Houston (or Texas) mod shop? (1 Viewer)

[MCtree]

Hi All,
I’m looking to get some work done on my 200 series. After perusing this forum for some time now, I know lots of you will tell me I should do the work myself - but honestly I’m really afraid of messing up my car in some irreparable way so I would prefer to hire a pro.

I have contacted Slee and am considering driving up there to get them to modify my LC but, 1: My vacation time is limited so I hate to spend it getting my truck modified rather than enjoying myself somewhere. And 2: I worry a job like what I want now might be smaller than what they like to do. (I’m just looking to add sliders, a second battery, and maybe improve my light situation for driving down logging roads at night).
Not to mention, it would be nice to know of a local shop for any future work I want to get done (rack, drawers... etc).

So.. long story short... does anybody live in Houston (or Texas even) and have a shop they would recommend to do such work?

In searching on these Forums, I did see a couple people recommend a place called Duggy’s, which I will check out, but if anybody else has another place to recommend, I would appreciate it.
Thanks!

 

[cboyd]

Drive to Slee, drop it off and fly home. let them do the work and then go back And take the truck for some fun.

I’ve Done it a few times - from the east coast.

 

[MCtree]

Drive to Slee, drop it off and fly home. let them do the work and then go back And take the truck for some fun.

I’ve Done it a few times - from the east coast.

CBoyd,
I took your comment to be facetious but now I see the worth of it.

I took my LC in to Duggy’s for sliders and an aux battery install.

They did very nice looking work. I can’t complain about that at all.

But the tech really didn’t seem to know much about the redarc system they installed and this made me want to test it to make sure it was installed correctly.
Turns out it was not installed correctly. In fact, it would have been horrendous had I trusted their work. My starter battery would have been the first to run down rather than the aux.
See here for details:

RedArc BCDC help

Any chance you have an ODB II scanner plugged in? That alone has led to some low battery situations in my truck during periods when I haven't driven for a bit. +1 to what @indycole said. OBD2 being plugged in gets power sent to it when truck is off and it can be significant. I’ve tried...

forum.ih8mud.com

It was an easy fix for me to correct this problem once it was diagnosed; but it should not have been me doing the testing. It’s why I thought/hoped I was taking my vehicle to experts.

The sliders look like they were installed correctly. But my trust has been shaken so I wish there was a way to test these.
But like I said, all the work looked to be professionally done. So hopefully this means something. So I am optimistic that they were just confused by the nuances of the Redarc BCDC install.

And to be clear, this is just one data point. So take it as you will.

Also, one last anecdote;
When picking up my vehicle, Duggy himself texted me saying it was ready. I specifically asked him if he would be there when I got there and he said yes in no uncertain terms. My thoughts were at least to meet the guy so as to start a relationship with a local shop for future mods.
Sadly, when I got there I asked to need Duc and was told that he was long gone. “He’s never here this late.”
Again, maybe this was just some sort of confusion - but it’s just another warning to me. Maybe he skipped out early on that one day and forgot that I wanted to meet. Or maybe he just told me what I wanted to hear and didn’t feel like meeting me.

 

[Tex68w]

PM sent!

 

[AnyMal]

Honestly?

Javier's Autos Unlimited.

 

[MCtree]

Javier's Autos Unlimited.

Thanks! A couple of people now have suggested them. That’s a good sign.
I’ll check them out.

 

[Roscoes]

Might also post in the TX subforum:

TX- Lone Star Land Cruisers

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[MCtree]

Might also post in the TX subforum:

TX- Lone Star Land Cruisers

forum.ih8mud.com

Cool. Thanks. I didn’t know that there were such subforums.

 

[TXCRSR]

Drive to Slee, drop it off and fly home. let them do the work and then go back And take the truck for some fun.

I’ve Done it a few times - from the east coast.

That's exactly what I'm doing in two weeks. From advise on here, its not worth it to let someone do $30k worth of work and have a local shop screw the 200 up.

