Estimated Repair Costs?

I've just purchased a 2003 Tacoma, when it comes to trucks (and car's in general to be honest) I'd say I'm a complete novice... brought it into a shop yesterday to get a basic service & they identified the following as needing immediate attention.

Before they quote me wanted to see if anyone here has any estimates on what is a fair price to pay for the following, it's also worth noting I live in San Francisco, shit here aint cheap

 

Steering rack is going to cost you. Did you have a mechanic check it out before you purchased the vehicle? Only go OEM for the rack. Expect to do it all over again in short order if you don't. You're looking at $550-$600 in a reman OE rack from Toyota just for the part alone. If you feel excessive slop in the steering wheel then they aren't pulling your leg. The other items on that list looks legit as well if that is the original tie rod end. Sometimes they can be rebooted and refilled with grease if the joint is still tight but without seeing it in person, there is no way to tell. A little bit of leakage is ok but that much there tends to be a ripped boot so you're on borrowed time. It's probably the OE joint so it should be replaced already since I'm assuming the truck is high mileage though you didn't indicate so.

 

What do they mean by play? A shop gave me the exact same note after aligning it - the day after I installed a new rack.

Alignment is worth doing if you don’t know when it was last done.

Belt is pretty quick and easy.


Any idea when the lower ball joints weee last replaced?

 

What does rack having play mean? The inner tie rod joints may develop play. The rubber bushings that mount the rack to the frame may develop play. Those are all replaceable. The rack itself (big ticket item) doesn't need replacement unless it's leaking or behaving weird.

The other items are relatively cheap and straightforward. This is a two decade-old vehicle. Expect to spend $1k a year average on maintenance and repairs. It's a Toyota so it isn't on its second engine or third transmission like some competitor models, but wear items will pile up.

 

Another thing to keep in mind. I know someone who recently paid $5k for the stealership to change the valve cover gasket due to an oil leak for a 2001 Corolla. Crazy thing is that the guy accepted the work order and paid it. Boggles my mind and bugs the living crap out of me. But that's the price of ignorance. At least you're doing you're homework.

 

It doesn't sound like you're doing the work yourself. If you were, I recently went through a suspension refresh and it stacked up like so: $891 for OEM LCA's (see below) lower ball joints; steering gear (rack), outer TRE's, sway bar bushings $430; full set of shocks and coilovers (see below) $721.05 with a coupon and free shipping, probably another $100 for various hardware, rack bushings, etc. If you're not doing it yourself, thousands easily. I was quoted $3K for LCA's and ball joints alone. (Enough to make me figure out how to do it myself properly.)

Some items make me wonder about this "quote." First they throw an alignment in there like it's standard, but IME I went to several shops for an alignment and they failed, one claiming shock bushings, another claiming LCA bushings and steering rack. Your quote makes no mention of either of those items, it will be difficult if not impossible to get a good alignment without them in proper order.

Anther they're lising the TRE's as "OK" when the ball joints and rack are showing "play." I find it hard to believe the TRE's aren't worn as well. It's possible, I guess.

Rubber in general on a 20 year old truck: YES on those belts but they tell something else. If your belts are cracking that bad, imagine the condition of other functional rubber in your suspension. Steering rack bushings, control arm bushings, and shock absorber bushings, any one if these can make alignment difficult. My gut instinct (which is also deja vu because I tried to trust a mechanic once and all this sounds familiar) is that they fish you in with some serious items, and make expensive discoveries along the way. Whatchagonnado, tell them to stop work and put it all back together?

Yours, like mine (also '03) is 20 years old and will need some serious attention, but the worst of it is those ball joints. The way you test is to put it on jacks and put a crow bar between the knuckle and LCA, see if there's any movement. If they're indicating play here, you are flirting with disaster. This is the weakest point of a Taco IMO, these ball joints are known to shear at the worst possible moment and take a lot of the surrounding mechanicals with them. Even if there's no play this can happen. If they indicate play, it's only a matter of time before you find out the hard way. The only way you know is a service history, or look up your truck by VIN for a service industry. Otherwise it's safest to say "it's never been done."

