Replace boot or not?

Just leaving alone and ride it on out into the sunset No worries it'll take a long time for any dust and debris and all this kind of nonsense to take place and go on and get rubbed in and create damages and all of that The car will probably be dead before this sets in any kind of well. Driven cars and conditions similar for years with no problems really other than what the car already had

 

Depending on the areas you normally drive and the road debris you encounter, that axle can last 3 months or years if you stay on clean dry pavement. It'll start grinding and popping, at that point it NEEDS to be replaced and I believe axles are less than $200. If there's sand and dirt already in there, it's like closing the screen door after all the flies has already entered the room. Just to be clear, I don't reboot axles, I replace them when needed. The chances of contaminants already being mixed in with the grease are very high - see previous sentence.

hope this helps....

 

i would sell it if you don't need it, it's only going to get more expensive

 

Do not deal with a dealer on any repairs that are not under warranty. You could find a way better deal to replace a rack and pinion boot. Around $300 would be fair to me, that's including the alignment. Find a decent independent mechanic, $1600 is crazy talk.

I wouldn't worry about the rough starts until it's more than just every so often, but the possibility of a future head gasket leak should loom over some of your decisions. I also wouldn't worry about the battery just based on the level readings on the dash.

I would get aftermarket parts for the under carriage stuff and ask a mechanic to put them on if you don't feel comfortable doing it. You can generally find that stuff super cheap (rock auto (look under 'engine cover') or amazon). If you do that at the same time as the rack and pinion boot a decent mechanic probably wouldn't even charge much extra (you might want to look into providing the proper clips as well though). This is something even a competent friend with a jack could do and you could be out the door for less than $80.