 

[ElJayBird]

Land Cruiser Specialists over in Austin - dudes are top notch LC fanboys. They did quite a bit of work for me when I was still living in Texas.

 

[AnyMal]

Land Cruiser Specialists over in Austin - dudes are top notch LC fanboys. They did quite a bit of work for me when I was still living in Texas.

Thats funny because when I called they told me they don't even know how to do transmission flushes or other basic PM.

 

[ElJayBird]

Thats funny because when I called they told me they don't even know how to do transmission flushes or other basic PM.

That must be the secret to staying in business for over 20 years.

 

[AnyMal]

That must be the secret to staying in business for over 20 years.

Yeah exactly. Putting lifts on and bumpers with instructions and wheels and tires for people like you is much more profitable than actually knowing the car inside and out.

 

[ElJayBird]

"People like you", huh? LOL - they've done only mechanical work for me. Never touched a lift, bumper or wheels and tires on any of my trucks.

Do you, pal. I couldn't care less what your opinion is.

 

[AnyMal]

"People like you", huh? LOL - they've done only mechanical work for me. Never touched a bumper or wheels and tires on any of my trucks.

Do you, pal. I couldn't care less what your opinion is.

Then why are you replying to me and trying to be smart when I gave you direct first hand account?
You don't need to care about me bruv but you definitely seem to have feelings about it.
I genuinely don't care about you or your experience either you can trust me on that. Thats not the point of a forum. Its so that people can get multiple opinions on things.

Also if you think being in business for 20 years is a momentous achievement when there is also practically zero competition then you have qualified yourself to me already. You can demonstrate thousands of s*** businesses that are around as yell so that clearly doesn't prove anything.

I didnt bash you for recommending them, i gave my opinion and your responded emotionally.

Sit down.

 

[Tex68w]

Yikes lol.

 

[MCtree]

Argh.

I’m still looking for reliable local work for/on my 200.

As explained in post #3 above, not Duggy’s.

About six months ago I called Javier’s a few times and left messages and they didn’t call back. Perhaps I caught them at a bad time and need to be more persistent.

But recently I had Firestone on Kirby put winter tires on and they broke one of my TPMS sensors. That happens, but the fact that they threw their hands up on fixing it and told me to take it to a Toyota dealer makes me strongly question their ability.

Because I don’t trust Firestone, I’m now at Toyota (Sterling McCall) for them to swap out the winter tires for my old all-terrains. Despite having an appointment for 11:00am… now, 3 hours later, they just called me out to ask how to open the rear hatch. The rear Slee bumper befuddled them. Inability to figure this out on their own does not give me confidence in their abilities.
Also, to swap the tires and reprogram the TPMS sensors is going to cost me $300+ here. And 5 hours of my day.
All told, I am not gruntled.

So… just in case something new has come along in the Houston area, I’ll ask again; does anybody recommend a local shop?

Ps. I have called Land Cruiser specialists in Austin and they also don’t call back. Also, in thinking about, it I would rather have somebody in Houston if it could (when not taking it to Slee).

 

[AnyMal]

I have it some other threads but these guys by a mile:

Houston Lexus Repair - Clear Choice Texas

Best reviewed Houston Lexus repair facility. Multi year Angie’s List & BBB winner serving Houston & the Woodlands with savings up to 25% off dealership prices. We offer loaner cars, Lexus parts, business center to work from, coffee bar & wifi.

clearchoicetexas.com

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

goo.gl

 

[MCtree]

I have it some other threads but these guys by a mile:

Houston Lexus Repair - Clear Choice Texas

Best reviewed Houston Lexus repair facility. Multi year Angie’s List & BBB winner serving Houston & the Woodlands with savings up to 25% off dealership prices. We offer loaner cars, Lexus parts, business center to work from, coffee bar & wifi.

clearchoicetexas.com

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

goo.gl

Great! Thanks!
I will hit them up.

 

[Tex68w]

Land Cruisers of Houston!