Toyrunner Automotive

They specialize in old 4Runner.  I had one which I no longer have and when I had, they are amazing people.  They do good work and they are reliable.  I got into a major car accident and my car was totally gone.  But is you won a 4Runner you need to know these people and you need to walk your car here.  Dave is the main guy.  When you are looking for a mechanic you are looking for someone who is not going to take for a ride.  He is certified and it does not matter what kind of Toyota you have but if you have 4Runner that is what he does.  He has the sources to find the parts.  I rode my car from Los Angeles for 3 hours just to have it fixed.  He was recommended to me by a buddy.  He was so good that I went back to him without going to anybody in Los Angeles.  He does body work, engine work and everything.

This was by far, the worst experience I've ever had with a mechanic in the 38 years I've owned vehicles and had them serviced. This is the 3rd vehicle that I've had the engine rebuilt on - the first two engines I and another person rebuilt together. This is the first time I hired someone else to do the job and it wasn't worth the grief. Below is my experience with ToyRunner:
First problem: The timeline for the job was not followed from the very beginning. The block was delivered to the machinist about 5 DAYS later than what I was initially told it would be which threw the entire project off schedule. Interestingly, this was at a time when the mechanic said business was and quot;slowand quot;, and he could do the work. I wonder how much longer the delay would have been if business wasn't and quot;slowand quot;. When I first approached ToyRunner for an estimate, I told them I wanted to drive the vehicle to New Mexico and the date I had to leave California. I also told them I wanted the vehicle a week ahead of the date I was to leave so I could drive it around and make sure everything was ok before taking it on a long trip. I didn't tell them if the trip was for business or pleasure. Before I agreed to let him do the work, the mechanic went through the timeline and said he could do it. Apparently, the mechanic assumed it was a pleasure trip and assumed I didn't really have to be there when I said I did. He was wrong on both counts. It was a business trip and the date could NOT be altered. I got the vehicle back 1-1/2 days before the very last day I could leave, changed all my pre-arranged travel plans and used someone else's vehicle to make the trip. Where people get off assuming delays in performance, and that subsequent changes to other people's lives and plans is of no consequence is beyond me.
2nd problem: Carburetor now has a vacuum-leak/tweety-type sound for the first mile or so. I took the vehicle back in to ToyRunner in Jan. 2013. Mechanic said it was a hot air intake tube and replaced it. Well, that didn't fix it. The vehicle was also having a much harder time starting in the morning, so I took the vehicle back to ToyRunner in March 2013 - this time he thought it was the choke and adjusted a spring, and and quot;fixedand quot; the air injection system that he reported and quot;was not working properlyand quot;. Well, the sound is still there.
3rd problem: In December, 2012, when I first had the vehicle in at ToyRunner for them to do the engine rebuild and other miscellaneous things on the work order, the mechanic said he couldn't find a lower ball joint that fit properly, and so he didn't replace it. He said he tried over half a dozen parts and none of them fit - and actually raised his voice at me over the phone as he was telling me this. Interestingly, the day before the vehicle was finally to be picked up (Dec. 2012), I called Toyota Parts Department. They had the part. When I told ToyRunner the part was at Toyota, Dave (the mechanic) said it and quot;wasn't available at the timeand quot;. Bull. The part is for a dated vehicle - they don't make those parts anymore - so it isn't like people are buying them off the shelf and the Toyota factory is having a hard time keeping up with demand. I had replaced the lower ball joint for the other side myself a few years back and got the part from Toyota with no problem. The vehicle has 300,000 miles on it, and when I took the vehicle in to ToyRunner for the initial estimate (Nov. 2012), the mechanic agreed that because of all the miles on it, it would be prudent to change the part and included the part and labor in his original estimate. I didn't want to and quot;nagand quot; the mechanic, so I let the issue go until I finally put 3,000 miles on the new engine and made an appointment to take the vehicle in for an oil change (March 2013). I told ToyRunner the ball joint was at Toyota and I wanted it replaced as per the original work order/agreement, and would pay the difference between the cost of their source and Toyota's charge for the part. Gayle verbally agreed to this over the phone. When I piicked up the vehicle, they charged me Toyota's full price.
Luckily, the part was still at Toyota - it was the LAST ONE they had. If I hadn't stepped in and made the inquiry myself, and just believed the mechanic, the part would never have been replaced as it should have been per the original work order.
4th problem: Customer service sucks. The day before the March 2013 appointment (for the oil change and carburetor sounds), I called ToyRunner and asked Gayle if they could give me a courtesy ride home, as I was to leave the vehicle there and had no one to give me a ride home. Note: this is the FIRST TIME I had asked for a courtesy ride. I had someone else shuttle me back and forth for all the other appointments. Gayle said and quot;no problemand quot; to my request. When I got there the next morning and delivered the vehicle, Dave, the mechanic, came into the office and with a loud and hostile tone, told me they would give me a ride this time, but next time, there would be a $5.00 charge and that it was going to take Gayle about an hour and forty-five minutes to shuttle me home and he didn't want her out of the office that long because he wanted her to answer the phone.
I was shocked. First of all, if they have a $5.00 shuttle policy, why didn't Gayle tell me the day before when I called? 2nd, if it was a problem for her to be out of the office, why did she say and quot;no problemand quot; the day before? 3rd, it takes me 15 minutes to get to ToyRunner from my home, so she would be gone a half hour, maybe 40 minutes if there's traffic. Totally unprofessional.
In fact, I was so shocked, that when Dave went back into the shop, and Gayle followed him, I left their office. I didn't want to get into whatever they were doing, and quietly slipped out of their office. I don't have a cell phone, and even if I did, who would I call? Everyone I know was working at that time. I ended up walking up to the main street and waited for a bus, that took me to about 2 miles from my home. I'm 58 years old and have a bad knee from a surgery years ago. It does not like walking on hard pavement and by the time I got home it was swollen and throbbing.
When I picked up the vehicle the next day, not a single one of them said a word of apology about Dave's conduct the day before, nor did either one of them inquire as to how I got home. I guess they just don't care about their and quot;patronsand quot;.
I picked up the vehicle without saying much to either of them. I just wanted to get my vehicle back and hopefully never have to deal with such incompetence and rudeness again.
5th problem: Vehicle didn't pass smog. Smog recertification was June 2013. The vehicle failed to pass smog because the timing was off and the O2 sensor was not connected, which threw all the readings off. When I took the vehicle to the smog station, the attendant asked me if I thought it would pass, and I said, “I think it should, I just spent $4,000. to get it rebuilt.” So when the report came back as a and quot;gross polluterand quot;, and the timing off and O2 sensor not connected, and the attendant said, and quot;it never should have left the shop like thisand quot;, I was shocked! I went home and immediately called ToyRunner, told Gayle the vehicle had failed smog, told her what the report said, told her what the smog station attendant said, and told her I didn't think I should have to pay anything because these were things Dave should have dealt with when he reinstalled the motor and the work was still under warranty. She agreed and said to just bring the vehicle in and they would take care of it. We made an appointment for the following week. Sounds good, right?
The next morning, at 8:00 in the morning, I got a call from Gayle at ToyRunner telling me that I didn't have a pre-test done at the smog station and all smog stations are REQUIRED BY LAW to offer a pre-test. I had never heard of it and told her so. She insisted that for years, all smog stati

