Toy-Auto Masters Englewood CO

If you live in Colorado, this is a heads-up!

Recommendation: AVOID this shop.

Summary: I took my perfectly functional 2017 Toyota 4Runner to Toy-Auto for an oil change and inspection (Which cost 248$), based on an employee's recommendation. Within minutes of leaving, my truck malfunctioned (loss of power, battery light). Upon returning to the business, the engine began smoking and the alternator failed catastrophically/the belt was destroyed and the pulley snapped off.

Issues: Mechanical Failure After Service: A major mechanical failure occurred immediately after their service, suggesting a potential connection.

(Dave)Owner’s Response: The owner refused to take responsibility, claiming it was coincidental and offering a meager “discount” on the repairs. I would pay 295$ (He would waive the labor, cost of the belt, and part of the alternator cost)

Unethical Business Practices: The owner’s behavior was unprofessional. Per our conversation, he appeared to place the blame on me and attempted to leverage the situation for profit.

Conclusion: This experience indicates a lack of accountability, poor customer service, and questionable ethics at Toy-Auto. Their actions put my safety and that of my child at risk who was in the car at the time the incident occurred. I strongly advise against trusting them with your vehicle.

 

All that happened from a simple oil change?

Were you referring to the serpentine belt?

 

Your 4runner would have a timing chain, Must have been the main serpentine drive belt for the accessories that failed. Did the belt or alternator fail or did the shop break it down further?

 

in the context of an oil change, even if they are grossly incompetent, how could they possibly cause this failure? maybe it was a complete coincidence?

 

The car started smoking, the alternator locked up catching the belt on fire. Broke the pulley and the alternator seized up. The belt snapped.

 

Either way, I will not be recommending this place to anyone or will they get any business from me moving forward.

 

Wow! You definitely had a bad day.

 

$248 for a oil change and a regular inspection?
The dealership charges half that for oil change + tire rotation + 100 point inspection (or what ever the number of points on the inspection they do). Very curious to know why you pay double for a regular oil change maintenance?

Based on the $$$ amount just trying to understand if there is any other service they did to have impact on your alternator to lockup. Oil change surely will not.

 

I agree that price is crazy for an oil change on a 4runner especially for an indie shop. But I think the alternator failure really was coincidental unless you were having them perform some related service. An oil change seems totally irrelevant to the issue. I would not recommend them due to the ripoff price on the oil change itself, but I would not consider them responsible for the alternator unless they had to mess with something near it. $259 for an OEM replacement alternator is a steal anyway.