2002 LX 470 - Mechanic Recommendations
- Thread starter Rhythmdoctor
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You're getting taken to the cleaners. But then again, if you can't work on your own vehicle, then expect to pay $$$
- Thread starter
- #23
Definitely. I expect to pay for stuff that actually needs fixing. I just need to know, what on that list is NEEDED. All comments appreciated!!
No one here wants to steer you wrong however Just what is needed versus is it really broken comes into play for us that cant actually see the vehicle. Maybe a second opinion from another shop would be a good idea for your situation
On the oil pan issue, if you've never changed the oil, I would be looking to whoever was changing the oil, esp if done at same place many times, because they should be responsible for the stripped drain plug
On the oil pan issue, if you've never changed the oil, I would be looking to whoever was changing the oil, esp if done at same place many times, because they should be responsible for the stripped drain plug
Take it to somewhere that knows cruisers. AHC shocks rarely need to be replaced. It's the globes that wear out and causes the bumpy ride. If the shop does not know this (per your estimate replacing shocks but not globes) I would question their knowledge on cruisers.
T belt and water pump should be done as well as the fan clutch. (Sure this hasn't been done already? Should have been done at 90k miles you have 160k on yours can wait to 180k if previouslt done)
Live with the small oil leak with the oil pan or install an oil pan 'retread kit' aka heli coil.
$650 for a turn signal? Buy aftermarket or find one in a wrecking yard (hard to find as cruisers usually end up in cruiser only yards, look for them online)
Find a mufflershop to weld the exhaust leak, or put on an aftermarket muffler.
Or, sell your cruiser and get a newer one in better shape. Since you are not a gearhead nor do you want to be, older vehicles especially a cruiser can get very expensive to maintain and repair if you pay someone else to do it.
T belt and water pump should be done as well as the fan clutch. (Sure this hasn't been done already? Should have been done at 90k miles you have 160k on yours can wait to 180k if previouslt done)
Live with the small oil leak with the oil pan or install an oil pan 'retread kit' aka heli coil.
$650 for a turn signal? Buy aftermarket or find one in a wrecking yard (hard to find as cruisers usually end up in cruiser only yards, look for them online)
Find a mufflershop to weld the exhaust leak, or put on an aftermarket muffler.
Or, sell your cruiser and get a newer one in better shape. Since you are not a gearhead nor do you want to be, older vehicles especially a cruiser can get very expensive to maintain and repair if you pay someone else to do it.
If a new oil pan plug doesn't work, you might want to see if they can install an oversized plug. Not a huge fan of them but I installed a piggyback styled one on a Ford Tempo that my girlfriends daugher had and it lasted 5 years and 100K miles until she wrecked the car. Just have to let anyone changing the oil know that only the center bolt comes out. Plug probably cost less the $20.
Agree that the price of the turn signal/fog light assembly it too high. The cheapest fix is to drill a small hole at the bottom of the assembly to let the water drain out. Not ideal solution but it doesn't sound like you will be fording any streams.
Agree that the price of the turn signal/fog light assembly it too high. The cheapest fix is to drill a small hole at the bottom of the assembly to let the water drain out. Not ideal solution but it doesn't sound like you will be fording any streams.
Well from your first post you trust this local Toyota guy more than I think he should be trusted. For instance he is charging you $35 for a $10 cabin air filter and possibly stripped the drain plug on your oil pan. Either that or he is just charging you for work he will not do.
When shops bring up emotional crap like this, time to find a new shop. He is not wrong, but starting out asking if you have kids is clearly emotional manipulation and not an honest mechanic.
Dealerships make money selling new vehicles, they will charge you out the wazoo for basic work and maybe refuse to do the labor-intensive stuff.
You should have at least some cursory knowledge of your vehicle otherwise you will get taken advantage of.
I see no mention of the heater T's. That is very telling of his experience with LX/LC.
If you are UNSURE of your DIY skills, let me assure you that we can help you fix your rig better than most mechanics.
An 8 year old can be taught to change the oil on these rigs!
If you are UNWILLING to try DIY..... just sell your vehicle and buy something cheap with a warranty. You can spend a fortune on mechanics and still not properly address/fix the needed maintenance items.
If you are UNSURE of your DIY skills, let me assure you that we can help you fix your rig better than most mechanics.
An 8 year old can be taught to change the oil on these rigs!
If you are UNWILLING to try DIY..... just sell your vehicle and buy something cheap with a warranty. You can spend a fortune on mechanics and still not properly address/fix the needed maintenance items.
- Thread starter
- #30
I appreciate your input. It's not that I'm UNWILLING, I just don't have time nor experience nor knowledge and at 44, I'm not looking for a new hobby.
