Haha, He has kept it beyond the "few days" he suggested it would take so I am starting to wonder...I better "be amazed" in a good way, especially since I had some fall sightseeing drives planned for this week and next
Haha, He has kept it beyond the "few days" he suggested it would take so I am starting to wonder...I better "be amazed" in a good way, especially since I had some fall sightseeing drives planned for this week and next
I was amazed when I picked up the van today and they handed me a bill for $1500. The co-owner who quoted me 800 and did the work wasn't there, but after a brief chat with the other owner I drove my van home for $800. It wasn't going to end any other way.
He seems to have done a pretty good job. Its not perfect but the reinforcement fits, my hood closes and locks, he got the new used headlight in and it all looks squared up. You can hardly tell the tie bar was mangled. My fenders sit snug at the windshield again. The LED headlights spray all over the place, but they did that before, so I can't tell if its better or worse or exactly the same. I doubt that I could have done as good a job, so overall I'm happy with the work. Not sure what to think about the "misunderstanding," so I'm not sure if I should risk going back for my hood support, which is missing.
I need heat so first order of business is putting in the new PS reservoir so I can replace the blower housing, and seeing if I can mount the radiator properly and remove the ratchet straps currently holding it in.
At least they honored the original quote (very few do that). I've had that happen too on outside work. I wouldn't hold it against them unless they were jerks and/or refused to budge. I'm sure the guy talks to a lot of people and probably just forgot (it happens). Glad it's back to spec. Tim
Well his partner honored the quote, and he was very understanding. I still don't know what the partner who did the work thinks and I might never know, because I found the hood support in the back. I told them he should call if he had a problem and he didn't, so I presume we are good. I suspect it was just a mistake, or a very feeble effort to get more money in case I forgot the original quote. I didn't. And there's no way I was paying more than 800, I would have driven the van home yesterday no matter what they said. I carry a spare key in my wallet.
Got the radiator and ac/condenser mounted but I haven't hooked the ac lines up. I figure it will need new o-rings that I don't yet have, at the least, and maybe professional servicing. I don't know, but in October it doesn't matter anyway. I had to do some ratchet strap tugging to get the rad and ac mounts to line up and seat properly.
I may have to lash the grill to secure it, because its a about 3/8 inch shy of the mounting clip holes on one side when it lines up on the other. Or maybe I can enlarge the holes and make it work. The grill slides into the metal wings that come off the medial side of the headlights. Maybe there is a way to adjust those instead but I don't feel like taking my headlights out right now. I'll either lash the grill in or keep birds out of my condenser with hardware cloth until i figure out a permanent solution.
I cleaned the crud out of the new used PS reservoir with brake cleaner and rinsed it out with tranny fluid, and will install it and refill the coolant today. I have a bad feeling about how well the ventilation hood will fit on the tie bar. I think that's going to be my biggest problem.
It ain't gonna be perfect anyway. I never wanted a maroon-silver Previa but that's what I'll have. Tim, did you sell your front end cover when you got rid of your Previa? I really wish I had bought that one on ebay a few weeks ago...I really hate the Le Bra ones...
Boom! I scored an OEM bra. I paid through the nose for it, but anything to preserve my pride.
Yeah, when Toyota quit making them I bought 5 or 6 extras and then we moved and I sold my Previa. They are stored in boxes.....somewhere, I just don't know where and I've been swamped with other things so no time to look. I'm glad you scored one. I probably would have given you one, but who knows when I'll find time to clean out my shop and my storage container. I'll probably post them here if I ever get to that point. Probably a job for after I retire. Lol. Tim
Well if you ever stumble across them I might still need one and I'd be mighty obliged, because the seller canceled my order due to nonavailability.
Thanks for lying on your website, getting my hopes up, and letting me order something that didn't exist, charging my account for it and then cancelling it after you have my money ToyotaPartsDeal.com. That's the first and last time I order from you.
Yes, I have placed many orders with them, many in excess of $1k. Lately it's been like 9 out of 10 parts that are NLA. FWIW I've had several orders with over 10 items that they completely cancelled due to all items having a "Discontinued" status. It often takes weeks before they mark those items as NLA. Sometimes just to be a PITA I will order them over and over again until they finally mark the items NLA. But this isn't exclusive to them, everybody does it. Oh the joys of owning older obsolete vehicles, and it's way, way worse for the older vans (which I still use as daily drivers). Tim
PS: I'll pm you if/when I run across these.
The funny thing is, a couple weeks ago they didn't list any. So when they said they had them, I figured they really must have some. I never order from online toyota websites because they always show things that I know are not available. I let my enthusiasm get the better of me this once.
Thank you Tim.
Not promising anything, but put your bra part number into these folks' website? I purchased an inductive Previa ABS wheel sensor from them a while ago I couldn't find anywhere else.
https://autoparts.beforward.jp/
"If you find yourself holding a sledgehammer or a crowbar, it's time for a break."
Nope, nothing there, but thanks. I searched a bunch of other Japanese websites too and no luck.
On the bright side I think my ventilation intake hood is going to work fine. It may not fit perfectly on the tie bar due to some lingering anomalies, at least the screw holes line up!
I managed to install the filler, but it wasn't easy. The posts line up with the bumper, but not with the posts on the tie bar wings becaue of everything being a fraction too far apart. I had to grind a slot on each side of the wings so I could bend the posts backward, out of the way. I only consider this a test fitting, I might bend them back and drill new holes in the filler for a more permanent fix. But knowing me, I won't. I have the tie bar and grill zip-tied in, and it looks pretty good but not perfect. I need a new turn signal light on one side because the flimsy little tab that screws it on broke off. I haven't found a solution other than buying a new one, but maybe one of you has figured one out.
By last night I was all ready to take a long colorful autumn drive today. I took it for a short test drive but afterward when I squeezed the upper radiator hose one more time to get any lingering bubbles out I felt something I didn't like. Turns out that the alternator pulley had nicked the back of the hose. I was going to blame the shop but it may have happened before I took it in, before the tie bar was fully pulled out It was bad enough that I didn't want to risk it. No hoses could be had until sometime next week, so I had no choice but to cannibalize the 93 and take its hose. What a freaking pain that simple job was! But a few hours later it was done, and now I should be good to go. I will probably get a new OEM hose and replace it when I flush the coolant.