I bought a 2004 Toyota Camry XLE with only 33,000 miles on February 15, 2012 from an elderly man that no longer drives. The owner purchased the car brand new, took excellent car of the car and just drove it around town. All recommended maintenance (given by the Toyota dealer where he purchase it from) was done prior to selling the car to me. He kept the maintenance records neatly in chronological order in a folder which as given to me at the time of purchase.

Anyway, I took the car in for an oil change and the dealership (same place where he bought the car and had the maintenance done) did a 27 point inspection and found nothing that was wrong or needed to be fixed. However, the rep recommended that the timing belt and water pump should be replaced since based on the manual it's due 90,000 or 108 months. According to my calculations, that's 9 years in which my car will be 9 years old October 2012 and he is recommending that I have the service done around this time. He said he had recommeded to the previous owner February 2011 but he didn't have it done. The owner was very meticulous when it came to the maintenance of the car so I'm assuming that he didn't feel the need to to have the service done at that time. If he felt the need, he would have had it done. Due to the low mileage on this car, I feel that I shouldn't rush to have this service done this year and figured I should wait around 60,000 to 70,000 miles. That will even out the time between the recommended mileage and years since the owner didn't really drive the car much. I believe in having a reliable car and do whatever it takes to do so. However, I would like to replace parts after it's been examined and determined that it needs to be replace and not based on a "recommendation" based on a manual. Need some suggestions please.

Thanks!
Purpose4lyfe

 

A complicated question with no firm answers.

The interval change info is most likely from aftermarket belt manufacturers. 90K miles is common for many makes of cars including this one. Some belt manufacturers drop the recommendation for some car models to 60K or 6 years for severe usage.

Belts do fail but seldom before the mileage recommendation change.

Check the owners manual. Toyota typically does not specify any time or mileage period for changing the belt. They often use the phrase "inspect the belt".

The timing belt being hidden by covers there is only so much that can be inspected and if the belt were removed for inspection the labor cost in doing so would lead to installing a new belt. Belts are low cost compared to the labor to replace one.

Belts deteriorate with usage, stress (mom and pop driving as opposed to full throttle after every stop light), an oil seal starts leaking and oil gets on the belt, constant engine compartment heat, etc.

If the car spent most of its time engine off, and the driver was only going to the grocery store then it has not experienced much usage and stress.

Would think you could safely wait 60k miles or more.

Suggest between now and 60K to look around for deals on timing belt replacement costs. The dealer may charge $500 but sometimes they have a coupon special at $199. At the lower price would consider having it done, at the higher price no unless more miles were on the belt. Also check aftermarket shops for lower prices.