Dealer to do lift and bumper..thoughts?

[Union]

Hey everyone,

While I was at Toyota today I noticed their parts department will sell and install suspension and bumper components familiar to most of us. With that being said, I'll be throwing on an ARB bumper and winch, 2.5'' lift, and UCAs in the next few months. The dealer has all the parts I'd be looking to put on the vehicle so what are people's thoughts on having them do the install versus another shop? Labor is 125 an hour.

Union

 

[Whiskerz]

The deal usually is people build the cost of the parts into the financing. The good news is the dealer should warranty the install labor as well

 

[Eric Sarjeant]

if you don’t mind me asking, what is the dealer offering the aftermarket products? We do 60-70 builds a year at my shop, but I wasn’t even aware of anyone else offing those services? I’d like to check out their site. Thanks

 

[Union]

if you don’t mind me asking, what is the dealer offering the aftermarket products? We do 60-70 builds a year at my shop, but I wasn’t even aware of anyone else offing those services? I’d like to check out their site. Thanks

Findlay Toyota - Henderson, NV.

 

[Ali M]

Absolutely worth it especially that they offer warranty and they won't make excuses when you bring it in for misalignment or any issue related to the lift. I had mine done at a reputable LC shop in the area but they were an hr away from me and if I had to do it again I would pay extra to have the dealer (15min away) do it so I don't have to spend my time driving for follow-ups.

 

[hankinid]

My '13 Cruiser came new from Kootenai Lexus with a 2" lift...no issues.

 

[Eric Sarjeant]

Honestly, it’s more about the experience level than anything else. If they do lifts and suspension then I’d vote dealer. If your out here in the Midwest, that’s not really in the dealers repertoire of skills. I’d vote your local 4x4 shop probably if they’re familiar with LC. I doubt many dealers are familiar will all the parts to put a BP-51 suspension on a LC. If your calling ARB when you don’t know how to to do something, that $125/hr will add up. If the 4x4 shop has installed 20 lifts that week, they’ll probably be faster and be able to check everything out beforehand, i.e. allighnment cams and other small stuff. Dealers are not typically passionate about suspension upgrades, at least in the service Dept. I’d go with your gut, and then questions, see what they really know, and go with what feels legit.

 

[Union]

Honestly, it’s more about the experience level than anything else. If they do lifts and suspension then I’d vote dealer. If your out here in the Midwest, that’s not really in the dealers repertoire of skills. I’d vote your local 4x4 shop probably if they’re familiar with LC. I doubt many dealers are familiar will all the parts to put a BP-51 suspension on a LC. If your calling ARB when you don’t know how to to do something, that $125/hr will add up. If the 4x4 shop has installed 20 lifts that week, they’ll probably be faster and be able to check everything out beforehand, i.e. allighnment cams and other small stuff. Dealers are not typically passionate about suspension upgrades, at least in the service Dept. I’d go with your gut, and then questions, see what they really know, and go with what feels legit.

Thanks for the advice! I'm also moving to Omaha, NE in about a year and I'm not sure whatever work they do will be covered if I bring it to another dealer. The main POC for all this gets to work on Tuesday so I'll be finding out more info there. My GUT tells me to go to a place like @cruiseroutfit in UT but if issues arise it'd be easier to at least go to the dealer in the next year than drive the 400 miles to the shop that did the work.

 

[Eric Sarjeant]

Two more thoughts:
1) the dealers vendors are probably very limited. You will likely want to choose your own stuff. Icon here/OME there, etc. I doubt a dealer would be OK with you bringing in parts not bought there.
2) the dealer may not be doing any of the work (just keeping a slice of the profit margin), at my dealership, I give all my work to 4Wheel Parts. They know what they’re doing, they have the vendor network I need and don’t have time to create myself, if I need a new vendor they make it happen (I.e. CBI, Expedition One, etc)
I am (by far) their biggest customer, so I get priority service and a direct contact and most importantly a warranty for 3-5yrs.
As for you Union, that may be the best option because they have hundreds of stores all over the country you can get their warranty honored.

Sorry for the ramble

 

[Union]

Two more thoughts:
1) the dealers vendors are probably very limited. You will likely want to choose your own stuff. Icon here/OME there, etc. I doubt a dealer would be OK with you bringing in parts not bought there.
2) the dealer may not be doing any of the work (just keeping a slice of the profit margin), at my dealership, I give all my work to 4Wheel Parts. They know what they’re doing, they have the vendor network I need and don’t have time to create myself, if I need a new vendor they make it happen (I.e. CBI, Expedition One, etc)
I am (by far) their biggest customer, so I get priority service and a direct contact and most importantly a warranty for 3-5yrs.
As for you Union, that may be the best option because they have hundreds of stores all over the country you can get their warranty honored.

Sorry for the ramble

That's a good point. They probably do just outsource all of their work to local 4x4 shops.