OK, I know this is sketchy but hoping some of you can throw some wisdom out here:

One of my wife's best friends and fishing buddies is a woman who lives in Longmont, CO. She drives a 2005 T4R, 4x4, Sport (I'm jealous of "The SCOOP!"), V6. She bought it new in '05, just turned over 100,000 miles.

On a recent trip out to the Western part of the state, she had the following happen: Went to start and "it starts but idles very roughly, and hesitates when you step on the gas. Then the check engine light comes on with all the ABS lights again. " (From her FB posting.)

She was able to make it back over the mountains and took it to a local dealer near her.

Now she's saying that THEY are telling her that her "timing belt skipped a tooth" and are saying the cost to fix it is over $3300.

Of course, my BS alarm went off when she said "timing belt" because we all know the V6 T4R has a chain.

My questions for the group are:

1. How likely is it that the "timing chain skipped a tooth" at 100k on a vehicle that's not driven that much?

2. Is there likely some other problem, maybe an ECU problem or something, causing these problems? It's an '05 - could it be a head gasket?

and finally,

3. Can someone recommend a good, honest independent Toyota mechanic in the Longmont/Loveland area?

Thanks in advance!

It's the head gasket.

1) possible, but not probable
2) Have whoever do a compression test, I'm guessing HG, if #6 is low...... bingo. (could be any cylinder actually, but #6 historically goes bad if HG goes)
3) Sorry, can't help ya. Try a seasoned Toyota dealer (look for reviews online)

I'm not certain, but I don't think the ABS lights will come on for this. It is the HG you'll have the CEL, VSC, and Trac lights come on. Have her take it to Autozone, and they can pull the code(s) from it. If she has a #6 misfire than as others have stated it's the HG. The other thing that has me concerned it that if the HG is that the coolant will leak into the cylinder while the car if off. On the start up if will idle rough, but that will go away once it's burned off. Usually after 5-10 minutes you should hardly notice it. You're stating this continued even after driving it. Check the coolant, is it low? The engine will also run hotter if this is the case.