Massive Dealer Repairs List 90k Miles

Took my '17 Tacoma in for "blue" service which included oil, filters, trans service, ect. And they detected a number of issues adding up to over $12k worth of repairs "required".

They "found" a bunch of "leaks" based on the following:

• Shocks/Suspension
  
  • Fan clutch due to leaking - $465.68
    
    
  • Front Sway bar end links - leaking - $493.03
    
    
  • Upper control arm ball joint leaking - $1490.38
    
    
  • Tie rod end needs replaced due to leaking - $359.56
    
    
  • Steering rack - needs replaced due to leaking - $3355.41
    
• Timing cover gasket - $4652.04
  
  
• 4 wheel alignment - $129
  
  
• Grand total for what they "found" - over $12k

For what its worth I live in Arizona, so I know its hot and dry and that can cause seals and boots to dry out, but come on this truck is a baby to me still, and I wasn't expecting to have so much service required this soon.

 

Yep… these are all mostly common issues

 

Welp guess the guys over in the 'warranties are useless thread' may be eating some crow with this one (the time you want to have a ESP warranty).

 

I'm sure they'd find a way to say it was because OP was wheeling too hard or something. Toyota hates when off road trucks are used.. off.. road.

 

I'd never expected to get an extended warranty on a Toyota, but it seems this truck has much more America in it than Japan as far as quality and reliability goes.

 

That is totally true, some of this can be 'blamed' on normal 'wear and tear' and denied coverage. I'd assume timing cover would absolutely be covered though.

 

They wouldn't pay anyway

 

But those prices . . . crazy. Sway bar end links are $20 and probably take less than an hour to replace. Same with tie rod ends. Other work is a bit more involved, but those prices are BS.

 

OEM Toyota sway bar link are like $110 a side for the parts
UCA ball joint aren't sold by Toyota but you can get aftermarket replacements (or change entire UCA- about $600 a side for the oem UCA)
OEM Toyota tie rod ends are like $60 a side
3rd gen steering racks are crap, at $3355 quoted price, swap in a Tundra rack and be done with it
Alignment is a must after all that work

as for the timing cover leak....tough call

 

ball joints, tie rods ends, sway bar links are all pretty normal wear items depending what kind of wheeling was done over those 90k miles

timing cover leak sucks tho

 

Get a second estimate.

 

i have owned quite a few different vehicles from many other manufacturers, all went past 100K miles and some 200K-300K miles before i got rid of them. i realize this is dealer pricing but I never had to make anywhere close to $12K in repairs to any vehicle - wear or tear, warranty, non-warranty, or otherwise. not including tires, fluids, and filters, i think even half of that, $6K in repairs, is entirely too much.

this seems and is ridiculous. if any vehicle that is not abused and is serviced on schedule and requires this extensive of repairs at 100K or even 200K miles, it is a pos.

obviously if you wheel hard, then i could understand costly repairs.

 

Welcome to the forum

Get a second opinion from a reputable independent shop.

 

don't get it repaired at the dealer. go somewhere else. you can get all that done for 4k.

 

This so much, from a non-dealer shop.

those prices seem absurd. I've absolutely trashed my truck in the desert, and it took about $16k in insurance repairs, including replacing the entire transmission and straightening the frame and a whole bunch of other work.

Some of those might be normal wear and tear at that mileage, but even then the prices they're quoting are ridiculous. $1500 to fix the UCAs? you can get quality aftermarket UCAs and install for less than $1000. Or pick up some takeoffs from somebody for cheap/free and install it for a fraction of the price.

 

I went through this with my 99XJ Jeep back around 04-05. It had 90k or so miles and I took it into the dealer for a failed AC compressor. They gave my vehicle a “complimentary inspection” and threw another $4k in Repairs at me to think about. I think I replaced an idler arm and that’s it. They warned me my Jeep would “never pass inspection” with “that leaky exhaust manifold” well, I drove it for another 80k, never failed emissions and never heard an exhaust leak. Moral of the story is I think some dealers cast a big fishing net (repair bill) just to see what we will bite at. I would take it with a grain of salt and have a reputable independent look the vehicle over.

 

How do you figure? All of the items the OP listed are specifically listed as covered under the Toyota/TFS VSA Platinum plan. Well, all except the alignment.

https://www.sc.toyotafinancial.com/web/tfs/pub/contents/vsa/TFS_VSA_Platinum_VSA_eBrochure.pdf

 

Yeah no kidding. Id love to see these "leaks"

 

Because it's a warranty, they aren't designed to pay, just steal money.