How on earth did the bolts shear off?
Holy hell! It’s not like that little KL is blasting through the whoops, how the hell did that happen???
What @WJCO said. Has it been serviced before?
I wonder if the fluid is low too. Looks like it's been leaking. A lot of these little gear boxes are junk once they run low. Tech has to pull tcase to fix bolts. There may be a reason why he wants to put a new one back on. I would have your buddy ask the shop why they want an entire new gear box.
Also if someone has worked on it recently in that area, that might explain the bolt situation.
I wonder if the fluid is low too. Looks like it's been leaking. A lot of these little gear boxes are junk once they run low.
They may have meant "remove & re-install"
^^ "Remove and replace" generally means they need to take it out to complete repairs and reinstall once done.
I’m just giving the guy the benefit of the doubt. It could be I’m wrong and he plans to stiff you for a replacement t-case.