johnyang97 (AT) gmail (DOT) com, 4/14/2007,6:16:05 PM, wrote:

[snipped]

I know it is common practice to change the water pump at the same time
that the timing belts are replaced but I must say that the three
Toyotas I've had that have had timing belts replaced twice each have
not had their water pumps replaced. Each time I have gone to the
dealer to have the belt replaced they have inspected the pump (however
they do that) and told me it looks fine. I am currently at 156K miles
on my 97 Camry and the 94 Camry had 162K miles when I sold it. My
Sienna van is at 120K miles and it is still OEM pump.

If you do end up having the work done by your trusty mechanic make sure
you have those bearings and tensioners that the timing belt rides on
looked at carefully or also replaced.

"badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote

Good point. Water pump life is in the neighborhood of 150K miles, the OP's
Camry probably does not need it at this time.
--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

"Ray O" <rokigawaATtristarassociatesDOTcom> wrote

crankshaft seal should be OK,

Uh, Ray, I guess I'm living on borrowed time, because my '97 Camry now has
137,200 miles as of this week, and I'm still using the original spark plugs
and wires. I've never even had them out to look at them! And the car runs
perfectly, starts instantly, etc.
I don't expect the "J" in front of the VIN number has anything to do with
it, do you?
(Yeah, I'm one of those rascals who has the creed "If it ain't broke, don't
fix it" and so far it has worked for me, although I have replaced the timing
belt and water pump.)
But as far as 'tuneups' go, with replacing parts in the ignition system, I
say "why?"

"mack" <mackerel (AT) dslextreme (DOT) com> wrote

Camry. Spark plug performance tends to deteriorate gradually so there is
little, if any noticeable change in engine starting and drivability,
although emissions performance can deteriorate after 60,000 miles, making
the catalytic converter do more work.

That said, I don't practice what I preach and stretch a lot of maintenance
items by 25 to 50% on our vehicles. I try not to go further than that on
maintenance items because that stuff will if all of these conditions exist:
A) my wife is driving the vehicle, B) outside temps are below 0 degrees, C)
it is dark outside, D) at least 40 miles from home, E) on a holiday or
Sunday when the dealer parts department is closed, F) my wife or I have to
be someplace to be when the part fails. ;-)

--

Ray O
(correct punctuation to reply)

This mechanic would have earned that trust. Why not just tell him to use
OEM parts and let him do his job the way he earned the trust.

If you supply your own parts chances are your effort, extra and missing parts
and his labor will make the bottom line more expensive anyway. Not to mention
a defective or incorrect part become your problem.


Dan

Danny G. wrote:

I agree. If he supplies the parts, then it's his responsibility if
something goes wrong, but by the sound of it, the car will be gone from
the location where the repairs will take place.

My trusted mechanic owns shops in San Francisco and New York, but I
doubt that anyone ever tried to get something fixed at one location that
broke in another.

"SMS" <scharf.steven (AT) geemail (DOT) com> wrote

If he takes it to a chain store (monro, NAPA-affiliated centers, American
Car Car Centers - http://www.accconline.com/ and others), he can get a
warranty.

If he takes it to a Toyota dealer, there is a warranty, too
(http://www.toyotaownersonline.com/pa...uarantee.html).

Jeff

"Jeff" <news (AT) googlemail (DOT) com> wrote

I apologise for not adding: All the above warranties should be valid
affiliated places accross the nation, not just the store where the work was
done. But, of course, you need to double check.

Jeff

On Sun, 15 Apr 2007 23:09:06 GMT, "Jeff" <news (AT) googlemail (DOT) com> wrote:

I had my muffler replaced at 70K miles at one dealer and had it
replaced free of charge at another dealer at 204K miles.

Parts and Labor free....

--

Scott in Florida

Hi Hachi,
Re. a shop only getting 10% off list from the dealership on parts,
that was at an independent shop in New Haven, CT where I was friendly
with the owner and he'd tell me what it was like running his
business. It was a literally a one-man shop run by a guy who was only
20 years old at the time, but who was very professional and
competent-- one of his friends said he had started working on cars
with his dad when he was 6 years old or something. From what I recall
there was only 1 Toyota dealership in the area, so I guess they'd have
had a monopoly on parts.

Now I live in the Boston area and usually get my repairs done at a
shop in Roslindale, at a 2-man shop that's been around forever and
that the locals who have lived here for decades use. They don't use
OEM parts. It's a working-class neighborhood and customers may be
less willing to pay OEM prices there. I assume that if you have a
12/12,000 parts/labor warranty on your work then you need to use
somewhat decent parts, otherwise it'll cost you in free re-do's.

A few times I've had work done in Brookline, which is a much wealthier
neighborhood. Once at a "foreign motors specialist" type place where
they double-charged me on labor (replaced the inner tie robs and then
also tacked on a couple hours extra labor to replace the rack and
pinion boots, which had to have come off anyways to do the tie rods).
A couple months later I saw the shop owner's name in the local
newspaper-- he was arrested on 5 outstanding arrest warrants! Don't
know what the outstanding warrants were for. The shop is still open;
I have no idea if he's still in charge there. A couple other times
I've gone to another shop in Brookline that means well, but I don't
trust their work as much as the place in Roslindale. E.g., when the
waterpump was rumbling, they insisted it was the front exhaust pipe
leaking so they replaced the front exhaust pipe (water pump seized
1000 miles later).

The '89 Corolla SR5 is doing great these days and running like it just
rolled off the boat from Japan yesterday. I'll remember to touch base
with you if/when I need to unload it someday...

John