Makiavelo7

Hello Lexus fellows,

First, let me introduce myself. My name is L and I own a 2004GX with 39k miles. I use this car very little, it is in really good condition. I took it to the shop for maintenance the other day and the mechanic said he considered that the timing belt needed to be replaced. So I requested a quote which I got, the quote listed the following

Timing belt $149
Labor $359

So I called to schedule a day and time to take the car back to the shop. A few days later they called me back to tell me that the original quote was missing some parts and then they sent me this:

TO13568-59095 Timing belt 1 $146.95

IMEC-053CO Single strap replacement $75.00

TO90916-02586 Multi Rib Serpentine Drive Belt 1 $237.92

TO13505-50030 Timing Belt Tensioner Pulley 1 $111.96

TO13503-50011 Timing Belt Idler Pulley 1 $100.69

TO13540-50030 Timing Tensioner Assembly 1 $81.73

140301 TIMING BELT R&R 1 $250.00

Do I really need to replace all this and spend all this money? Thanks for your time and help in advance. I truly need to understand this. I live in Panama and honestly, I do not trust thes places. Btw this is not the dealer, I am dealing with.

​​​​​​​

ALAN553

I would talke it somewhere else. They clearly have never done this before. A timing belt replacement would be in the 800-1200 range including a new water pump as well. The drive belt for 237??? They have to take it off to do the job anyhow and the belt is only 30 bucks?

Makiavelo7

I will be definitely be taking this car to another shop ALAN553. I truly appreciate your reply. Cheers!

470reasons

"TO90916-02586 Multi Rib Serpentine Drive Belt 1 $237.92 " A decent quality DACO Brand belt is $22.50 at AutoZone. Takes less than 15 minutes to install. Just make sure you draw your own diagram of the belt route before removing the old belt.

jbtvt

All that and they didn't even get the water pump, whew! What is "timing belt R&R" anyway? The rest and relaxation they're going to get on vacation with all your money?

First of all, I highly doubt your timing belt needs to be replaced at 39k miles. Agewise it's not a baby anymore but I once replaced what I'm pretty sure was an original timing belt on a 4Runner that was 19 years old and had ~170k miles. That's probably 6000 hours baking in a 180*F engine bay and spinning around a few million times and it was still hanging on by a couple threads. You do have an interference engine though which means that if the belt breaks you will probably damage valves. *Edit - I'm actually not sure if 2004 was an interference engine. VVTi didn't come around on the 2UZ until 05, but I'll leave that for you to research if you want to know for sure.

If you're set on it, I'd recommend using OEM products, and probably just buying a kit on your own and paying someone to install if you can - Toyota, Aisin, Koyo are the names to trust. Mitsuboshi and Nachi have also been used by them in the past I think and I'd trust them.

chiph9

OP - yes you should replace all those when doing the timing belt service. The problem is they're overcharging you.

Should you replace the belt on a seldom-driven 13 year old car? I would say yes - it's not being driven enough to exercise the parts and keep the rubber flexible.

I'm surprised that you aren't going through batteries - if you're not on a trickle charger, the standby drain by the GX's computers will kill the battery within a few weeks (take it way below 50% charge & damage it).

Chip H.

Matsui

When I checked at my Toyota dealer they were selling it for $125. I'm considering aftermarket, but not sure about the quality as compared to OEM. Will keep DACO brand in mind.

jbtvt

Genuine Toyota for $48.66 -
You can get aftermarkets for dirt cheap on Rockauto too if you want to go that route.

chiph9

Amazon has parts pretty cheap, but you have to check for counterfeit when it arrives. They intermingle their stock, so a legit part with the same SKU as one from a counterfeiter will end up in the same bin. And it's luck of the draw as to which you get.

Chip H.

BradTank

You're getting ripped off. Big Time.

Just an example. $237 for a serpentine belt? The part itself is like $25 and has to come off anyway when you do the timing belt.

The shop gave you a teaser rate to get it on their lift. then tried to squeeze you.

I personally wouldn't even touch the timing belt or anything else under the hood if it only has 39k miles.

ALAN553

but the truck may be almost 14 years old, so time takes its toll on belts also...i think lexus recommends 8 or 9 years as the limit on the timing belt?

TJW98LS

iTrader: (1)

This kit is what you want, and Aisin is the OEM Brand Toyota Uses:


You'll need to purchase the serpentine belt separately.

JLee50

Bingo. I have that exact kit in the '07 GX I sold to my dad last year.

Even an OEM serpentine belt is $95.01 list at Lexus. About $60 from a Toyota dealer online.