In respect to LCA bushings, shocks/coilovers, and steering gear, most shops will opt to replace the entire part rather than sub-part it. Your rack may have bad inner tie rods, and sure they can be replaced, but the thinking is if one part is going bad, other parts are probably not far behind. LCA bushings can be pressed out of the LCA's, but in the context of a shop the labor to do so is likely more than replacing the entire part. The springs in coilovers can be compressed to access changing out the shocks, but replacing it with an assembled unit is less costly. Should you get to this point, whatever you do, don't let them swap out for Monroe Quick Struts.

In any case if you're not doing the work yourself you may as well ask how long is a ball of string. I've done a lot of asking around and still haven't found a mechanic I can trust to put their hands on mine.

 

Thanks for the comments everyone so they quoted me 3k to replace the Belts, Power Steering, tie rod/gear, fuel filter & the alignment.

I have the full history of the truck from the original owner, the truck has 57k miles

 

No way that rack is worn with 57K....No way tell him sorry on that. Tell him to do the rest if you choose but I would go somewhere else. You need to keep that truck away from mechanics. 57K is not even broken in...We all have close to 300K with very little going wrong

 

agreed^^^

IMO rack should be fine

even the inner and outer tie rods should not wear to the point of noticeable play in 57k miles
if boots of outer ties are cracked.....
replace the outer tie rods and get an alignmnt

rack would show leakage from inner seals failing
if no red fluid on ground, rack is fine

 

Weeeeeeeeeell . . . I bought mine with 63K, it has always had a slight drift right. In 2018 an alignment guy told me it needed LCA bushings and a rack. I fought against it hard, changed out LCA's, ball joints, still wouldn't align properly. It wasn't until I changed the rack the drift went away, now let go of the wheel and it just goes where you point it. The OP hasn't shared any steering issues, so I don't know, it could be.

 

I would for sure get a 2nd opinion.

That's not a lot of miles. My truck needs a new steering rack and it has 278,000 miles on it and it's heavy and I beat the crap out of it regularly.

 

I changed my sisters 99 Corolla valve cover gasket in 20 minutes at her apartment, that hurts to hear

 

Maybe the guy misunderstood and it was a head gasket, not a valve cover gasket replacement.

 

I wish it was....

 

^Timing cover is very different from valve cover. Depending on vehicle it's an engine-out job because of some interlocking seams with the oil pan. The 5VZ isn't susceptible because it doesn't have a timing chain.

 

I use that term interchangibly but you're right. I've removed timing covers before to change out timing chains and tensioner guides on other toyotas and I don't see how they can still come up with $5k in shop hours.

Btw, engine stays in the vehicle. It was a 2zz. Don't know which it is in a corolla but I bet it's all similar.

 

In 1993 I found one whom I trusted. Damn fine mechanic, reasonable prices, quick service, excellent work, no BS. However, like all good things, he retired in 2020. Oh well...

 

Funny that I happened upon this thread today.
I just now got back from a shop scheduled today to do my front end alignment (my front tires are wearing on outside edges).
Their mechanic quickly showed me all the 'play' in my steering rack (fluid leaking as the inner seals are shot).
As well the LCA bushings are bad, so we will be postponing the alignment until he can replace the parts that I will buy myself.
The mechanic is a pretty sharp, humble guy and seems trustworthy to do this for me.
I hope I am a good judge having done some of the suspension mods on my 2003.
But at this point in my life I no longer have the time nor the equipment to this work.
So he agreed to replace everything with my supplied parts.

I will have to replace the rack.
Looking at prices for an OEM rack without tie rod ends and they average a bit over $500.
RockAuto sells an Edelmann rack including only the inner tie rod ends for $363.
And I should probably replace the power steering pressure hoses, yes?

Assuming that only the bushings on the LCAs need replacement, I will spend the money and go with Whiteline.

What kind of time do you think a good mechanic will have on this job?

Any other observations?

 

Check out McGeorge Toyota for the steering rack.
It's been awhile and my truck is a 3.4L V6 so might be a different rack but from what I recall it was roughly $475ish including inner tie rods.

Removing the old bushings can be a pain.
The cost of labor might outweigh getting new lower control arms with the factory bushings.
I remember thinking I should have bought new LCA's rather than replace the bushings. To me it was a giant pain in the ass.

 

Otis, I think you're right.
Have you heard of anyone selling OEM or equivalent LCAs with polyurethane bushings in stead of rubber?