What was your most expensive repair?

Give as many details as possible. Cause (you, PO, factory, service, etc). Events leading up to malfunction/damage. Cost. Downtime. Hours spent trying to fix. What you learned. How it change the way you approach vehicle maintenance. How it changes your view of Toyota. How it made you question your competence. and so on....

 

my 4runners transmission...it made me buy this truck...

 

I just recently finished chasing down a 65mph shimmy. After overthinking to the nth degree, I wound up dropping about $3600. New Toyota steering rack, hoses,rag joint, lower ball joints, energy rack bushings ( a steal at $25), multiple balance/rotate/align. Glad it’s over.

 

So far with this truck, the steering rack.
No warning or any signs the seals were shot the previous day. Was leaving for work one morning, started the truck and immediately the steering pump was whining terribly. Shut the truck off, looked underneath and saw fluid on the ground under the rack on the passenger side. Thankfully I have a second vehicle just for these kind of situations.

Bought a rack from Detroit Axle, new outer tie rods and energy suspension steering rack bushings. I watched one of Timmy the Toolman's videos on Youtube on how to replace it. Good thing I did cause I didn't have a few tools that he was using. Took me a few hours to get the old one out since it was my first time and the outer tie rod ends were a PITA to break free. Couldn't get the pressure line off the old rack either cause it seized. Ended up disconnecting it from the reservior and got it out that way.
Truck was down for a couple of weeks cause I could only work on it on the weekends and was waiting for a new pressure line to get delivered.
Once the pressure line arrived, installed the new rack and everything. Took me a while, but got it in there and torqued close to spec.

Even though I did everything correctly, even properly "burped" all the air out of the system, about a year later I noticed the fluid in the reservior kept getting low. Which means there's a leak somewhere, but never found it. I just poured some Lucas Oil power steering stop leak in and it has been fine ever since.
If I had to do it again, heaven forbid, I'd spend the extra money on an OEM rack.
Maybe spent close to $300 or more when it was all said and done with parts and taking it to get it aligned.

Getting ready to do the Tundra brake swap which is costing about as much, but it's more of an upgrade than a repair

 

Does the frame replacement on my '02 PreRunner count even though I didn't pay for it? I had it done in 2011. I asked the tech how much they were billing mother Toyota for the work - he said $11,850.

 

Frame replacement, $2,500. Long story, but I had to pony up $2000. This was negotiated with dealer, after they realized that my salvage title vehicle did not qualify for frame replacement, after it was in their shop with bed, cab, engine and tranny pulled. Cluster F***, needless to say. Was still worth it to me!!!

 

My 5VZ engine threw a rod at 55K, just outside the 5-year warranty period. Toyota ruled it a manufacturing defect because they had all the history of oil changes done at their dealership. It occurred when I was accelerating from a stop, and I admit it was a pretty aggressive launch, when I heard the loud bang and some horrible clacking noises. Toyota decided to cover the cost of the new short block but I had to pay for the labor, so it cost $2300 to rebuild. It took them a week, but they covered the free rental car. All in all, I feel like they treated me fairly.




I've also had a nightmare with a different Toyota dealership when the transmission synchros wore out around 150,000 miles. They charged me $2800 to rebuild it and they gave it to a newbie technician who did a shit job. Long story short, it had to be rebuilt again after 1000 miles and I had to pay for new gears. I've blocked out many of the horrific details of that experience, but I'll never forget when they pulled my truck out and handed me the key I looked underneath to inspect their work and the transmission crossmember was completely unbolted on one side. I was furious. The service manager offered me 3 free oil changes...

 

3406 major Engine Rebuild
Turn up the pump and Bigger injectors

Just the parts were $10,000.00 plus 20 years ago.

 

21 years.......$120 S.S.Walker exhaust , $90 O2 sensor.....$5 shifter bushing and a $12 rear axle seal.

Nothing compared to my previous Chevy Silverado money pit.

 

A new head, last week, 3250$

 

Should be good to go for another 250k

 

Divorce

 

Dealer clutch job about 5 years ago, it was $3k+. Not including the botched clutch job I had done right before that by a small 2 man transmission shop. I still don't like to think about what that all cost me in total, gives me a twitch.

 

head gasket and cylinder head ran me just about 3k @ 125k miles, beat @JKO1998 on the deal i got

 

I got my timing belt done too

 

they did my plugs, coolant flush, oil change, front and rear o2 sensors as well. might be neck and neck then

 

Heh…many 1st generation Tacoma’s under 150k don’t require expensive repairs. Some even over that.

 

*looks at 90k odometer*

I've had to make a lot of repairs but a lot of trail mileage will do that to any vehicle