Looking for a good mechanic out here in Denver to do routine maintenance and stuff, including wheel balancing with the right equipment. Someone recommended Toy Car Care on S. Potomac, not sure of their reputation since they're a new shop, but they do have MDT certs in their lobby and a full dept. of Toyota parts. If anyone has heard about them, or have another recommendation, please let me know.

-Rich

 

I have always taken my truck into Gasoline Alley in aurora (near buckly AFB). My dad recomended them, and he always used them for his cars (69 camaro convertable, 72 Chevelle SS, 87 Merkur XR4TI, F-150, etc...) He went to them before he drove his Chevelle to california to make it roadworthy. They told him what needed to be done, did it, told him things he should consider for the future, but never told him extraneous stuff that didn't even need to be done. (stuff like adding more blinker fluid). They also guarantee their work, are quite knowledgable and friendly.

I am taking my truck in tomorrow to Smoky Hill Auto Service to get my clutch replaced. The guy there was extremely nice and my friend went to him before when he was having radiator problems. The guy saved him $120 because another shop had misdiagnosed the problem (I'm sure not on purpose... ) I'll tell you how he does.

I have been to the toy car care off of arapahoe ( I think thats the potomac one) and the guys there aren't friendly at all. I've been there twice, once for carburetor problems and once for the clutch problems I am getting sorted tomorrow. Both times they were pretty cold shoulder to me, and expensive, so I haven't used them for repairs. Maybe they don't like teenagers? Also, I have called up toy doctor, and that guy seemed alright, but he was also expensive. Both places use "toyota" parts for everything, or so they say, they atleast charge you for "toyota" parts... $900 for a carburetor wasn't going to fly in my book...

I hope I helped somewhat. Give Gasoline Alley a call. They're doing a customer appreciation month right now and will inspect your car for winter for free, so you can draw your own conclusions about them. They are also offering 5% off of repairs for customers and 10% off for AAA members. I don't know if they wheel balance, but they do everything else.

 

Cool, thanks for the tip, I'll check them out.

I also stopped by Toy Car Care, and they were just as expensive as the dealer (Burt & Elway were cheaper) for the 30k on my truck, and they did have a bit of an attitude. Guess they're used to soccer moms paying through the nose for stuff. Besides, they have to pay off that nice new building they have!

 

Smoky Hill Auto Service is alright with me! The guy was extremely nice, like the other times I had been in. He called me in the middle of the day to tell me that my slave cylinder was leaking and that he recomended it be replaced. I had lost a lot of clutch fluid at one point, out of nowhere, so I believed him on that one.

He had originally quoted me at $670. When I came in this morning he said "$640, right?" I said somewhere around there. He said yeah $640. Later when he called me, he also told me my front brake pads were paper thin (I asked him if he could take a look real quick), and that new pads, turning the rotors, and packing the bearings would be about $250 I said no thanks, and he said that he was doing the slave cylinder for 40 plus tax on both the clutch and the slave. He assured me nothing over $700. I also asked him for a lube job, and he did that and the brake inspection free of charge.

I pick up the truck and its $725. Or it was... He made it $700 like he promised me.

The guy was extremely friendly and as I waited for my truck to come back from the test drive, we started talking yota's. Turns out he owns the sweet looking blue 1st gen pickup in front of the place. He has the 22R, so we swapped carburetor stories, rusty bed stories, and I told him to come on over here to yotatech.

All in all a really great guy, and a good businessman, with very competitive pricing. I am taking my truck to him from now on.

Sorry for the long post. But I am so happy to have such an awesome mechanic down the road, and I had said I'd report back.

Oh he's located on Smoky Hill road, 2 blocks west of buckley. Its in a strip mall, opposite a school bus depot, with a 7-11, Dairy Queen, and post office.

 

Sounds good, glad he worked out for you. The only problem is that I'm out by Morrison Road & Kipling in Lakewood, so he's a bit of a drive for me. I'd like to find someone on the west side of town for convenience sake. Darren, Alan or Jeff the Marmot, any suggestions?

