Alright so I've had 4 great years with my 4Runner and I still love the truck but need a bigger rig to pull my boat. The boat is about 6,500 pounds plus a 1,500 pound trailer so the 4runner isnt quit beefy enough.

Anyway I have a guy that wants to buy it but also wanted to have Toyota of Seattle check it out and make sure there weren't any problems. I wasnt worried because the truck is running great and I never noticed anything.

I got there to pick it up and they say it needs the 90,000 mile service to change the timing belt and some other stuff. Thats $1,417 plus tax. (I already called a non-dealer toyota repair shop and was quoted $1,025) That one I expected.

What I didn't expect was the news that there is an leak in the exhaust manifold and its $3,050 plus tax to fix! The other repair shop wouldn't give me a quote without seeing it first but I'm sure it would be less than the dealer too.

I guess my question is, has anyone else had this exhaust manifold leak problem? How much did you pay to have it fixed? How much does it even need to be fixed? Any advice on how to handle this with the prospective buyer?

Its a 2006 limited with the V8, 94,000 miles. The truck has a daystar 2.5/1.5 lift, spider traxx wheel spacers, BFG AT KO tires that are nearly new, weather tech floormats, and a Kenwood 8120 deck,bluetooth, DVD, navigation, etc
We agreed to a price of $23,500 but now I'm sure he's going to want a discount because of these issues. I think that was a good price until these issues came up.

Any advice or input would be appreciated.

Thanks

Not that this helps you, but I think that's a relatively common problem. One of the only non-maintenance things done to my V8, was that the exhaust manifold had to be replaced due to a leak/crack at around 50k miles. Luckily for the original owner of my T4R, it happened under warranty. I just noticed the paperwork about it and was surprised.

Thats what I gather thru further research. Seems as though the 90k service runs about $1,000 after calling 3 Japanese auto places. The exhaust manifold is gonna depend on how bad it is but one place said $1,400 max.

if its a manifold leak I would just have a shop weld it closed. unless the manifold is cracked really bad. I think they are taking you to the cleaners.

also with the timing belt. what all are they replacing for that price?

ThAt's exactly what i was going to ask.

I have a dealership about 2 blocks from me, but unfortunatly they are pricey as hell. For $1400 they would put a new water pump on in the timing belt change service.

Call around to some dealerships and have them bid on it. Be sure to talk to the service mgr and also go to the dealer service website. Theres usually a 10% off a major service (30k, 60k, 90k, etc) in their "service specials" site.