New England B.S. Thread

Hey all, I have a Taco-owning friend who's not a member of TW and he's asked me if there are any trusted mechanics in our area (north of Boston; specifically Topsfield, Beverly, and surrounding towns). I personally haven't needed to ask this question (yet), but thought I'd reach out here in an effort to help him. He's currently having a lousy experience with service department at Ira Toyota in Danvers, hence his question.

Thank you, ahead of time, for any/all advice!

 

I unfortunately only know guys down in Quincy, but what is the issue he is having? We might be able to get you sorted out here.

 

He had the third brake light recall done a short time ago and now it's having problems; not working and holding up an inspection sticker. Dealer's service department people checked it out, said it's not under warranty and they want $800 to replace it. He'd like to find a local mechanic who he can trust to do the job that's (hopefully) more affordable.

 

Yeah what kind of work is he looking to get done? The shop around the block from me has done a couple odds and ends for me and have been super professional and transparent about everything with me, but I haven't needed anything major so I can't speak to that experience (Auto Dyne off railroad ave in Bev). Stopped by Ira a couple weeks back to pick up some new wiper blade refills and air filters, stood on line for like 40 minutes to be told they don't sell the refills just the whole blades, place seemed like a mess too

 

You can get an entire new one for like 50 bucks. Wtf are they saying needs to get done?

You can get an OEM one likely in the 75$ range, and an aftermarket "upgrade" for 25$-200$ depending how much you want out of it.

It's shenanigans that they won't fix it after they jacked it up. But it's a pretty easy DIY.

 

Hah, my Taco-owning friend and I work a block away from Auto Dyne. He actually had it there, this morning, for the inspection sticker and it was them who pointed out the issue with the third brake light. He took it to the dealership after being told it was in stock … only to find out how much it would cost. We do have a few mechanics around here … they're all probably capable enough, especially if you bring the OEM part with you.

Yeah, he may go this route.

 

Yeah, this is why I try to stay away if possible.

Yup, MESO for me!

So, depending on what the issue actually is, one way or the other might be cheaper. Like, does it work intermittently, are some of the LEDs out?

 

Let me know if he does. I'm considering one of the higher end aftermarket options for a chase light setup, but it might be a while so if it's holding up inspection, might not make sense to wait for that.

 

He's been told that there's water in there, despite the recall work being done not long ago; I believe the light doesn't work at all.

(I really should convince him to sign up here on TW, hah)

 

Yeah if its an easy enough job id try and do it myself to save the hassle, is your friend the the bbp sport I see on the Cabot all the time?

 

He has a black 2018 Sport, yeah, and usually parks on Wallis St.

 

Ah, thought I finally found my blue twin

 

How you like the meso? I saw those but not sure how much more he's making. I can 3D print it too I guess but also seen some other aftermarket pod light options that wouldn't cost too much relatively.

 

Yeah, that's odd. If warranty doesn't cover, just find someone selling their old one. It's a pretty easy swap. Just make sure to seal it up well when you put it on.

Any mods done to it? If so I might have seen it every now and then.

I like it a lot, no hassles besides the interference with the remote (can be fixed by throwing a relay on it). I believe he does a lot of post processing on them though, so not entirely sure if it's that easy.
There is the KC version he has, if you like the cheaper option. I just like the BD lights over the KC version, so I went with that. No issues otherwise.

 

Stock at the moment, as it was a lease, but he recently bought it out and is starting to think about light mods.

 

I was thinking one of these.

https://www.evilmanufacturing.com/lights/2005-toyota-tacoma-third-brake-light-baja-designs

I don't know how much the KCs or the BDs throw for chase light needs. These are at least in stock too. But they need to be riv nutted to the body so TBD. I do like them and would be good to do an antenna. But the antenna and a BD light makes it 400. I'll have a roof rack but would like to keep it simple and do my chase light in the third light and not run wires to the roof rack. TBD.

 

I’d be down for a Kingdom trip.

 

id be calling Toyota, that’s bullshit.

 

I 've run the LTX for years and couldn't be happier. Quiet, fabulous in rain, nice ride. They do tend to pick up gravel on dirt but will eventually spit it back out. And like you I run dedicated winters, Blizzak DM V2 on a second set of wheels. When I had got caught by an early snow storm the Michelins preformed well. I'm getting my second set next month when the Blizzaks come off.

And...I am an old man so...get off my lawn!

 

How's Michelin's tread life? My last experience wiht Michelin wasn't great in terms of treadwear. I got just over 30,000 miles on a tire rated for 55,000 with regular rotations and dilligent pressure checks. Granted, they were the Jeep's OEM Premiers and they didn't have LT level tread depth, but I was still not hugely impressed. I caught a nail on the outer shoulder at 4/32 heading into winter. I may have been able to stretch a bit, but with winter I didn't want to risk it.

Man, ARB or go home.