I took my 2010 Land Cruiser to Bighorn Toyota multiple - clate
I took my 2010 Land Cruiser to Bighorn Toyota multiple times—first for a full inspection after buying it. I approved every repair they recommended, plus extra preventative work (radiator, water pump, spark plugs, fluids, etc.). The vehicle was running great.
Later, another shop found coolant dripping down the back of the engine. I immediately scheduled a repair at Bighorn. The morning they were supposed to start, the service advisor called claiming nothing was leaking and they recommended against resealing the valley plate or cam tower seal. I told her another shop had confirmed the leak. Shortly after, she called back saying the tech “checked again” and now did find a leak, and they recommended resealing. I approved the repair.
They originally quoted four days. Then they called twice saying they misquoted labor and increased the quote by $3,000 after the engine was already torn apart. I approved it. I didn’t get my vehicle back for almost three weeks.
When I picked it up, I immediately noticed the invoice said “resealed per customer request but was not leaking,” completely contradicting what I had been told on the phone. The bill was over $9,200.
I drove toward home. Before I made it from Glenwood Springs to Rifle—about 30 miles—the engine developed a severe noise. I pulled over, called Bighorn, and was told to have it towed back. No urgency. No concern. No offer to help. I paid $335 out of pocket to tow it back.
Then things got worse. Over a week passed with no calls, no updates, no answers, and I could not get through to anyone. I sat on hold repeatedly for 10–20 minutes at a time until the call disconnected. I drove across town while on hold and walked into the dealership still listening to their hold music.
I asked to speak with the service manager, Peter Lyons. I showed him my phone—still on hold 18 minutes. He looked up my vehicle, walked to the garage, and came back saying my engine had “spun a bearing” and failed. No one had bothered to call me. I was never asked for approval to pull the engine. Yet there it was—my engine already on a stand.
They showed me the failed bearing and commented that the other bearings still showed nearly new cross-hatching, indicating minimal wear. They also told me they found a large amount of dried coolant in the valley area and suggested the engine “probably overheated”—the very leak I brought it in for, the leak they first denied, then admitted, and yet my invoice states it “was not leaking.”
They denied all responsibility.
What followed was more silence—no returned calls or emails for over a week at a time. They offered to replace the engine for $18,000 (their claimed cost), but when I emailed and called repeatedly to move forward, two more weeks passed with no response.
I lost all faith in their service department and had the vehicle towed to Western Slope Toyota. The difference was night and day. Western Slope communicated professionally, returned calls, kept me updated, and went through my old engine. They found no clear cause of failure except catastrophic oil starvation to the one bearing—but they did note a large amount of dried coolant still in the valley, meaning Bighorn did not clean the area after the reseal. At minimum, the job was sloppy and unprofessional.
I cannot prove Bighorn caused the engine failure, but it was running perfectly beforehand and failed within 30 miles of their repair. Coincidence? Maybe. But extremely unlikely.
What is not disputable is their total lack of communication, lack of professionalism, contradictory statements, unapproved teardown of my engine, failure to notify me it had failed, and repeated refusal to answer calls or emails.
Based on my experience, I do not recommend Bighorn Toyota to anyone.
I will never use their service department again, and I strongly caution others before trusting them with major repairs.
As a long-time Toyota owner, this was by far the worst service experience I’ve ever had.
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