I came down from the Bay Area to look at a 4Runner one weekend. I had it inspected by Wayne's Tire shop on S. Higuera (I did not have a good experience there) and they said the lower ball joints needed to be replaced. Across the street, there was this shop called ToyRunners and low and behold, they specialized in Toyota trucks and 4runners (hench the name). The moment I walked in and talked to Dave and Gayle, I knew I wanted them to do the work. Dave is the mechanic and Gayle, his wife, runs the office. First of all, they are two of the nicest people you will ever meet. Second, I love small shops where you can ask the technician direct questions without going through a hazy service writer. Dave is an ex-Toyota dealer tech. They quoted me $375. I bought the truck and brought it over. The final bill was $350. He also went through and inspected the truck and pointed out several things. One of these was bolt that had been hastily inserted into the clutch pedal mechanism where a pin and clip should have been. Dave said I would have a problem with it. Sure enough, several days later, it started backing out and I had to keep screwing it back in until I could order a new part from the dealer. Talk about an eye for detail - who would have found that!
I am a car enthusiast and am very picky about who works on my cars. Their pricing is very fair and if you factor in the expertise that Dave (and Gayle) obviously has, the choice to me is obvious. If you care about your Toyota (or Lexus) and want quality work done at a reasonable cost, I would give ToyRunners my highest recommendation. It's too bad I live in the Bay Area - they are too far from me.