How Should I Talk to My Dealer?

So I've spent a lot of time reading about the gen3 rattle of death, egr cleanings, etc. and it's been helpful to see. I wasn't able to get around to cleaning the EGR valve in my new-to-me 2012, and when I detected a slight metallic rattle at times, I took it in to have it checked out about a month ago.

The tech gave everything a thorough inspection he said and said everything looked good (and I basically went in with an open wallet, bc I want the car sorted). They couldn't replicate the sound and didn't recommend a service, but said based on what I described, there was an old campaign that covered that type of issue and I asked them to do that work for me anyway.

I hadn't driven the car in about 3 days and this morning I had a split second of a harder sputter/rumble, then a smoothing out. No other perceivable issue after that time, later cold start a few hours later was 'normal'.

I really want to avoid replacing the engine if this is one of those signs of an impending death rattle. Am I thinking too much into this or am I perceiving the early stages? If the latter, what should I be asking for when I take it in since they were not able to perceive any issues overall or even replicate the lighter sound that occurred previously?

 

211k miles, bought it at 205k back in January. Been to the dealer twice - they've been pretty good on my sequoia and highlander hybrid, so tried to stay with them, although I have two hybrid specialty shops within about 30 miles that are options too.

On the egr campaign, here's a quote from the receipt "i am not finding anything anything abnormal with vehicle. there is a tsb on this consern T-SB-0027-16 for the egr causing a rattle on cold start witch may be issue but i can't confirm 100% unit confirming noise." They replaced the main part and reprogrammed the ecu.

To be clear, the sound on start yesterday was more substantial than the light tinging I heard previously but very quick. I was thinking of letting it sit until tomorrow to try to recreate tomorrow

 

welp, follow-up here, thing has been running fine so far as I can tell (replaced EGR last month) and I got a little sputter pulling out unto a b-road. Let off gas and tried it again and it felt like going over a rumble strip. Went down to ev and drove to a safe spot and called roadside. Long-story short, head gasket leak in the first cylinder. Dealer, who I generally like, gave an unbelievable quote. Called the two hybrid specialists and looking to get it shipped over to one in the next day or so to see if they can rebuild the gasket. Guy there says the engines are 2-3x more from the junkyard now than they were several months back.

 

So here's my current options (rounded with tax):

• Dealer:
  • Rebuild motor w new components (90%+) - $9,500
    • could be $1-2k less if damage is limited
  • Rebuilt motor swap -$9,500
• Independent
  • Replace gasket - $3,000
    • could be more if it needs to go to machine shop or have additional parts replaced
  • Motor swap (used motor is not rebuilt) - $5,000

Guy at independent said motor costs from the junkyard have skyrocketed the last 6 months, says he hopes he can just rebuild the gasket and just did one that didn't need to be machined. Dealer said new blocks are impossible to get now and the used motors are way up lately as well (quoted $6,500 for rebuilt w 3-year warranty).

 

I'm still weighing options, it all just happened today, so will sleep on it. Talked to the second hybrid specialist, he gave me similar feedback to the first, except he said if he replaces the gasket it will absolutely go to the machinist to be refinished - said what happens often is people do the quick fix, then you're 6 months down the road with the same problem.

Even with the miles, the thing is in pretty great shape overall - new OEM battery last year, everything flushed, and the abs brake-boost work was done on literally the last day it could qualify. Value of just the battery and abs were about what I paid for the thing...

I would like to try to keep it. It seems like there's not a lot of good alternatives right now - moving up to a hybrid suv, they've gone up big in price. A later 3rd-gen would cost me ultimately more than just doing the work (although there's one 10 mins from me that I've been watching this past month - a '15 five). And replacing with a lower-mile early V puts me back in the same boat I assume in a couple years plus whatever I lose dumping it.

If I were to dump it, what do you think I could get for it?

Dealer messaged me to offer 10% off, I think as a courtesy for their miss. Tbh, I'm tempted to bite the bullet if they'll do another 5 or 10% off.

 

I love that idea and have been trying to look on reddit and the other forums to see if anyone in va/nc/sc has done it and does it but haven't found any leads yet