My 2008 hit 130k so took it in for scheduled maintenance. tl;dr, dealer didn't seem to want to do it!
I have one more dealer option about 45-60 minutes away. I'm too busy (and not mechanically proficient enough) to tackle my own maintenance. I fixed my own parking brake issue, but it took me probably 4x longer than it should have taken, and that's time I don't have to take away from family commitments.
/end rant
- Closest dealer was previously proven incompetent - unable to diagnose a problem with parking brake grinding (shoe spring retainer "washer" broken) that iH8Mud diagnosed in 5 minutes.
- Next closest dealer (with 4.5* rating?!) wasn't too far so made appointment.
- Spoke w/very pleasant service advisor to make appointment.
- Asked (politely) for tech familiar with LC's since they are a low-volume vehicle and previous dealer didn't seem to know what to do
- In addition to the oil/filter, asked very specifically for the 120k lubrication and inspections. Bought my truck at 125k miles. Complete dealer service records, but they typically just said "lubricate chassis and top off fluids", nothing specific about lube/re-torque prop shaft, lube drive shaft bushing, or the status of the "inspect" items like diff oils, coolant, ATF, etc. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't, so I wanted to be sure.
- When I brought it in, re-confirmed with service advisor (also very pleasant) what I wanted done.
- Waited three hours for the truck, enjoyed a free doughnut and coffee.
- Service tech/mechanic came out to talk to me, which was nice. He spent probably 15 minutes talking about suspension noise questions I had, and it sounded like he had spent a decent amount of time checking it out. But not exactly experienced with Land Cruisers.
- Asked him if he had lubed/retorqued prop shaft and lubed drive bushing. "No, I'd have to remove the skid plates." Okay....
- Asked how the oil in the diffs and transfer case looked. "I can't just check it, I'd have to unscrew the plugs." Okay...
- How are the shock mounts and ball joints. "Seemed fine, didn't feel any play" but didn't appear to go any further than that.
- Asked him if he had lubed/retorqued prop shaft and lubed drive bushing. "No, I'd have to remove the skid plates." Okay....
- At this point, I'd spent 3.5 hours there and had to get to work, or I would have sent them back to finish the job I asked for. But I was also so disappointed that if this was the 'good' tech then I wasn't sure I wanted them working on my truck.
I have one more dealer option about 45-60 minutes away. I'm too busy (and not mechanically proficient enough) to tackle my own maintenance. I fixed my own parking brake issue, but it took me probably 4x longer than it should have taken, and that's time I don't have to take away from family commitments.
/end rant