For most of you guys, this appears to be a cool hobby but it isn't a hobby for me. Can't I have a nice reliable vehicle too without it being my hobby? 70 hours of work a week, 2 kids, coach my son in 2 sports - time is not my friend. Don't even get me started on my 20 fantasy football leagues and guitar playing. Trust me, I WISH I had a dad who worked on stuff and taught me some useful skills but that wasn't my house growing up. It's something that now, as an adult, I wish I would have had someone to teach me that stuff whether it be fixing things around the house or on the car or whatever.... but it just wasn't the case for me. All that said, I love Toyota/Lexus SUVs, particularly the Land Cruiser and regardless of my inability to work on them myself, it should't preclude me from owning them
- Thread starter
- #31
Thanks for your input. I posted a thread in the Windy City LC member forum, asking for suggestions on a local mechanic. The one reply was that there is no special requirements to work on my LX but he visited this thread and seems to agree that for the most part, I should not worry about the suggestions of my mechanic. Seems like I should do the belt/pump and that's about it.
No worries. I don't see any "safety" items on the list.
Heater T's should be the highest priority. Figure out your drain plug issue. Then possibly the belt/wp.
Then clean/flush your power steering with atf ( this is the litmus test for a qualified Toyota mechanic )
As a side note - a lot of us here choose to DIY because it actually saves us time.
Even just learning how to DIY your own oil change can save huge amounts of time and $$ over the years.
That skill alone will help pay a mechanic for other items you wish not to DIY.
Heater T's should be the highest priority. Figure out your drain plug issue. Then possibly the belt/wp.
Then clean/flush your power steering with atf ( this is the litmus test for a qualified Toyota mechanic )
As a side note - a lot of us here choose to DIY because it actually saves us time.
Even just learning how to DIY your own oil change can save huge amounts of time and $$ over the years.
That skill alone will help pay a mechanic for other items you wish not to DIY.
A couple things..
I agree 100% w/ J1000 re/ the emotional manipulation of the "do you have kids?" question by your wanna-be mechanic. I would have said, "You take care of cars, I'll take care of my kids," then walked out. That's just an obnoxious way to sell a repair.
Not mentioning the heater tees is another dead giveaway of unfamiliarity with the vehicle, although that does not, in and of itself, mean that someone who does not know about the fragile nature of the tees is incapable of doing a lot of the work on this car. The engine itself is should be very familiar to any Toyota-versed mechanic. It's the AHC suspension, in particular, that will have those unfamiliar with it scratching their heads or misdiagnosing.
OK.. now the sort of tough-love part. I'm a jazz musician, and have been professionally since the late 70s. Many, MANY of those years were spent ...ummm... fiscally challenged. Now, I'm good, but it forced me to learn a lot since I've always been a champagne taste/beer budget kind of guy. Back in '98, with a wife and three young sons, I got a screaming deal on a '93 Range Rover County LWB w/ 50K miles on it, a vehicle I had never thought I could own in my wildest dreams but had always lusted after. $15k, bought from a church someone had donated it to. A few months in, and reality set in. I simply did not have the money to pay anyone for the large amount of routine maintenance, much less copious repairs a Rover seems to constantly require, and I lived out in the boonies so finding a good mechanic familiar with the vehicle was difficult to say the least. I squeeked by.. until the air suspension died. No money, bigish family, and it was one of our two cars, and both my wife and I worked. Sooo... no choice. LEARN, and learn I did. Ripped off the air suspension, followed very clear directions from the helpful folks at Rovers North (and there are TONS of analogous Land Cruiser resources... you're reading one now) and installed an OME/Bilstein replacement suspension and kept that car for many years of great family trips.. and lots more .. ahem... "learning opportunities."
I hate to say it, but most of the other guys are right. You can enjoy older wonderful cars if you don't mind spending a lot of money on their upkeep, OR if you're interested in learning a bit of wrenching skills (that are NOT difficult to learn) and spending a bit of time (which, usually, is not any more than you'd waste trying to find folks to repair it properly without ripping you off, dropping the car off to them, getting a loaner/renting a car/arranging rides... sigh..). It will require one or the other. If you don't want to spend long green paying someone, it's time to roll up your sleeves. Seriously, though.. there's no substitute for the feeling of driving something that YOU fixed. The first time I drove the Rover w/ my self-installed suspension, I couldn't stop grinning for a week. Been addicted to that feeling ever since. Honesty requires me to state that wrenching has also provided me with some of the most frustrating experiences in my life.
It's time... or sell it.. or make more money. Definitely find a different mechanic.
I agree 100% w/ J1000 re/ the emotional manipulation of the "do you have kids?" question by your wanna-be mechanic. I would have said, "You take care of cars, I'll take care of my kids," then walked out. That's just an obnoxious way to sell a repair.
