Who does your service?

Where do you get your Toyota service done at? Just anywhere or do you do a lot of it yourself? I went to the Toyota dealer and their prices are absolutely STUPID

 

I do it all myself, I've been ripped off too much by back door mechanics and Dealer service departments. I have the tools, computers and equipment I need to fix just about everything. I just have to make the time to do it in most cases.

 

I agree - I am an ex Mechanic , owned my own shop for almost 15 years . I don't trust people to do the right thing anymore so I just do it myself

 

My vent isn't blowing in the direction I spin the dial so I take it to Toyota. They quote $3600?? Took it to Honda and they did it for $1200

 

I'm lucky to have a local mechanic who is a Toyota enthusiast and will only work on toyotas. It's a two man operation and both of them drive land cruisers so I know my vehicle is in good hands.

 

I do it myself. No one will give it the attention and care that you will. But i understanding people taking it to a center because of time constraints or physical limitations. I've taken my truck to a shop 3 times. All 3 were for something as simple as an alignment and putting tires on. First two times a shop butchered it and the third time was at a reputable shop that did it correctly. But experiences like that are why i do things myself. Even if its more expensive initially buying special tools or equipment, they're items i'll use for a long time. Worth the money.

 

You actually bought an alignment rack and tire machine?

 

I used to do most things myself. Recently moved and new job is super busy. Took my truck to a Midas. They did good on the serpentine belt and tensioner. Also had them balance my tires. 2 weeks later, noticed 2 lug nuts were missing.

Now I wait til I have a day off then do the work myself again...

 

Local shop or myself

 

For a long time I had a family friend who was a Toyota service manager. He would always set me up with a free rental, charge me for parts and comp the labor etc.

That was a great 12 years! He ended up moving several states away, so there goes that.

Now I have a local shop who does our mandatory state inspections, do all of my work. The owner and head mechanic is my age and a tundra owner and car enthusiast. The few guys that work with him also have a TRD Pro Tacoma and slew of worked vehicles.

His work is always spot on, the shop is simple but very clean.

A nice bonus is I can walk to the shop in about 15 minutes, so it is very convenient as well.

 

I perform as much maintenance & repair work as I possibly can, my local dealer takes care of the rest. I have been using the same dealer for over 20 years, and they have never let me down, and they never play games.

 

Under Warranty... Dealer. After that. Do it yourself. Buy the oil filter housing and tool kit from Amazon for like $34 as you're likely to break the original like many of us did. If you know a good reputable shop, take it to them like was mentioned above.

 

To be honest, I would probably cut more corners myself than the dealer wpuld. I like my closest Toyota dealer though (Toyota of Ashland, KY). So far, so good.