I recently purchased a 1993 Accord DX with 151k miles. The car was in
very good condition
overall, but two items came to my attention: the muffler (now replaced)
and leaking grease boots
on both front upper ball joints and tie rod ends. The lower ball joints
appear to have been
recently replaced, so they don't concern me at present.

The local Honda dealer says "replace all these, as soon as possible,
because they will soon
seize and break, with CATASTROPHIC consequences!!!", and showed me the
usual graphic
images of death and destruction. Needless to say, I did this on my
previous Accord (a
1993 SE), to the tune of about $900 for all four joints and both rod ends.

The people who sold me the car (an independent garage which specializes
in Hondas)
say "you can replace them if you want, but it's a lot of money for
something which will just
reoccur in a year or so. Just keep 'em greased."

Who's right here? And, why can't I just replace the boots? (I know
Honda doesn't sell them
separately, but aren't there aftermarket replacements?)