What is leaking here?

That’s a dealership that cares!
Keep that number!!!

 

Bingo. I think the gist is that the spot that leaks is where three surfaces meet: timing cover, head, block. It's been going on for as long as the 1GR-FE has been in production. I had the exact same leak on my '09 Tacoma that was fixed under warranty. The 1GR in the Tacoma didn't have dual VVTi, but the block construction is the same. Assuming oil levels aren't allowed to get too low, I don't think it's an issue that's known to cause catastrophic damage. For folks that are out of warranty, just monitoring oil levels frequently is usually good enough as opposed to paying a huge sum to fix the leak.

 

No guarantee it will not happen again. Infact it might even start leaking from other areas after the timing cover leak is rectified due to the invasive nature of the repair.
Get it repaired, sell it and buy another 4 runner.

 

Sell it just because of that?

I was going to talk to the guy and ask how and what are they going to do differently so it does not just happen again.

Sounds like just replacing the gasket it will just happen again.

I wanted to keep it for 20 years or 300k plus miles.

 

I think selling the vehicle because of one little oil leak is ridiculous. Get it fixed, continue to drive it, and just keep a close eye on things. I'll bet if the repair is done correctly, that'll be the end of the issue.

All mechanical stuff eventually breaks.

Remember... the advice from me, and the "sell it" guy is exactly worth what you paid for it!

 

Few things go wrong with a 4runner and a timing leak is one of that. If it was a 10 year old car I would not care but a new car like this, I don't want to deal with a leaking timing cover that was repaired. A repair is no guarantee it will not leak again.
Mine leaks a little I think , but I am over 200k, it's 15 year old and it does not mess with my skid plates. So I don't bother with it.