decent name brand aftermarket will work and and any aftermarket company that sells a control arm with all bushings and ball joints installed in it for cheap will work.

I used the cheapest control arms I could buy years ago when I owned my 1st gen and the rear inner bushings went around 320k km. I scrapped the car at 378k km due to rust and the control arms never showed any signs of wear

[jdlamoreaux]

Thank you for the brand recommendations, I was looking at videos of replacing the struts and end links, they seem pretty straightforward, might be worth me trying it myself!

[myfirstyota]

Get some tools and diy!
You can do the rear shocks without even lifting the car off the ground!
These cars are insanely easy to work on.

[tmontague]

Rear shocks and endlinks you can do yourself for sure with basic tools (assuming you have no rust)

Front struts and control arms are more involved regarding the ball joint and spring

[seatech30]

any aftermarket company that sells a control arm with all bushings and ball joints installed in it for cheap will work.

Thanks for this. I was gonna drop $470 on the toyotapartsdeal ones. Guess I'll go with the MEVOTECHs for $175 instead.

[tmontague]

I have Mevotech's installed on my 2010 Outback and I am very pleased so far. They are not a cheap brand by any means, their suspension parts are pretty solid and have a pretty good reputation.

[zoidberg444]

My Yaris has 180,000 miles/13 years on it and i have noticed some of my suspension components are getting a bit past it. My rear shocks at least 1 of them is starting to leak. The bushes for my trailing arms and lower control arms look like they are on their last legs. In fact the last few months i have been getting this clunk when i brake heavily. So i think one of my bushes might be ripped or have become separated. I was going to use aftermarket parts KYB or Bilstein shocks i think those were something like £40 for the rear and £80 for the front, i was going to use aftermarket control arms £100 each (Blue Print brand) and stabi links. Near as i can tell my track rod ends are still good. For my trailing arm bushes i will probably have to use OEM. I have a feeling those are at least £50-£100 each from Toyota.

I have already had to replace some of my CV boots, i also replaced some of my brake lines including the flexible sections which the rubber had perished on.

Seen as you're in Arizona mate i wonder if your suspension is in as bad a shape as some of ours is. Here in England we get a lot of salt on the roads in winter and everything on my car is pretty rusty. Replacing some of my suspension parts would be a fight to the death because everything is so rusty, some of it might need burning or cutting out. Where as in Arizona i bet you could do the job with hand tools fairly easily.