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2001 Toyota 2 wheel drive - 3 piece axle (outer tube, rubber gasket for lack of a better explanation and an inner shaft) 140,000 miles before the first rebuild.
Now the first rebuild failed in 6 month and 40,000 miles? WTF right
The first rebuild was done by a local auto shop, I did not know who they used initially.
The second rebuild was done directly thru Phoenix Rack and Axle because I had used them 2 times in the past on my 4x4 and camaro back in the day and I had a positive experience.
I went to PRA directly after taking to them on the phone I met Jason G. the sales person and he IMMEDIATELY he said nope.... you need "A single axle rebuild" or it will fail again as that driveshaft is junk!
Now the crux of this review is that I was told by Jason it is common knowledge in the industry and the initial driveshaft re-builder should have known and communicated this info.
So great Jason knew his stuff and well the auto shop must have used a inferior driveshaft shop so Ill refer PRA after the job is done and I am happy (and yes look for some $$$ for the extra cost)
OK for reference from the day I picked up my vehicle up from the auto shop after the initial driveshaft rebuild it had a vibration ... I thought its old.. maybe suspension but I accepted it as "just the ride".... if yo do the math I drive 222 miles a day.... I notice the ride.
So I took off (yes this little driveshaft issues delayed my trip to Missouri to see mom) and started driving and OMG it was smooth.... it stayed smooth and now almost 6000 miles later it is STILL smooth... this driveshaft rocks!
So I made the call to the local auto shop and told my story, they listened, heard and asked if they could review and call me back. OK I am good with that.... now at the end of my rant (yea I was irritated it cost me almost $650.00 to fix this issues I already paid them to fix) I mentioned that I used PRA and it came out great and they should change to them!
Well low and behold guess who they used ... yep Phoenix Rack and Axel... well now we have a conundrum as the same driveshaft shop did the first repair and then the second UPGRADED repair that worked. I said good by and waited.
2 days later I get the call/text and ultimately I was told that PRA essentially said "pound sand" that were not going to help out the shop ... now mind you this shop has used them for years so there should be some loyalty here/customer retention/ something to keep them happy as they send them all their driveshaft business.... but NOTHING!
This means as a single user you really mean nothing to them, get it?
So I called and asked to talk to the owner... he did take my call and almost immediate became defensive, agitated and combative. He was very clear from the onset he was NOT going to offer any refund .... honestly I can afford the repair but it was the principle of it.
His comments included:
They are a production shop and the guys in the back work 40 hours a week and they work off of worksheets so they cannot be accountable for missing a issue?
Its not THEIR job to recommend the correct fix (funny Jason immediately recommended one to me) maybe they need a quality inspection manager - Jason is my recommendation!
He did not know and or was not aware of the Toyota issue - Jason was - so how could he hold any blame for the failure?
It was uncommon for a drive shaft to fail at 40,000 after they rebuild them. But wait mine did and you fixed it AGAIN?
Ultimately it was the auto shops fault!!! The shop who sends their business and to PRA and rely on PRAs expertise to rebuild the driveshaft? Ouch now that was low....
So in the end, if the option was give to me to rebuild what I had $199.00 vs the recommended rebuild $295.00 and I declined it, then this issue is on me but it was not!
The lack of caring about a job well done by the staff of PRA, the kack of knowledge by the owner and the absolute FU approach to taking care of their clients (the auto shop) says to me it might me time for a new driveshaft shop in town....
The best part of the whole experience is that the OWNER of the Auto shop bent over backwards to make PRA look good and the OWNER of PRA threw the auto shop under the bus for their shoddy work.
My advice is look around and ask who your mechanic uses for their driveshaft repairs as Phoenix Rack and Axle no longer deliver the Quality or Customer Service I grew up knowing from them for!
Heck the auto guy apologized and the PRA owner just hung up..... so unprofessional.
Thx