At 66,000 miles I was told I needed a new control arm on my 2003 Camry. 3000 miles earlier I had my front brakes replaced and 2 new tires and was not aware there was a problem. While replacing the control arm they said a part (a bolt I believe) had been so loose it and had shifted to the point of practically falling out. They said the labor intensive job (which cost $1100 including an alignment) was absolutely necessary and without it being done, my car would not have passed inspection. Was I a sucker, or does this seem like a legitimate repair.
Thanks,
Lauren
I don’t know if you’ve managed to provide all of the exact details here based on your post but if this repair consisted of nothing more than a lower control arm (with ball joint), then the repair sounds way overpriced.
The part should be a couple of hundred dollars and labor should not be more than an hour or so at most.
It’s not a difficult job unless there is something additional going on or if both control arms are involved, etc.
If you post the itemized bill you may get more information than you wish.