Recommended Toyota service in west Raleigh/Cary, NC?

Hi:

A friend's 1988 Toyota Camry has what I think is a broken front CV joint.

Can anyone recommend a local repair shop in Raleigh or Cary?

The car is in west Raleigh, near Cary, at the moment. This Camry has

Using Google to look at old posts, I see these recommendations for Cary and Raleigh:

Cary Car Care Phil's Toy Store Tao Auto Thompson Automotive QualityPlus Automotive

Any comments or suggestions?

Please post comments to the group so everyone can benefit from your comments. Thank you in advance for your comments!

One more place I've seen recommended in the groups:

Metric Motors

TAO auto (one of the few remaining highly-respected repair places in the Triangle) now works Toys in addition to Hondas. Part of his expansion includes a shop in Cary.

Thanks! Looking over Google searches of newsgroups, Phil's and Tao are the places I see recommended most frequently, although that may be partly because they're (IMHO) the best-known local places.

Any other suggestions from other readers?

Well, someone in the local triangle.general group might know about good area shops in North Carolina. But you do realize when you added the crosspost to alt.autos.toyota it goes worldwide, right...?

It might help if you describe the exact signs and symptoms that the car is showing. There are several Toyota trained technicians hanging out here that can confirm your suspicions - or it could be something totally different.

(Example: If it crunches/groans but only while going into a driveway or cycling the front suspension with the steering wheel cranked hard over to one side, that's the steering stop bolts. The replacement nylon caps are a few bucks, a dab of grease on the stop bolt heads is almost free.)

That way when you walk into a local shop you have a better idea of how it works and what may be wrong, and they can't try to sell you unnecessary repairs on a system that isn't causing the problem.

Can the car be driven at all? (If not, and the axle shaft is dangling down loose on one side, that's what I'd call a sign...) ;-)

If it's ticking, popping, clanging, squealing - exactly when? Coasting or under load? Only in a turn?

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Yes, I do know that my crossposting would be seen by many folks. I posted to both newsgroups because my Google searches showed that in the past, local Toyota owners were posting there about local repair shops in my area.

Anyway, based on what I found in Google searches of both newsgroups, I decided to go with Phil's Toy Store. Thanks to all for your comments!

Actually, it's not my car. I've only driven it across a parking lot to get it behind the tow truck. All I can say is that it makes clunking noises on the the left front side when driven. The brake and suspension on that wheel appear to be OK and the wheel is bolted on correctly and securely. Another friend removed the wheel from the car and made the diagnosis of the broken CV joint.

A little bit, but the clunking sound is loud enough to be distracting. I'm no expert, but it appears to be the CV joint or something connecting the transmission to the wheel that's causing the problem. Anyway, I'm trusting the mechanics to sort it out.

Again, thanks to everyone for your comments! If I have further questions, I'll post again.

On 23 Jan 2006 09:11:15 -0800, snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com defied the laws of time and space to say:

I can second the recommendation for Tao; it's where I took my car when I had a Honda.

Nowadays I have a Pontiac, and it goes to Cary Car Care. I can also highly recommend them; they're honest and they do good work.

Before Tao I took my cars to Rose & Sons; I don't know if they're still in downtown Raleigh, though.

-Bertha

I always use Phil's. I suspect Tao is good too.....

Browns Auto Alignment (I think that's the name) located on Wake Forest Rd just south of where it goes under Capitol Blvd and turns into Atlantic Ave.

Good prices, reliable work.

Anything with FWD is going to require periodic CV joint replacement. The cheapest, most reliable way to do it is just to have factory rebuilt axles installed. There's two axles and you'll save hassles down the road doing them both at the same time. That gets all 4 CV joints & it's the least labor intensive way (i.e. lowest shop rate).

Browns charged $165/axle + tax for my Mazda.

It's not that hard to do yourself if you care to. I've done it before. The first time I undertook it, it took a day or so (be sure you have ALL the tools you need before starting, otherwise you have to WALK to the parts store to get any tools you lack).

Browns took 2 hours, but they've got the lifts & don't have to work with the car on jack stands ... or walk out Atlantic Av to the NAPA store and back for a special wrench to fit VW bolt heads (which T-Hoff didn't have).