Need some car maintenance down south - where to go and not be ripped off? (rental)

[nickasarbata]

Question for you guys. I'm got a 2004 Toyota Rav4 which I inherited last year. It's at about 75k miles, and I want to take it for some maintenance. I'm noticing a little squeaking and it seems to be accelerating a bit more slowly than before. My mom took good care of it, but I'm not sure it's had an work done apart from oil changes.

I don't know much about cars, so I want to have it looked at to see what should be done, but I'm afraid of going in somewhere and just asking them what they think needs to be done. I don't want the mechanics just seeing dollar signs and telling me I have to tons of work. I'd like somebody to take an honest look and not scam me.

Any tips for myself or where I should go? I live between William Cannon and Slaughter, so somewhere south would be nice, and ideally I'd like the work done pretty rapidly. If they have to hold onto my car I'll need a rental to get to work in the meantime, so the faster they can work on it the better.

Thanks!

[suit-n-tie white guy]

Sun Auto on Slaughter lane. They are fair and honest. They are actually a chain from Phoenix named Sundevil Auto who are trying to crack the market here, so they are trying to build a customer base.

[suit-n-tie white guy]

Dont go to groovy auto down the street. They cant evrn change oil without remember to screw the cap back. On. Use Yelp thoigh, its your friend. Good luck.

Edit: just used yelp to check them out and wow they look bad. I it looks like I got off easy. There is a reason they have a groupon that shaves 80% off the price of their services

[TexasHorseLady]

Mark Larkin, An Honest Mechanic, only does Toyotas, and we've taken Toyotas to him for almost 30 years now. A wee bit north of Ben White and Congress.

[nickasarbata]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Mark Larkin, An Honest Mechanic, only does Toyotas, and we've taken Toyotas to him for almost 30 years now. A wee bit north of Ben White and Congress.

Thanks THL! He sounds like just the person I was looking for. I'll make an appointment right away!

[Don in Austin]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Mark Larkin, An Honest Mechanic, only does Toyotas, and we've taken Toyotas to him for almost 30 years now. A wee bit north of Ben White and Congress.

+1 on the recommendation for Mark Larkin without qualification. And this is coming from the owner of a shop that services Asian cars, including a lot of Toyotas. But there is plenty of work for all of us.

Mark does NOT take in any make other than Toyota.

I, too, would NOT recommend Groovy.

Don