A used-car buyer's guide to Toyota and Lexus models with the 2GR-FE 3.5 V6 (Camry, Avalon, Highlander, Sienna, RAV4 V6, Lexus ES350 and RX350): water pump, VVT-i oil line, plugs, brakes, with real prices.
Covers: Toyota Camry, Avalon, Highlander, Sienna, RAV4 V6, Venza and Lexus ES350, RX350 and others with the 2GR-FE 3.5 V6.
These are about as safe a used buy as you get, which is why people pay up for them. The 2GR is a tough engine. What it does have is a water pump that eventually leaks or gets noisy, an oil cooler line on earlier engines that's worth checking, and the same brakes and wear items as any heavy car. If those are handled, you're buying a lot of miles of easy ownership.
What to look for
- Water pump: coolant crust or a sweet smell on the passenger side of the engine, or a grinding noise from the belt area.
- On earlier engines: whether the VVT-i oil cooler line has been replaced with the all-metal version. A failure dumps oil fast.
- Brake pads and rotors. These are heavy cars, and a full brake job is a real expense.
- Spark plugs if the car is past 100k and there's no record.
- Valve cover gasket seepage on high-mileage cars.
Problems by mileage
Roughly when owners and shops report each problem. Plenty of cars go longer and some fail sooner, so use this to know what to ask about, not as a schedule.
Sudden oil leak, oil spraying around the engine, low oil pressure light.
Pink or white crust on the front of the engine, slow coolant loss, sweet smell.
Nothing, or a slight misfire if overdue.
Oil seeping at the edges of the valve covers, burning smell.
Full Toyota/Lexus 2GR-FE V6 problem list with what each fix costs →
Repair costs to budget for
Only jobs we have cited owner reports for. If a job isn't here, we don't have enough real prices for it yet.