 

What kind of work do you need?
Burt Toyota has always been good to me. My uncle has had excellent experience, too. Avoid Stevinson Toyota. Their service has declined substantially over the past decade.
If you need your wheels balanced, check out Performance Wheel and Tire. They are about a 1/2 miles south of Hampden (285) on Santa Fe. They rate high in my book. You'll need to tell them that your wheels require a special lug adapter or "fingers". Sears told me that my tires would never balance because of the aggressive tread on the tires. Performance Wheel proved them wrong. I can hit 85+ MPH and not have any vibration.

EDIT: Just re-read your original post :pat:
By routine maintenance, do you mean spark plugs, oil change, etc? John Elway Toyota out on Arapahoe has a 29 minute oil change for $30. Maybe it's $24. I don't remember. Burt Toyota has a deal now through the end of October - timing belt replacement on 3.4L for $249. Burt changed the fluids in the front diff, TC, and rear diff for $101.

Also, if you'd like, I can help you change these things out in your driveway. Except the timing belt. That's a job worth paying someone else to do.

 

I've used Burt in the past, and they've also been good to me for service. Just thought they were a little high on the 30k price, but $500-600 seems to be about average at the dealerships. Won't use Stevinson at all, or Elway for major service, but the 26.00 oil change at Elway was reasonable, and they quoted me ~$200 for Front & TC change & coolant flush, but didn't include the rear. I'll Burt tomorrow and check with Scott Olsen, the writer that I've dealt with and see what he can do: $101 for the TC/diff change is awesome.

TC, Diffs and coolant are all that I need to have done now. I'd do it myself except that disposing of the old fluids is a PIA. If you know of a place out here that takes the old coolant & fluids, I'd be game for the driveway change, but I'm also big into the convenience factor of the dealer handling the job & disposal.

How did Performance charge you for the balance? They're on my way home from work and I can stop in and check them out over hte next week. Been wanting an excuse to go in there, now I have one!

 

The Checkers off of Jewell and Wadsworth will take your used oils. Rivera Auto off of Alameda and Union (frontage road) is good. I don't know about routine maitainence, but for repairs they have done well for me. It might take a few days to week to get your vehicle in-they are always busy.

 

Anyone willing to swap a solid front axle in my 86? I have the oportunity to get an 85 with a blown head gasket for around $300. Figure i need some interior pieces and a front bumper already.

 

Don't know how that has anything to do with the thread... but I saw an incredible looking 86-88 xtra cab with solid axle. It looked factory. An incredible job he did. I left a note for him to join us here, but haven't heard from him.... oh well...

 

i'd like to add a question to this thread. i'm in longmont and currently searching for a good toyota mechanic for my "new" '89 runner. does anyone know of any good honest mechanics in the longmont/boulder area?

thanks!
mike

 

Try Tim's Toy Shop on North Main by the DQ. In Boulder there are lots of OK mechanics - Chan's, Import Specialists, HonToy, 28th St, Independent Motors - but none are fantastic. Definitely avoid High Performance in Longmont & John's 4x4 in Boulder.

 

I found out that i am leaking my clutch fluid also. It was $640 just to replace the slave cylinder?

 

No no no no no...... Maybe at a stealership. It was 640 to replace the entire clutch.

It was $40 to do the slave cylinder.

 

Thanks! I will have to call Smoky Hill Auto Service.

 

303-766-9227

Ask for Craig. And if you use him, tell him again to join here on yotatech.

 

Will do. What's your name so i can say you referred me.

 

My name's Dan, tell him he replaced the clutch on my Black 87 yota two or three weeks ago.

 

ok i'm new to boulder as of this fall and i needed to have a few things done to my '95 runner and really didn't know of any reputable mechanics so i bit the bullet and took it to boulder toyota. i've heard only good things about them but figured there were places i could take it for cheaper. anyone have any comments on boulder toyota though? the guy just called me back and its gonna be $275 for new idler arm and $50 for the alignment. plus a vavle cover for $150...not really sure how this would compare to other places around town....any suggestions?

 

$150 for a valve cover???? What engine do you have? I take it I-4 unless you have only one bad cover on your V6? Try LC Engineering for a better price on a valve cover, I would think that should only be about $60. Sorry, I don't know much about boulder. Are you going to CU or did you just move there?