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My close friend has 60K miles on his 04 Toyota Highlander.  The GPS, which also displays the radio and climate control status, is working intermittently.  This makes it impossible to use the climate control and radio when it goes out on the road.  

A Toyota Dealer diagnosed it for $80, checked all the connections and said he needs a new GPS computer which will cost him $5600.  He did not get the extended warranty, because it was expensive, and the quality is supposed to be great on Toyotas.  

Does anyone have any experience with these GPS units?  The original invoice price for this GPS option was only $2200, but now the car is practically unmarketable.  I've had significant engine repair for less than $5600.

Toyota said that to replace the GPS with a normal radio and climate control would cost even more, because the GPS control is wired into the wiring harnesses, which would require a total vehicle rewiring.

Does anyone have contact with a Toyota GPS engineer?  Seems like they all hide in Japan.