SF Bay Area mechanics who specialize in 100 series? (1 Viewer)

[newbielx470]

Thanks for sharing your experiences! That's very helpful. I can understand why there are so few Cruiser mechanics. Our Cruisers rarely breaks

For the timing belt level of jobs, I would imagine any good Japanese car mechanic should have had plenty of experience working on Tundras, Sequoias, 3rd Gen 4runners and LC/LX's 4.7L or LS430's 4.3L right?

 

[riffman12]

As much as I don't like to bad mouth shops, I also didn't have a great experience with Mudrak

I get that Gary knows his stuff, but they seem totally overwhelmed and more concerned with getting cars out of there than doing things right.

I go to a shop in Lafayette - Top Shop Auto. They have a Toyota certified tech named Cam who is really knowledgeable and super nice. I wouldn't say he's a 100 series expert, but he works on plenty of them. He also works on the OverlandBound 80 series if you're familiar with them.

I have yet to find anyone who is really willing to work on AHC and get it working properly, including Mudrak. Most are in the camp of "rip it out the second you have any issues" which I think is a shame.

 

[greasem0nkey86]

There's also Toy Shop on Geary Blvd in San Francisco.

I've used them once to reboot a driver side CV boot, but the new boot leaked several days later and they didn't want to take it back and redo it, they said it's supposed to leak a little. So not so great experience with that, but a friend with a 4Runner is happy with their service.

 

[NolaNomad]

Wow,, ok some good replies here so far.
OP: it be cool to add a poll to this or anew thread on Shop experiences. Including the shops mentioned here.
I was all for Mudrak but now see there's some dissent. And pro A+
I'll be looking to do my timing and full rune at 220k soon.
Diff, trans, chassis lube and wheel bearings.
AHC and steering holding up for now.

 

[newbielx470]

I have yet to find anyone who is really willing to work on AHC and get it working properly, including Mudrak. Most are in the camp of "rip it out the second you have any issues" which I think is a shame.

Oh yeah, it would be nice to find expert mechanic who are willing to work on AHC maintenance rather than delete.

 

[NolaNomad]

Oh yeah, it would be nice to find expert mechanic who are willing to work on AHC maintenance rather than delete.

They all want to delete. If you want to keep it going, it's a matter of swapping out each piece of the entire system. Can be done but spendy and gremlin-y.
I'm keeping it going until it fails, so far so good!

 

[LRscorned]

Main reason I can't visit those popular shops easily is because I often have hard time finding friends who can give me rides to places like Sonoma/Stockton/Gilroy for auto repair. They are more into Teslas and autonomous driving hypes and don't share passion about trucks or offroading/overlanding with me, let alone Hundys When I try to get help with ride to outside central bay area for truck stuff or getting bumper installed, they just give me a lecture on how advanced their Teslas are

This sounds like my 9-yr old son who is determined he is going to buy a Tesla in 7 years. Had him help me change the diff oils last week on the LX and it was all Tesla this and Tesla that.

 

[newbielx470]

They all want to delete. If you want to keep it going, it's a matter of swapping out each piece of the entire system. Can be done but spendy and gremlin-y.
I'm keeping it going until it fails, so far so good!

Do the dealers (good ones like Toyota Walnut Creek) have very clear idea how AHC should be maintained? If so, it may be worth the money to get our trucks checked by them just for the AHC every 100k miles. This may be one of the only few Hundy-specific items

 

[Dirt Ferguson]

OK Tire in St Helena is run by a serious, low-key, Cruiser guy. He's mostly an 80 guy but he can do work on anything LC related. Sean is the owner and his personal 80 is sweet.

 

[newbielx470]

OK Tire in St Helena is run by a serious, low-key, Cruiser guy. He's mostly an 80 guy but he can do work on anything LC related. Sean is the owner and his personal 80 is sweet.

Thanks for the recommendation. I went to their Yelp page and saw mainly review on tire work. But on their website, they did mention they can do a wide variety of works including 4x4-specific works:

Auto Repair & Mechanic Shop St Helena, CA Calistoga, CA Napa, CA | OK Tire Inc.

We are the leading mechanic shop serving St Helena, CA, Calistoga, CA, and Napa, CA. We offer great deals on auto repair services. Stop by our mechanic shop and save today!

www.oktiresh.com

 

[WIto408]

Went to A+ Japanese Auto in San Carlos a few months ago for the timing belt job and had a decent experience. Like others said, it's on the pricier end and they can be a little pushy, but nothing over the top. Just be clear with what you do and don't want. They have quite a few 100 series coming through all the time and the owner is an 80-series guy. Another friend had the timing belt and CV axles on his 100 done there and on pick up had some electrical issues, but they took it back in and fixed it at no cost and it hasn't had any issues since.

 

[newbielx470]

Recently called a bay area Toyota dealer and they quoted timing belt and water pump replacement labor cost is $880. But I didn't ask if other while-in-there jobs are done at the same time, can they waive most of the other labor costs.

 

[newbielx470]

Wondering if anyone has updated recommendation/new shops that specialize in Hundys in the past year

 

[awesomeissquid]

I have been taking my 100 to Novato Toyota for some smaller items to test them out. They fixed one of the rear wheel bearings on the first try and had a great price on the alternator replacement. I don’t know for sure but I have a feeling the tech knows 100s since they were familiar with some of the tricks listed on mud.

 

[vipergrhd]

@newbielx470 Did you ever find a person or shop that you could have all the work done to your rig?

 

[newbielx470]

@newbielx470 Did you ever find a person or shop that you could have all the work done to your rig?

For offroad customization/installation, FFR Fabrication in San Jose did a solid job. But for mechanic work, they are famous in the hot rod community, but don't specialize in Hundy/Toyota. I got lots of work done in Colorado during my roadtrip . Now I need some other work done near home. I'm re-checking for recommendation because I found some good shops (non-Toyota) closed their business permanently in the past year. So figured there could have been shops closed/opened that specialize in Toy/Hundy.

 

[TheLCProject]

I am by no means an expert, but I am an engineer and I take pride in the work I do. I've done a handful of jobs on 100s, and while I haven't done everything, I have the factory service manuals and connections with several other experienced mechanics to bounce ideas off if trouble comes up. Depending on what you need, I might be up for getting your maintenance needs taken care of.

I will say that I have had to go in and redo work done by the "reputable" land cruiser specialists that we all know and are supposed to love. Because of that, I am extremely hesitant, like you, to take it somewhere where a prior reputation brings current business but where customers leave underwhelmed and disappointed because they expected more.

If I can help, just reach out via DM. I'm located in the Pleasanton, San Ramon and Livermore area.