Steering rack seeping on a 12 year old car with 60k miles. Selling before it sh*ts the bucket.

This is out first new Toyota, and I was expecting more life before any significant issues arose. The alternator went out at about 90k miles, no biggie. However, the rack and pinion should not need replacement after just 126k miles. The parts are over $950, and the labor is around 4-6 hours, for a total of $1800 at the dealer. We will fix this car and keep it an extra 2 years, now. Also, we will be buying our next car used.