Himack

To keep you in the loop, I have contacted Lexus customer relations, explained the issue and asked for their thoughts. Watch this space.

Hi Ambermarine and thank you for your reply. I bought that car when it was 1 year old and had done 7000 miles. The previous owner was a retiring accountant and was therefore even less likely than I to have ragged the car. The car was registered in Jersey therefore apart from brief trips to the European mainland and its motorways, it has just been doodling round Jersey roads. I think that I will take your advice Lexmanic and contact Lexus to get their views.

Apologies, I missed the part that the top legal speed anywhere in the Island is only 40 mph.

I will just try again. Firstly, thank you guys for letting me have your thoughts and advice and I can assure you that it is not a wind up. I live in Jersey which is relatively flat and only 45 miles square. The top legal speed anywhere in the Island so I can assure you that the car has not been ragged and I certainly do not rally drive. I use the car for work every day but as you can tell by the mileage for a car that is getting on for 7 years now, that is not a lot. I do know the garage and largely trust them and to be fair they kept the car on the ramp so that I could see for myself that the bushes are knackered. I did take the car to the main dealer last year to have a failed front bulb changed and they quoted me nearly £600. The cost of the part was excessive and they said that to get to the bulb they had to remove the front bumper with the sensors and other bits just to get to it. That is when I went to this other garage and he ordered the part from the main dealer, removed the front wheel and got in through the wheel arch. Total cost with the part £140. So, you can see that I think that they are genuine and in fact his quote for labour on this one is £160 which is 4 hours work, all the cost being for the parts, although I guess that he will have a percentage in there. From what you have said it looks as if I will have to bite the bullet on this one as if the cheaper parts did not last for 2 or 3 years then I would take it as a false economy. So, unless someone comes up with a credible option I think that I am stuck. I would like to thank you again though guys for taking the trouble to reply, I appreciate it greatly and can see myself making good use of this owners club forum. Cheers.

Just sent a long reply which seems to have disappeared.

I have a 2007 LS460 4 door saloon and a new CT200h. I live in Jersey in the Channel Islands and I took my LS460 for a service. It has not yet done 40,000 miles. The garage rang me and said that I needed 4 x top arms and 4 lower arms at a cost of about £2,600. Reading on the forum I checked ebay and can get top arms for £49.99 plus delivery. A massive saving on the parts of about £2,200. My garage had ordered and paid for the parts to a lexus dealer although they have not yet been dispatched. Has anyone knowledge on whether my garage could cancel the order and ask for a refund and has anyone had experience of ordering this type of part from what appears to be a reputable company A to Z Motors. I realise that these parts are probably made in China but if they last even a year or so less and I need to change again it is still a massive saving. Thoughts, advice and comments would be great.