Where do you service your Cruiser?

[acf]

1) Are you a DIYer?

2) Take it to the dealer?

3) Take it to a trusted mechanic?

4) Service? What service?

I have a 97 Lexus LS 400 and the running joke about Lexus dealers is that you pay
way to much for too little. Are Toyota dealers anything like that?

 

[Beowulf]

1, 3, & 2 in that order.

-B-

 

[Wrench]

#1

 

[G-Cat]

321

 

[cruiserdan]

Well,


I do EVERYTHING to mine, PERIOD. Of course I have a bit of an advantage as I can wander out into the shop and ask a question or two and if that fails I can escalate my questions upward til I hit my buddy at TMS USA

 

[e9999]

so far all the service (not much admittedly) was done in my driveway... Planning to keep it that way...
E

 

[turbocruiser]

#1 and then #3 and almost never #2, except for my 4Runner's HG Recall. BTW if it is #3 it is going to go to Slee...even though it would be a 75 plus mile tow or drive...that's how much a good shop is worth, and no one is worth more than Slee in my humble opinion.

 

[lurker]

1) Are you a DIYer?

2) Take it to the dealer?

3) Take it to a trusted mechanic?

4) Service? What service?

I have a 97 Lexus LS 400 and the running joke about Lexus dealers is that you pay
way to much for too little. Are Toyota dealers anything like that?

1)DIY (legal statement)...with the help from this board.

 

[robbie]

There are great mechanics all over this earth. It may be hard finding one. It occurs to me most on this board do what they can and when it is over there heads they will find a good mechanic to do the work. May be if you state where you live people on the board will be able to clue you in as the closest trusted mechanic around. later robbie

 

[GXO]

I do it myself.

 

[Doc]

I have just recently begun doing things on the cruisers with my own two hands. Very nice to be able to do things on your own time and schedule, and to KNOW that they either were, or were not, messed up.

 

[HZJ60 Guy]

My garage.




TB

 

[Rogue]

The driveway.

If I get lost I...

- Ask ya'll questions
- Call Dan
- Break it...

 

[bruiser]

#1 or if it's beyond my skills/tools then #3. After I bought my 80 I took it to a main dealer for the once over, and since then my Radio buzzes, they failed to mention a leaking knuckle (I wasn't going to get them to do it anyway), generally poor customer service. So I'll avoid #2 from now on.

 

[firetruck41]

DIY

If you have a little spatial awareness, can read the FSM (factory service manual) and have a good socket set/wrenches and a few specialty tools, you can DIY. I just did the birfield job, nothing hard about it, just takes time and is messy, a couple of tools from Sears, and I saved my self ~$800-$1200. If I can do it, I generally will do it, as I can't bring myself to part with that kind of money if I don't absolutely have to.

 

[ParadiseCruiser]

Ben's remarks are a reflection of my own. The unfortunate reality - tho Robbie is not incorrect - is that good [read: honest] mechanics are very hard to find (or they are too far awy from here - Christo won't move his shop to Calif; I asked him... )

To wit: The Calif Bureau of Automotive Repairs - the so-called BAR (aka, automobile police) conducted a major sting operation in 2002. They secretly marked various components, and sent as dumb as they could find-looking agents with tricked out autos to have them repaired.

Invariably, they were charged for repairs not needed, and for parts that were never replaced, and handed over the old "removed" parts which in some cases, were not even spec for the vehicle that was repaired.

And here's the kicker: Over 50% of the repairs conducted over the course of the year were in some way fraudulent. Let me say that again: Over 50% were fraudulent. Learn to do your own work.

Cheers, R -

 

[PHAEDRUS]

Aside for the not getting screwed by a poor mechanic from a dealer or otherwise, the DIY route is invariable more rewarding. Nothing like the cold #6 at the end of a long job on the pig. The biggest part for me is I work at a f@rd dealership and the good mechanics are flat rate. this means they move as fast as possible. while they are great guys they don't have the love for what they are working on like I do. Its my pig and no one touches it but me. If it is over my head I will pay one of my mechanic freinds in beer to show me how to fix it. Not only to I have more money in my wallet this way but the next time I need to do something I will have the skills to do it myself. and the peace of mind in the end to know it was done right.
Dave

 

[Junk]

I don't believe in service

 

[MrZumma]

All work is done myself. If it is something over my head, well, I'm SOL for now since my best resource just moved...

Anyone know of a good mechanic in the Twin Cities area?

 

[RavenTai]

I don't believe in service

How many 1FZ’s have you killed? Was it 3?

I don’t have a trusted independent mechanic in my area, and the dealers around here are hit and miss, I don’t like paying a hack 85$/hour to f*** up my truck wile I sit in a boring waiting room for reading out of date magazines.

I do bring my truck to others when the tooling is to expensive or beyond my skills, mainly tires, exhaust, bodywork/paint, windshields etc. The rest I do in my driveway, it’s a good pastime.