I have a 2007 Camry with 163k miles. I took it to the dealer to have the pistons replaced under warranty for the issue of oil consumption. They recomended that the valve seals be replaced at $950 out of my pocket and that it was not related to the oil consumption issue. Has anyone out there had this happen?

 

My guess is the dealer is trying to make a few extra dollars off a warranty repair.

It is always a good idea to replace the seals if the engine is going to be rebuilt, the issue becomes what price is reasonable. Does the engine exhaust smoke at cold engine start which could be a sign of worn seals?

The issue is the $960 appears high given to repair the engine oil consumption problem requires removing the cylinder head which requires removing the camshafts to get to the head bolts. With these parts removed, access to the seals just requires removing the valve spring retainer, springs and seal.

I can get a complete valve job for around $350. This includes taking the valve spring retainers and springs off, grinding the valves, cleaning the head and replacing the seals and other parts. The dealer is charging you $950 to do less work then a valve job. Yes, dealers charge more for parts and labor but their starting at the same spot a shop would start in regrinding the valves and replacing the seals. This being a head that is off the cylinder.

Suggest calling another dealer and find out what they would charge to replace the valve stem seals on this engine (don' t mention the other dealer). All you want is to replace the valve stem seals. This quote will include labor to take the head off/on which in your case should be done under warranty. Compare this to the $950.

The call their parts department and find the price for the intake and exhaust seals (the could be different). This may be quoted on a per seal price.

Suppose then the retail price of the seals is $10 each times 24 seals = $240. This leaves $720 for replacing the seals.

It might cost them 1 hours labor at say $150 and $120 for parts (their costs and just a guess). They make $680 off a warranty job that is Toyota fault to begin with.

As to what to do about it. Find out the costs of times listed previously. The consider if paying $960 is a reasonable price. If not talk to the dealer to try to get the price knocked downed or skip the job.

On the flip side you may be lucky to have the dealer actually perform the warranty repair. Some dealers skew the oil consumption test so the cars oil consumption is stated to be "normal." They don't want to repair the engine because they either don't make enough money under a warranty job, or they can make money more allocating a mechanics time and stall space to retail customers who pay top dollar for repairs.

 

I'm kind of surprised that they are doing warranty work on your car with 163k miles. I thought the cut off was 150k. Maybe I'm wrong.

 

It's a 2-stage extended warranty.

Primary coverage extends to 10/31/16 regardless of miles.

Secondary coverage extends 10 years from date of first use or 150K miles whichever comes first.

 

Thanks for clearing that up for me, Joey.