Help please - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

jrm8 · 02-21-2005, 04:28 PM

I am a newbie here. I have been reading the posts and seems to be some real knowledge here. My question is about parts for the timing belt area of a 2000 Tacoma V6. It was squeaking a little at first startup in the day. Dealer says they will check it out. Ends up needing some kind of tensioner-idler bearings. He says one part is over $450. He has fixed it but my question is -am I getting the shaft?? I looked at several parts sites and don't see that high dollar part- Total is over $1000. (Nothing covered by extended warranty)
Can one of you guys give me a little advice????
Jerry outa Tenn

nofear4189 · 02-21-2005, 07:17 PM

You sure its not just the serpentine belt squeaking? Id check that out just to make sure that they said it was the timing belt, but it was a pulley in the serp. belts or something. I say this because ive never heard of this happening, but im sure it does. Just to be sure, you know... But if it really was what they said, im sure its costly because they need to tear off the front of the motor and stuff to get to it. Not sure of an avg. price though.

-adam-

jrm8 · 02-22-2005, 07:27 AM

Thanks Adam. I was beginning to wonder if anyone was going to answer. I am a pretty good in the mech. dept but I am a Chev2 guy and not a Toyota guru. The manual shows a timing belt which is sort of a serpintine belt behind the cover. Also has 2 idler pulleys and some kind of a timing belt tensioner . If I go to parts sites these parts are reasonable- the highest being only $112.00. I just can't figure out where this $450.00 part is or is it for" The Shaft " they are giving me. The dealership owner is trying to work with me on this ( He Says) because it is not covered by the extended warranty I purchased from him for $875.00. The warranty co. is listed as bad news in ripoff .com but he says he has no problems out of them. Seems suprised that they have a bad reputation.
I purchased used 65,000 miles in May 2004. I have only put 5,000 miles on it as of Feb 2005. They said the water pump was leaking and it was the only part covered by the warranty. The rest was not covered but I did tell them to go ahead and change the timing belt. It was not bad -just available to change with everything removed.
Once the dealer gets his hands on the truck and removes the timing cover I guess I am at his
disposal to tell me everything is bad and needs to be changed.

Tell me -am I getting the shaft of just stupid about engines and dealerships.

nofear4189 · 02-22-2005, 03:06 PM

Well, in that cse,... it looks to me like you got the shaft. They mark up prices of parts to, -- of course make money, but ive never heard of them going that high. Id check into that well and make sure you hold firm to your fight. And dont go back again for work to that shop.
-Adam-

rosco99 · 02-22-2005, 03:35 PM

It sure sounds like "the shaft" to me. I know that I am fairly new to this site, but I am not new to "shaft" tactics. I have always found that dealers will double if not triple the cost of a part. I think that if you had taken it to a local mechanic, since it wasn't covered under warranty anyway, you would be a lot farther ahead. What you should do is, get several price quotes from the internet, and local garages, and see how far off the dealership was. If they have given you the proverbial shaft, go to the Better Business Bureau in your community, and show them all the quotes and tell them the story. You might not get any legal resolution out of it, but you will get the word out there that they are dishonest. Just my two cents.....

Rosco

bvenvert · 02-22-2005, 04:17 PM

I would say you are getting the shaft. First off, what type of extended warranty did you get with the vehicle? I bought an extended warranty once, on a 2000 Maxima, I had an EGR go bad and a power window motor go bad and both of them were replaced under the warranty, even up to the 100K mile mark.

If I were you I would also get estimates for the repair from some of the competition in the area and call the warranty compnay yourself. If you paid for an extended warranty, then I would go back and read the fine print. Who sold you the extended warranty? Was it the dealership that is telling you that the parts need to be replaced? If they sold you a "piece of crap" warranty, what would make you trust them on the repair?

Just some of my thoughts. If I paid good money for the extended warranty and they would not stand behind it, I would be "all up in thier grill"!

jrm8 · 02-22-2005, 05:42 PM

Well the deal is after taking it to the dealer for a squeaking noise in front part of engine-It was not the drive belts- they tore it apart and found out the
water pump leaking--under warranty
idler bearings -2 of them-upper and lower-not covered
The fan bracket assy bearing-not covered
timing belt tensioner-not covered
Dealer sold me warranty - Items Not Listed in warranty are not covered???
Who can list every part on or in an engine

So if it ain't listed -it ain't covered.
Does it sound like they found a leaky squealing water pump they were not going to make money on so " Find some bad stuff "

In other words SHAFT
I even asked for the bad parts and service manager said sure but they were not in the truck so I called back and he said he would have to ask the guy where they were.

It would be funny if it was not costing me so much

00Yoda · 02-22-2005, 05:54 PM

I know a lot of those extended warranties are for Internally Lubricated parts only....maybe yours was that way.....Also parts from a dealer are usually quite a bit more than aftermarket ones...

jrm8 · 02-23-2005, 06:38 AM

What are the odds of all those parts going bad at the same time?

pcmentor · 02-26-2005, 07:01 AM

Hi I would say it is safe to say you will never hear a timing belt squeal. This is because they have teeth on them preventing lateral movement from pulley to pulley. They are set to each pulley's teeth. I would have them do all covered repairs first then leave and go back a day or so if problem still is there. Pete

nofear4189 · 02-26-2005, 08:58 AM

all those things shouldnt have gone wrong at one time. The thing that made the noise was the fan bearing or something stupid like that, and they charged you for all those other things, and they probably didnt even tear into the motor to change them. ID say you got it good. Report it to the better business bureau, spread the word to everyone you know about that shop, and find a new mechanic.

-Adam-