Clearwater Area Toyota dealer with a good mechanic/service writer recommendations.

Anyone in the area that can recommend a good, reliable and trustworthy mechanic at a Toyota dealer? Left Clearwater for the second trip in for the same issues that they mysteriously cannot duplicate. I had to take the service writer for a test drive today in order for them to hear one of the problems. They don't seem to care and only seem to be concerned with turnover.

My issues:

#1 - At some stops I can feel what seems to be the ABS kicking in. This happens when the roads are dry and there is nothing that would cause a tire to lose traction.

#2 - Rear end whine. Between 40-60 mph under a light accel/decel the read end will whine. It is easy to replicate, but thy couldn't seem to find it until I took them for a drive

I had some erratic shifting on my 2018 DCSB OR and thought I would mention it. Had a few stumbles when accelerating from a stop at times, but the rpm's didn't drop. They updated the PCM software and said to see how it reacts.

Wasted last Saturday in there (11am til almost 2pm) and when it was ready, they performed the 5k service early (3500), but didn't have "enough techs" to troubleshoot the rest. Took it in today and all they said was they couldn't reproduce the issue.

Tired of wasting my time and hoping someone has a good recommendation in the area. Next time they want me to take the tech for a ride which means I have to go on a lunch break or take PTO (which I dont have any available at the moment unfortunately).

Was thinking of trying Auto Nation...

 

1. That’s a legit issue
2. Gear whine is a common issue on these trucks. I had it on mine and it stopped when I put bigger tires on. It’s almost as if the stock 265/70/16s are not the right size. I went to 265/75/16 and the gear whine went away immediately and my speedometer was dead on with GPS speedo.
3. Get the OVTune and your shifting issues will be gone.

 

They performed the TSB 0062-18 today, but nothing else. Tires and a 1-2 inch lift is in my future plans so we will see. Maybe an OVtune.....

 

Back to the shop again, dealing with the Service Manager. We'll see if they can get it right this time as he went for a ride and heard the whine.. However he magically cant feel the pedal vibe.

 

Just stay away from the dealer in Homosassa, they are the worst I have ever dealt with.

 

CLW replaced my diff and body mounts, whine is still present. They got another in that day and stated the whine is worse. They are trying to state it is a trait of these trucks. BS Noted on the Homosassa dealer...

 

For any others that may be looking at working with this dealer, I would avoid them like the plague! They now are stating the rearend whine/howl is a normal trait of the vehicle and so Toyota is standing behind their service dept and saying the same. My only recourse is to go to another dealer.

 

I gave up on Clearwater years ago. So has my son with his trucks. I had my many company trucks serviced at Pinellas Park for years. Recently started having poor service. I've moved on to Sun in Holiday. I've been there once two weeks ago with ok results.

 

Yeah, I am done with Clearwater and debating about leaving a strongly worded review on Google.. They always bugged me to review them when I am in there. The rear end issue was blown off and said it was normal and there is nothing to fix. They even stated new trucks coming in had the same noise so they are selling them to customers without a second thought. Since they dont think it is an issue, Toyota backed them and did nothing. I would never go back there even for the smallest issue.

I did find that the service manager at Auto Nation, Paul, was a really nice guy and took the time to test drive and listen to my concerns. However I got tired of dealing with the issue and picked up a new TRD Off-Road 4runner from Sun. They seemed to be nice so far. Just sucks that they are about 45 to an hour from my house depending on traffic.

 

My brother just went to AutoNation in Pinellas park for his 10k service. Came home with a truck covered in oil underneath, a stripped bolt on the inspection plate for the oil drain and a cracked oil filter housing. Is it almost impossible to find a good service department anymore?

Sun is the next option, but it is almost an hour each way.

 

First Yota and Taco for me. Only had the 5k service done on my 18 so far. I purchased and serviced up at Sun based on a recommendation by a co-worker. The writer I had up in Sun also owned a taco and was able to better explain some of the quirks of the truck. But he also noted on my work order for the tech to double check to make sure nothing was wrong. So far they've been stand-up people in my experience.

Also, it is a drive for me being on the clearwater/largo border. But I don't mind making the trek if I know I can trust them.

 

I'm Done with Clearwater and Sun .
Clearwater service department sucks,in Sun Toyota every thing is nice while you are purchasing the car/truck but after that everything turns bad, sun claims to be the home of the lifetime warranty when we where going thru the paperwork they told me the usual 3 years 36k miles warranty and wen I asked what about their lifetime warranty they said that for the deal I got they cant give me that and honestly I dont think I got a heck of a deal, just few hundreds under msrp and that's it.
Ill try once with Pinellas Park and see how it goes,if doesn't work after that, I will be force to go to Toyota stadium in Tampa.

 

Honestly I have given up on dealer service in this area. I either go to Brewer’s Garage or JB Import. They are both in St Pete and have nothing but great experiences with both of them.

 

Pinellas park isn't any better