Christmas came early for me this year!

[vlafrank]

Ever since I bought my 2007 Sport model in 2012, I've had a bit of a diff whine, and it's been growing louder recently, so I finally bit the bullet and coughed up the $118 the local dealer(s) wanted to do the requisite inspections. Sure enough, they found damage in the rear diff. All the bearings checked out OK, and the front diff and transfer case bearings and gears turned out OK. At 92,500 miles now, they much prefer to replace the rear diff with a brand new (not rebuilt) one. While truck was up on the lift, the techs discovered the left front wheel had a frozen caliper on it. For reasons of safety and (especially) liability, they again much prefer to replace a caliper with a brand new one, rather than install a rebuilt one or try to repair the original one. Long story short, new rear positraction diff: $2,500 installed. New caliper: $600 installed, for a total nut of $3,100. Yeow! So, you might reasonably ask, where does Christmas come in?

One of the few smart things I did after buying the 4Runner was to buy an expensive, bumper-to-bumper, Toyota "Platinum' extended warranty at an outrageous, usurious price from the dealer. Truth to tell, wife made me do it. Bottom line: every penny of both repairs is 100% covered! In addition, while truck is in the shop, (2-3 days) 100% of the rental fee for a Toyota rental car is also included. I just drive the truck to the dealership on Monday and drive hone in a new Toyota rent-a-car, and reverse the process when the truck's ready. Not too shabby! :blah::

Thank you, Lord; Thank You, Santa Clause; Thank You, wife! Whew! :frog:

For the record, everything else on that truck is original. Engine, Transmission, transfer case, front diff, water pump, fuel pump, radiator, suspension (X-REAS), steering gear, bushings, and so on, right down to the belts and hoses. :wow2:

Considering that I'm the truck's third owner, and that I've driven it to CA and back at absolutely obscene speeds, and took it up over 5,000 feet above sea level off road in the San Gabriel mountains............well, what more could a dude ask for? I'm hooked for life.

Interestingly, service writers at two different Toyota dealerships in CA and MT told me to keep it and NOT trade it in on a 5th generation model. Make of that what you will, but I was impressed and thankful, though I may weaken when the TRD Pro package shows up. Groan.......... Never have learned to leave well enough alone, nor to follow the advice of experts, which I'm certainly not.

Last but not least, since I'm having the repairs done at that self-same Toyota dealership that did the inspection, they've waived the $118 inspection fee! Toyota, the gift that keeps on giving!!!!

 

[vlafrank]

Here comes more of the same!

A month or so ago, I pulled the interior "latch" inside the cab to open my
fuel filler door, and heard a "ping." The filler door dutifully popped open and I refueled w/o incident. Replaced the cap, only to discover that fuller door would not lock closed. Rats!

Went to local Toyota dealership today (Friday after NY's day and had them look at it, after they shook me down for a $75 "inspection fee." Christ!

Sure enough, cable had snapped. OK, fine. Cost to replace cable? Parts
and labor? Total: $475 !!!! For a frickin' cable !!! Reminded them of my
Platinum Toyota extended warranty, so they made a couple of phone calls and sure enough, the warranty covers every penny of the repair, including my $75 inspection fee. Thank you, Lord! But can you believe $475 to replace a filler door cable? I can't !!! Must be too old, I guess. Thought I'd seen everything.
WRONG!!

Of course they didn't have the part in stock to there will be a 3-to-5-day wait,
but that's OK, really.

Between this repair and the prior repairs (new rear posi diff and new left front caliper), I've now recouped my entire purchase price of the "Platinum" Toyota extended warranty, and am actually ahead a few bucks. It's still in force
until the end of April. Gee whiz, I wonder what surprises May will bring?!?
I shudder to think. Prices for parts and labor are absolutely confiscatory.
In the past twenty days I've spent $3,500 in net, after-tax dollars on my 2007 4Runner. Granted, I'm the 3rd owner, and the rig has 92,500 miles on it, more than a few of them off road, but still, that's a stuped amount of money to have to pay for damned near anything. Scary.