1st Gen. Lunch Table - General Discussion

@FirstGenVol , TN, MO folks - good luck this weekend
https://youtu.be/iZqkfN-OMEQ?feature=shared

 

TITS

 

Possibly TITI..

 

Yep, great time to be outside when gnats aren't trying to get into your mouth or nose. haha

 

I'm at the Toyota dealership getting the RAV4 aligned. I asked them for a quote on the timing belt job for the Tundra.

New Timing belt, water pump and tensioner: $2,332.

The last time I had them replace the water pump and timing belt it was $900. So even when I remove the tensioner from the equation, their prices have more than doubled in 7.5 years. Fuck em.

Also spotted this really clean best Gen.

 

I seriously don't know how people afford to live anymore.... besides being in debt until death.

 

Yup. Service department labor hours have increased tenfold. The last time I checked our service department hours it was $250 per hour in GA. It's probably higher now.

 

One thing that does do though is make it much more logical to Buy More Tools, and do it yourself... at least that's what I tell my wife

 

Unreal. I would have paid $1,500. I can't justify $2,300 right now.

I just talked to @jpink . I think we're going to team up and knock out both trucks. His is also nearing due date. Mine will hit the 9 year mark around April 2026.

 

What a joke. I came in for an alignment and they "found" $2,700 worth of work.

I told my wife that if I die, to never bring her car here.

I also heard them trying to upsell an elderly man next to me. Once they left I told him to get a 2nd opinion and that their job is to upsell. He was being told their Camry needed front and rear brakes at 40k miles.

 

This is another reason I have zero regrets with getting into the best Gen. I do wish I got the double cab, but hey it might be in the cards in the future.

 

Depending on a down payment, but a new Tundra would run $800+ per month.

 

I generally go down the 'buy the tool' route. It's usually more cost effective and worst case, you can resell it if it is something you will never use again and get at least half your money back (though I don't think I have ever resold one so far!). Plus there is nothing like having the right tool for a job.

However, I did elect to get a shop to do the timing belt. Asked them replace the radiator too (they only charged for the part) as the coolant was mostly coming out anyway. The timing belt was more of a not wanting to bite off more than I can chew decision, as well as the work is warrantied. Next time round, I may do it myself. @Shifty' posted a link to a fabulous article on setting the timing in another thread. Three times actually!

I paid more than I could have elsewhere, but it's done. And amortized over 90-100,000 miles, really not that bad.

 

Even with $10,000 down payment, 800 a month only buys about a $50k truck. Barely into new 3rd gen territory.

 

https://youtu.be/r0HX4a5P8eE?si=IAxbBTUgm6Zq5N-4

 

Insane.

Hell, I know a coworker spending $1400 on a new Land Cruiser.....

 

How much is full coverage insurance these days? That alone is worth not driving something owned by a bank.

 

For $250/hr you should be getting screwed by an escort and not your dealer's service department.

 

Sea island red peas and collards over here last night. Seared cod for the oldest, pan-seared chicken for the youngest and missus and I. Red peas I basically make hoppin' john and serve with rice. Pot likker from my greens is stupid good. I'm pretty particular.

Solid company though. Reputable, honest, and a great selection of products. I hear people saying awesome things all the time. I want to say he's possibly a member here too?

 

Even the service depts suck now. You're lucky if you get free coffee and water, and a snack machine, and they're always overbooked so work takes hours sometimes. I won't go to the dealer for anything these days. It's just not worth it anymore, unless the service is free.

 

I always recommend full coverage insurance, even on older cars. If you were to ever wreck your vehicle, you insurance would pay for the other persons car to be repaired but you would get nothing on liability coverage.

If you had full coverage you wrecked, your insurance would pay for you a rental vehicle and a total loss settlement for car. I've seen a lot of customers put out in a bad way by having only liability insurance

 

If I had a used road force balancer and a 4-post alignment rack, I wouldn't have to goto them or any shop for anything. Still need a welder for exhaust though.

 

Correct, but full coverage for a $50k plus vehicle with complex electronics at the front and back is considerably more than on a 20 year old truck with no gizmos.

As the Tundra was a 3rd vehicle, it only added I think $50 to the semi-annual bill. Full coverage of course. So definitely a no-brainer.

 

I've got what I'd consider "Cadillac" coverage thru USAA on both our vehicles, '06 Tundra and '20 Highlander Hybrid. $500 deductible, uninsired motorist coverage up to $50k per accident (250 deductible), ample medical and liability, roadside with free tow up to 10 miles IIRC, and accident forgiveness. $158/mo on the HiHy and $105/mo on the Tundra. We never get in accidents, so the higher deductible on accidents we cause/claim isn't a big deal to me, and not worth the extra hundo or whatever a year to get it to $250.

There's a crapload I'm not mentioning included with our packages. Both cars are paid in full, so insurance and gas are what we're in for each month.

 

Some(maybe all) states require full coverage insurance on financed vehicles. There are some lower end insurance companies that do offer liability on brand new financed vehicles either way.....I've just had a customers 23 Camry towed into the shop. It ended up being $18,000 in damages and they couldn't pay to repair it. So now they towed it to their house and are still making payments on it. Only options are to keep it and fix it, trade it in as is and take a massive negative equity hit, or voluntary repossession.

 

USAA is a top tier insurance company. So is Chubb.

State Farm, Allstate and Progressive are some of the worst.

 

I'm not going to name a dealer, but last time I took my Subaru to a dealer 'because they know how to do it properly', the Subaru caught fire in the engine bay 90 miles later. Fortunately the vehicle alongside me saw it underneath the vehicle and jumped out of their car to let me know. Extinguished it before it really caught, so damage was very minor. Fire department came out, verified the fire was out and I then had it trailered back to Subaru dealer. To be fair to Subaru corporate, they took full ownership and responsibility. The tech had not properly tightened the drain bolt on the front diff. It dripped onto the cat and well, there you go.

However, the point is that the dealer techs are pressed to get as many jobs done as fast as possible. And as it's all flat rate, the quicker they do it, the more money they get. That same major service, they also did the brake fluid, but the cap for the brake reservoir was still had old grime on it. First thing you do wipe the lid before removing it. For all I know, they may have just done a turkey baster change.

 

So I'm not in good hands and they may not be protecting me from Mayhem like them?

 

I've heard and seen photos of the fuel lines being left loose after the thermo control valve replacements.