Toyota Repair: Leaking rack and pinion, timing belt, a/c, blow cold, autoparts store


Question
I am the second owner of a 1997 Camry. The previous owner took excellent care of the car. He had it serviced at each scheduled maintenance period etc. I bought it 2 years ago when it had 65,000 miles. It currently has 69,000 miles. I took it to the dealership for my firs scheduled oil change a few months ago and was told that the rack and pinion is leaking, the timing belt needs to be replaced and my a/c doesn't blow cold all of the time. I was quoted nearly $4,000.00 to fix these items. I paid for my oil change and was out of there. I will be taking it to a garage in town for an estimate tomorrow. I don't want to pay $4,000.00 as I paid $5,500.00 when I bought the car 2 years ago. What should I absolutely fix first? Next? I currently work 5 minutes away from my house so I'm not that worried about breaking down now. However, in a couple of months I will be moving about 20 miles away from my job and I would like to have a reliable car to get me to and from work. Any information you can provide is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Answer
Try to have the timing belt replaced assoon as you can, it should be ok to 90,000 miles even though the recommended mileage is 60,000.  Get another opinion from another repair facility about the p/s leak. The a/c may just have to have some freon added which you can do yourself usding an inexpensive kit from an autoparts store or wal-mart.