Auxillary battery, water pump, and brakes

1. Regarding the 12V battery, if you have access to a battery charger and can keep the battery charged periodically (connecting the charger to run overnight, ideally), and the car starts when you want it to, then no worries.

2. Regarding the engine coolant pump, I suggest you look at the pump pulley for signs of pinkish or whitish coolant stains. Then you can see for yourself how bad the pump bearing is leaking.

3. Regarding the brakes, if the car stops smoothly, does not make any unusual noise, and the brake pedal does not pulsate, then don't worry about it for now.

Unless you note a serious problem when you inspect 2 and 3, you can defer repairs until you obtain new employment. As long as the car starts when you want it to, you can defer 1. Good luck with your job search.

 

I totally concur with Patrick. If there's no coolant on the ground and your coolant reservoir doesn't need regular filling (not to be confused with periodic topping off), and you have no overheating problems, I'd say you're ok for now. Just keep checking for signs of a bigger leak. If it is leaking now like the dealer says, the leak will likely get worse with time.

As for the battery, if you don't have access to a battery charger, get a battery maintainer from Harbor Freight (if you have one nearby). They usually have them on sale for $10 (bought one for my lawn mower). It wont recharge the batt but will maintain a charged batt.

I can't tell you how many times a dealer (from all different car brands) have told me I needed some service that I didn't need. Dealerships are notorious for simply going by a chart (if you have this problem, replace all of this or perform this procedure). I am always very leary of what they tell me and I usually try to avoid them. I like to do all the maintenance myself. You could easily replace the brake rotors yourself and save over $500 and possibly close to $600. New rotors are $37 at Autozone and not hard to replace. Haynes manuals are also available and walk you through all of it step by step with pics. Only basic tools are required. I've never tried to replace a water pump but if I had that problem, I would do it. Don't let yourself get taken advantage of.

 

Keep an eye on your battery. It is at an age where most are past end of life. Similar to you I have had a couple of incidents in my 2006 where I left a door ajar and drained the battery overnight. After the last time that happened my Brake, ABS, VSC, (!) lights were on. The brake pedal didn't seem to have much travel and was very hard at the bottom. Stopping was greatly reduced but I was not far from home so I slowed down and allowed more time to get stopped. I put it on the charger overnight and the braking seemed better but the lights didn't go out. I drove across town and after that the lights did go out when I started it for the return. After sitting out in my work parking lot the next day the lights came back on. I ordered an optima and have been getting by putting it on the charger every night until I can swap it out.