Trusted Mechanic in Managua?????

[Gringo Canuck]

Hi all, it is the Whiny Canadian again,lol Appears we are going to buy the 2002 RAV 4, but just recently the engine trouble light came on! Present owner took it into Auto Nica, which I believe is an actual toyota dealership and they said ALL 4 oxygen sensors need to be replaced!! Yes it has 105,000 miles on it, BUT, very weird for all 4 to go at the same time!!

Does anyone have a trusted mechanic that has the scan tool to be able to read the codes and that can replace the sensors if so required!

As said I am in Managua, and dont really know my way around and speak no Spanish,lol luckily I have a wife who is fluent, whewwwww. So if u have a contact phone # that would be super and sort of where abouts he is, or if they come to ur house, which I have heard some do.

Thanks again

Scott

[Latin Latitudes]

Scott,

We've been very happy with a garage called Amadeus. We have a fuel injected gasoline engine 1998 Ford Ranger (from Canada) and I wouldn't even consider another garage, not even the Ford dealership. And living in San Juan del Sur we would love to find something closer but haven't so far.

The address is : Km 1 Carretera Norte, del colegio Loyola 2 c. arriba (2 blocks east). This is the west end of Carretera Norte a little bit east of the baseball stadium and Cancelleria (Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores). The owner's name is Oliver and he speaks English very well. The office number is 2222-3817. They also have a web site:http://talleramadeus.com/ESPANOL/UPLOAD/index.html

[catahoula fan]

living in San Juan del Sur we would love to find something closer but haven't so far.

There is an awesome garage on the north side of Jinotepe, right on the Pan Am Hwy. We've used Pedro for years for repairs on our Toyota Hilux and the Honda CRV. He is bilingual, although I believe he is the only one at the garage that is. Prices are never gouged and they don't break one thing while fixing another.

Contact info:
2-532-2733

[NCGirl]

DO NOT DO IT!!!!! Trust me, I had one of these cars for 3.5 years.... bought it brand new. Warranty went out, and I swear within 1 week of it going out of warranty the same thing happened. I took it to the Toyota place and they told me that all the oxygen sensors went out... at the same time. Was going to be right at $2000 to fix. They offered to throw in half since it was so close to the warranty expiring. I did it..... they light went back on within 20 miles and so drove it to the nearest toyota dealership in the area I was heading. They hooked it up to their computer and told me that all four sensors needed to be replaced!!!!! I informed them that I had just left a toyota dealership after replacing the sensors!

Needless to say, I rode around with the light on. A few months later it came time to get it inspected. Could no get the thing to pass inspection since the light was on. I had a smart mechanic to reset the light thinking I would outsmart the SOB's but they knew it had been reset and told me to drive 50 miles and come back after 20 miles or so, the light was back on. I tried every which was I could to get this car to pass inspection but no go.....

I put the car on CL in Florida where they did not need inspection at about $4000 less than "current value" and explained the problem. Some dealer bought the car sight unseen and sent a truck to NC pick it up. I was so happy to get rid of this car I about cried....

A few weeks later I got a notice from Toyota that there was a recall, a $20 part was causing the computer to mis-read and say that all four oxygen sensors were bad.

My lawyer drafted up a nice letter to Toyota and they sent me a nice check for my trouble.

Please do some research!!! Your oxygen sensors are most likely fine. You will most likely need to buy that $20 part though......

[Gringo Canuck]

Thanks all!!! I sure do not trust the Toyota dealership here, but with a vehicle with 105,000 miles, its a very good chance the O2 sensor is gone! They now said it was only 2 of the 4 and recommend the other 2 be changed as well,lol I think I will give Amadues a call as they are the closest. Many Thanks all

[NCGirl]

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2...07/030894.html

http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/Re...ota&model=RAV4

Found my old paperwork:
SSC-60I recall notice

contact toyota and make sure the recall work was done before chasing after problems that are not there, might be a simple fix. I liked the car but sure hated all the problems I had. If I had gotten the recall notice before selling mine I might still have it!

[Gringo Canuck]

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2...07/030894.html

http://autos.msn.com/research/vip/Re...ota&model=RAV4

Found my old paperwork:
SSC-60I recall notice

contact toyota and make sure the recall work was done before chasing after problems that are not there, might be a simple fix. I liked the car but sure hated all the problems I had. If I had gotten the recall notice before selling mine I might still have it!

Thank you, appreciate it

[Gringo Canuck]

Well not buying the RAV 4 after all! lol The gal was not happy with the price we agreed upon. She figured she should be able to get alot more for it. And maybe she can abit more, but for me it truly was not worth anymore than what we agreed upon! So I said if your not happy, we can just cancel our deal. So thats what we did! I think it was a wise decision the more I think about it. I went out to put some paperwork in the car for her and wow what a moldy smell. I'm thinking it must have had water damage or something!! I didnt notice that smell before, but would explain why she had 4 windows part way down when she dropped the car off the night before!! I had put them up, so over night I guess that smell got to show its true colors!! Hope it works out for her, but I think it worked out for the best!!

And I did email back and forth with the owner of Amadeous, Seems like a nice gentleman! Thanks

[Latin Latitudes]

Catahoula - thanks for the tip. Will check it out.

Anna - Just an idea, if you are still looking for a car. Amadeus seems to do a fair bit of work on vehicles owned by folks in foreign missions and the diplomatic corp, judging by the license plates I've seen. Often they are in Nicaragua for a fixed (short) term assignment and when their work is over (or term has expired) they leave Nicaragua and have to get rid of a vehicle (amongst other things). At one time we were thinking of another vehicle and Oliver said that occasionally he gets requests from vehicle owners to ask around for buyers. Nothing came up in the time frame we were looking at but maybe you could have better luck. Just be careful--some of these vehicles come from Europe, Canada, the U.S. and although generally high end (quality?) vehicles they may be difficult to service with regard to sourcing spare parts. (Disclosure - I have no interest what so ever in Amadeus or its' personnel; just a satisfied customer happy to have found a trustworthy business offering a quality service.)

[Gringo Canuck]

Good idea, will send him an email!! TY