At about 92k miles, engine starting whining on and off. High pitched sound, initially only heard outside the cabin. It got louder to intrude into the cabin and became consistent. The intensity correlated with higher rpm. It seemed to have gone away so one weekend, I decided to take it to Las Vegas, a 2.5h drive away. There, the sound got louder, and that's when the electrical mahem started. The lights began to blink on the dash board, then went to full blinky christmas tree, then the head lights went out, then then complete black out to where I later coasted to the side of the road, fortunately at an exit. AAA brought it to a mechanic, and I had to rent a car to get home and retrieve it later. Fortunately, AAA left it at a reputable mechanic, Imperial Auto.

I was informed that it was a failed alternator. They changed that out, the serpentine belt, and battery (fried) was replaced. Looking back, I know recall that there were signs of the alternator failing where we had episodes of the AC not being able to select the air flow output, a difficult problem living in the Arizona desert, where AC air would only be directed to the feet. Now that the alternator is new, no problems with that at all. Interestingly, the whining sound came back, so I had the timing belt, pullies, and water pump replaced. The belt was showing a lot of wear, and the pulleys and water pump were not spinning freely. Noise now gone. I'm amazed that all of this happened before 100k on and otherwise good road vehicle. When I get rid of it, a Toyota will replace it.