Think I may have bought a lemon. Need advice

Hi all
I bought a 2006 4runner with 200k miles from a dealer here in Texas. Price was about 6k which is pretty cheap for my neck of the woods. I don’t know much about 4Runners or cars in general. I figured it can’t be that bad, since it’s a 4runner, I’ll take the gamble. The car runs good. It’s a v8 sports edition.

I took it to a mechanic a week after I bought it because it had a whining noise coming from the rear. The mechanic put it on a lift and discovered that the rear differential is making that sound, and he says it will eventually fail. It’s leaking and making a loud wining noise.. He’s quoting like 5-6k to fix it. He also says my rack and pinion is leaking and needs repair. That’s another 3k

Will the rear differential eventually fail if I keep driving it? I don’t think I can afford to fix or replace it. I’m debating if I should keep the car or try to sell it.

 

Your mechanic is waaaay over priced.
Toyota rear differentials are among the easiest to work on and parts are very reasonable.

 

Are you handy enough to pull a rear diff from a junkyard? It is easy enough to check it for damage, and most vehicles at a junkyard are not there because of a diff. I would have a reputable 4WD shop quote rebuilding the rear diff. You should be able to get it done and with a locker for a third of what he wants to fix it.

 

I wouldn’t calm it a lemon, but a high mileage vehicle that needs work.

good luck, find some other opinions/quotes on the work.

 

I had a technician at Valvoline fail to fully tighten the drain plug on my 2019. Diff failed in the middle of nowhere, between Lakeview, OR and Alturas, CA. A 100-mile tow to Klamath Falls, OR to the only mechanic who could fix it. Took a month and cost $7100 to replace. The axle had actually welded itself to the pinion gear! Fortunately, Valvoline recognized their error and picked up the tab, but we were out motel fees due to last minute changes in our vacation! They got a low mileage rear end from a crashed 4Runneror it would have been much higher!

While getting a rental, I mentioned it to another customer. His jaw dropped and he said"$ Runner rear ends and trannies NEVER fail!" Granted, that was a dealer!

I'd look into replacing it with a good salvaged one!!

 

Yeah go to a different mechanic. I mean he's probably correct and the stuff needs replaced. But way overpriced

 

$7,100 for a used rear diff?

 

5-6k is more than it costs to get a reman complete assembly to R&R. That's in the range of adding gears and lockers to both axles with new bearings and seals which would solve your problem. A whine is usually carrier or pinion bearings which means rebuild. Should not be more than 7-8 hours shop time which is like a quarter of that price even at dealer rates.

Though I'd recommend an off road or driveline shop... way too many shops these days just R&R third member assemblies and don't do enough rebuilds to stay proficient.

Also a lemon is a manufacturer defect... you just bought an old vehicle and even the best old vehicles need repairs.

 

Rack and pinion is a common issue. That's a ~$1500 job normally depending on labor rate with a new Toyota rack. (Reman racks tend to be garbage for this design.)

Your mechanic isn't exploring all options for the rear diff (maybe because he has to guarantee his work). Complete rear axles from salvage yards can be found on Car-part.com for a lot less, but of course no warranty.

It's 2WD? I recommend selling it instead of sinking more money into it. Probably why it was cheaper than average in your area to begin with.

 

Yeah. It’s 2WD

 

Sell it, even at a small loss, you'll still be in good shape. Next time, get an independant pre-purchase inspection before buying.

 

Have you checked the rear diff gear oil level? Probably not that simple but if it’s not full, I’d top it off and see what happens.

 

A complete ready to go, all set up brand new OEM Toyota differential is less $2k(used <$1k) and it shouldn’t take more than 3hr of shop time to do the R&R.
If you can find a decent mechanic that knows how to set up gear mesh you can get away far cheaper with just a ring/pinion/bearings fix. Setting the pinion depth is the hardest part, the rest is pretty simple & dirty work. The beauty of the rear Toyota diff is it is essentially a slightly scaled down Ford 9” and the center section/gear mesh/lash can be all set up on the bench, not underneath the truck(yahoo!). Maybe a transmission or machine shop could help?
Edit: check out the driveshaft U-joints as long as the driveshaft needs to be disconnected.
Used one:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/186311771731?itmprp=cksum%3A18631177173149fbc7ca783f4146a3dbdcb257ffa1c4%7Cenc%3AAQAJAAABcLSVkHmTL63bebovD9RfpraPWbY9f4anjbziTIaEIOVXg2DWhVLks3Lfqff9vxxfjIh4XEXusIehlT2iEH8%2BCxXNySMxlDIQJ3g86%2Bx3AAIAq9gznqdGSR72ksP41kjzPN1reUbVsJuld0S4i4qXlQfTmkMeIJTCXTM8mLpr7ju2fMvruDu87ZX%2B4bShOvD%2B4uZNCiLs09oXdNaM72VsPCNaLKxMGXgxdFQraRO5FGQkrY2hyZHdnHQ%2F49nsCFOOSSxiUJjV4Z3kdFjrK7k7HfqyIIBx%2FPKJS0qRrfzI38zwIQbd1jm4xJwG7PXW86rQcdDy2P7D6qF4i6pYJ8T8UcyuEBIHvlCmTpz26Sg1HRlesg0KmKgIRMFRX%2FsaJ1Ct39U%2FPo3GAgcxis0Tio1atWDDUqVGQOMhrLwygzhLNuhW61T1RMKTC0OdarPlziG6BfKcHXTTctXsBMOADS6Ukc6kkwfTy--FXdP2HlbUWb3v%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2332490&itmmeta=01HV7G9G727Q9JXK74F32KBBXY

New one:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/283571364466?var=0

 

2WD 4Runners aren't worth sinking money into, just my opinion.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUv6cyKZdIs&

There's always the banana trick! (Don't actually do this unless you just want to send it)

If anyone's interested, here's the entire saga so far: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCQhb62iYscCGQzHw074prBMhTZjgagnS

 

Agree. I don't even think 2Runners should exist.

Op, if you do keep it, my two cents is this. Take it to a 4WD shop, like everyone else said, to diagnose the rear diff. Their experience with taking the things apart, they can probably just rebuild it for much less than your regular mechanic is charged. As far as the power steering rack leak, power steering fluid is cheap. Park it in the street if you're worried about your driveway.

You might also be able to put some really thick gear oil in your diff and get a bunch of miles out of it before it fails.

Unless you absolutely love the vehicle, want to keep it long-term, and have zero interest in going off-road, I would not really put any money into a 2WD.

 

I just had my rack and pinion replaced, the part was $700ish and labor was like no more than $300 because I remember the whole job was less than $1k, I did have that done with other stuff but do remember griping I had to pay like quite a bit for the rack to be replaced, but NO where near what your mechanic is quoting. That’s with an OEM Toyota part non-refurbished.

 

I'll respectfully disagree. For example, here in north Georgia are many, many miles of forest service roads and mild trails where 4WD isn't needed. Same is true elsewhere. I drove a 2WD Xterra for 11 years and had a lot of fun with it, but I will admit I wanted more and knew any future SUV I bought would be 4WD.

Then there are the crazies trying to take Civics up high clearance 4x4 trails and coming out (if they can) looking like somebody took a baseball bat to the lower half of the car.