I own a 2007 Toyota Camry hybrid, 4 cylinder, 187K miles, automatic CVT transmission, serviced every 3K miles by the Toyota dealer since new. It is outside 24/7 in CO weather. Still looks and runs great. We drive it about 9K miles per year, mostly in-town driving.

Dealer said today, for the first time they have noticed, that it needs new CV boots and seals because the boots are leaking grease onto the axles. But not dripping onto the floor, yet. No front end accidents.

I plan to keep the car for as long as possible even though it is one of those that burns a quart of oil ever 1K miles. Two years ago, we replaced the very expensive hybrid battery with an OEM Toyota battery, not a refurbished one.

I don’t plan to do any work on the axles right now because I want to see just how much they are leaking over time.

When the time comes, however, if the 18-year-old OEM CV joints are re-greased properly, is doing a $1500 rebooting advisable given that the car will be just that much older? 

Or, should I get 2 new Toyota axles with new CV joints? Cost is $1500 for the parts, about $600 for labor, for a total of $2100.

The parts rep at the dealer says they sell new axle assemblies mostly to customers who own 4WD vehicles. Most customers with sedans like mine go the less expensive route by rebooting their axles.

I am reluctant to get aftermarket, probably Chinese, parts because these are important drive components that may not have Toyota built-in quality.