First off, let me say this place was recommended by Iron Pig Offroad in Fredericksburg, VA. To be specific they said "this is who I call when I have land cruiser questions". I have a 2006 LC that needed a Timing belt, brakes on all 4 corners, new shocks on all 4 corners and an oil change.
I reached out to Chad at Cole's imports in Charlottesville, VA and talked to them about all of the work needed. Not only were they EXTREMELY knowledgeable, they we also VERY accommodating on getting my LC back to me and extremely reasonable with their pricing. I live 2 hours away in NoVA (Falls Church, VA) and they have limited working hours (closed on weekends).
One of the things I was most impressed with was the straight forward approach and honest pricing. I have 2 othere home projects that are ongoing (new roof and another auto in the shop at a dealer) and those establishments have bombarded me with CONSTANT upsell pitches, this was NOT the case will Cole's. In today's service related business models that encourage the "upsell" it was truly refreshing to deal with an establishment that conducted themselves like Cole's.
Cole's had the Rhino (the LC) for about a week...I picked it up yesterday and drove it home...Knowing that I had a "baselined LC" and the tech didn't see any other issues reinforced the quality of the LC. Knowing that I a knowledgable and trustworthy LC shop made this whole experience pretty pleasant in the grand scheme of things (read my post about a local shop that did a starter replacements here - 1999 LX470 Disaster-Advice Needed - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/1999-lx470-disaster-advice-needed.1065473/).
Bottom line - Cole's subject matter expertise and incredible business practices (extremely reasonable pricing and no "surprises") make the 2 hour trip to Charlottesville worth it (I would probably even consider having it towed there if the vehicle wasn't drivable). If you need some work done in the Norther/Central Virginia area, give Cole's Imports a call. 11/10 would recommend and go back for service. If anyone wants to know more, PM me about my experience...I am more than happy to discuss.
Glad to know I have a baselined LC with 179K on the clock and many more miles to come.
I reached out to Chad at Cole's imports in Charlottesville, VA and talked to them about all of the work needed. Not only were they EXTREMELY knowledgeable, they we also VERY accommodating on getting my LC back to me and extremely reasonable with their pricing. I live 2 hours away in NoVA (Falls Church, VA) and they have limited working hours (closed on weekends).
One of the things I was most impressed with was the straight forward approach and honest pricing. I have 2 othere home projects that are ongoing (new roof and another auto in the shop at a dealer) and those establishments have bombarded me with CONSTANT upsell pitches, this was NOT the case will Cole's. In today's service related business models that encourage the "upsell" it was truly refreshing to deal with an establishment that conducted themselves like Cole's.
Cole's had the Rhino (the LC) for about a week...I picked it up yesterday and drove it home...Knowing that I had a "baselined LC" and the tech didn't see any other issues reinforced the quality of the LC. Knowing that I a knowledgable and trustworthy LC shop made this whole experience pretty pleasant in the grand scheme of things (read my post about a local shop that did a starter replacements here - 1999 LX470 Disaster-Advice Needed - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/1999-lx470-disaster-advice-needed.1065473/).
Bottom line - Cole's subject matter expertise and incredible business practices (extremely reasonable pricing and no "surprises") make the 2 hour trip to Charlottesville worth it (I would probably even consider having it towed there if the vehicle wasn't drivable). If you need some work done in the Norther/Central Virginia area, give Cole's Imports a call. 11/10 would recommend and go back for service. If anyone wants to know more, PM me about my experience...I am more than happy to discuss.
Glad to know I have a baselined LC with 179K on the clock and many more miles to come.
