I am looking at purchasing a 3rd gen runner. It has 107K miles and the owner (2nd had it since 95K) does not know if the belt has ever been done. Is there a way to inspect the belt and determine if it has been changed? or should I just figure it hasnt and plan on changing it? I suppose if I got in there and it was an aftermarket brand belt I would know, but is there any other way? Thanks.
Oh, and if I end up doing the belt what else should I do while in there, water pump? etc...

 

I bought an OEM belt and it came with a little sticker to place on the top of the timing belt cover, I wrote in the mileage when I changed it. An aftermarket may or may not have a sticker. But I'd start there. Besides that I'm pretty sure you'd have to take the cover off to inspect it. I will tell you that when I changed my original belt at 115k it still looked practically new, so just by looking at it alone I would have guessed it had been changed before I got to it... but I know that it wasn't. In your case I might assume it hasn't be changed and go from there.

As far as other work to coincide, there are literally dozens of threads on YT. Please use the search function and try "timing belt". Here are a few threads I'm aware of: https://www.yotatech.com/search.php?searchid=3681802


Good luck with your purchase. I've been happy with mine for over 5 years.

 

You can remove the top cover and look at the belt, like you said if it's not a Toyota one then it's been changed. If it is then you won't know, you can't really tell by looking how old the belt is.

You could try taking the VIN# to a dealer and see if they have any records.

The only way to be sure is replace it, whether you do the waterpump is up to you. The pumps aren't all that much and it's only about an extra 1/2 hour labour while you're in there, so it's good insurance.