Not mentioning the heater tees is another dead giveaway of unfamiliarity with the vehicle, although that does not, in and of itself, mean that someone who does not know about the fragile nature of the tees is incapable of doing a lot of the work on this car. The engine itself is should be very familiar to any Toyota-versed mechanic. It's the AHC suspension, in particular, that will have those unfamiliar with it scratching their heads or misdiagnosing.
OK.. now the sort of tough-love part. I'm a jazz musician, and have been professionally since the late 70s. Many, MANY of those years were spent ...ummm... fiscally challenged. Now, I'm good, but it forced me to learn a lot since I've always been a champagne taste/beer budget kind of guy. Back in '98, with a wife and three young sons, I got a screaming deal on a '93 Range Rover County LWB w/ 50K miles on it, a vehicle I had never thought I could own in my wildest dreams but had always lusted after. $15k, bought from a church someone had donated it to. A few months in, and reality set in. I simply did not have the money to pay anyone for the large amount of routine maintenance, much less copious repairs a Rover seems to constantly require, and I lived out in the boonies so finding a good mechanic familiar with the vehicle was difficult to say the least. I squeeked by.. until the air suspension died. No money, bigish family, and it was one of our two cars, and both my wife and I worked. Sooo... no choice. LEARN, and learn I did. Ripped off the air suspension, followed very clear directions from the helpful folks at Rovers North (and there are TONS of analogous Land Cruiser resources... you're reading one now) and installed an OME/Bilstein replacement suspension and kept that car for many years of great family trips.. and lots more .. ahem... "learning opportunities."
I hate to say it, but most of the other guys are right. You can enjoy older wonderful cars if you don't mind spending a lot of money on their upkeep, OR if you're interested in learning a bit of wrenching skills (that are NOT difficult to learn) and spending a bit of time (which, usually, is not any more than you'd waste trying to find folks to repair it properly without ripping you off, dropping the car off to them, getting a loaner/renting a car/arranging rides... sigh..). It will require one or the other. If you don't want to spend long green paying someone, it's time to roll up your sleeves. Seriously, though.. there's no substitute for the feeling of driving something that YOU fixed. The first time I drove the Rover w/ my self-installed suspension, I couldn't stop grinning for a week. Been addicted to that feeling ever since. Honesty requires me to state that wrenching has also provided me with some of the most frustrating experiences in my life.
It's time... or sell it.. or make more money. Definitely find a different mechanic.
I was too the just pay the mechanic price. My 98 LR Discovery really made me into a mechanic. Thanks to the rover gods I do about 85% of my work in my driveway. Keeping my LX and FJ62 in pretty decent shape. My only advice on help is search in the club and chit chat section. Also on Facebook? Put a add on craigslist. Never know a lot of people are out of work. Dont give up. Take it slow and just prioritize maintenance. Good luck
Most of these guys will probably flame me for this.... but here's my reccomendation....
An inability to work on LC/LX does not preclude you from owning one. All it takes is lots of money, either in paying a mechanic to repair and maintain an older one or paying the monthly note on a newer one. In your posts, you state you do not offroad, it's the family transport, work 70 hour weeks, like toyota/lexus suv.
You don't need a cruiser for it's capabilities. A toyota highlander or lexus RX (As new as you can afford ) will be less costly to maintain and repair.
When your LX was new, it was a $60k+ suv, new ones are $100k. Repairs and maintenance on them will always cost more then a $30k suv. ALWAYS.
Toyota makes a huge line of SUV, choose the size that fits your family needs. You would be surprised how roomy a 2006-2010 RAV4 is. A Highlander is actually just as roomy as your lx470 ( not having a body on frame frees up alot of interior room). A brand new 4runner or highlander is under $35k with low low APR financing or under $40k for a 4x4
An inability to work on LC/LX does not preclude you from owning one. All it takes is lots of money, either in paying a mechanic to repair and maintain an older one or paying the monthly note on a newer one. In your posts, you state you do not offroad, it's the family transport, work 70 hour weeks, like toyota/lexus suv.
You don't need a cruiser for it's capabilities. A toyota highlander or lexus RX (As new as you can afford ) will be less costly to maintain and repair.
When your LX was new, it was a $60k+ suv, new ones are $100k. Repairs and maintenance on them will always cost more then a $30k suv. ALWAYS.
Toyota makes a huge line of SUV, choose the size that fits your family needs. You would be surprised how roomy a 2006-2010 RAV4 is. A Highlander is actually just as roomy as your lx470 ( not having a body on frame frees up alot of interior room). A brand new 4runner or highlander is under $35k with low low APR financing or under $40k for a 4x4
- Thread starter
- #37
I’ve gone full circle and definitely considered other models. We need that 3rd row which limits our options. Strongly considering a GX. But I have good taste and none of those other models feel as good as an LC does. I’m probably gonna end up buying a GX. In that scenario maybe I’ll keep the LX for me and see if I can do some work on it. That’s what I should do.
Break out another thousand?