Timing cover gasket leaking oil
 

I was just informed that my Timing cover gasket has a leak on my 2008 ES350 91000 it does not appear to be leaking much, but the dealership mechanic says it is difficult to fix. What issues am I looking at in the short term?

My timing cover has a small leak as well. I take my cars to an independent Lexus specialist shop and they say that most of them leak a little bit and rarely need to be repaired. Keep an eye on it, if it's just seeping don't worry about it.

Don't fix it. As you observed, it is almost impossible to see the leak unless you are a Toyota/Lexus mechanic and know where to look. You will never leak more than enough to make things a little dirty, never enough to create any problems. It is a very slow, tiny leak. They have to unbolt all the motor mounts and lift the motor up a bit to change the gasket. Thus a huge labor bill of a few thousand dollars!. Many Toyota/Lexus models with the same engine have this issue.
When it is time to sell get the car detailed, including the engine bay to hide any evidence of a leak that could be seen on inspection.

I had a pretty bad leak, the oil would go all over the power steering pump.

I then realized that the dealer replaced the VVT-i hose bit not the washer and the oil was coming from there.
I replaced the washer and no more leaks.

Yeah don’t hide that stuff from a future buyer...

I want to say that some have reduced or stopped the leaking by switching to a different viscosity oil. Maybe someone can chime in here on it.

Ours is more of a seepage, than a leak. A thick bead runs down the passenger side of the block and drips onto the PS pump, then splits down over the CV shaft or a corner of the oil pan. Oil has never dropped to the ground and, over 8K miles, have never had to top off. I used to have to clean it off every oil change. However, somewhere around 120K, I change oil to 10/30 weight. That significantly reduced the seepage to having to clean it off the block every 2-3 oil changes.

That’s the problem I had. It’s not the cover gasket. It’s VVT-i hose washer.