Any known good dealers in the California - Bay Area region that won't rip me off on labor for the TRD Lift Kit?

[PdlMnk]

I did post this in the regional sub, but not much traffic there., so I hope y'all don't mind me posting twice. Here's what I said over there.

I just bought a 2026 TRD ORP Premium Hybrid. I called two dealerships today and the labor costs for the TRD Kit were insane. One wanted $5600 just for the labor! The second one wanted $3100, but still way overpriced. I mean, I get I live in the Bay Area and things are more expensive but holy fuck nuggets! $3100 is about double of what I would expect to pay on the high end.

And I'm not just pulling numbers out of my ass. Reading on here and on reddit, people are paying between $1000-$1500 for labor. I would expect $1600 max here. Thoughts? Any known good dealerships that won't rip me off? I have a call into a local 4x4 shop, but I'd rather go the dealer route so I can keep the warranty in tact. Thanks!

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[ToYoDaMan]

I'm in Northern Cali but if I had to pick a dealership in California, I would probably take it to LongoToyota.
They have a special customization department, 626 Customs that specialize in oem and aftermarket installation.
Since they based out of a Toyota dealership, parts they install oem or aftermarket are still covered under Toyota's warranty. If you do call, please verify. I can't be positive. This is based on other postings I've read.
I'm not sure how steep their pricing is but can give it a try.
Let us know who you end up going with. Good to know dealerships with decent pricing.

 

[Teufelhund6173]

Skip Victory, in Monterey...they're into defrauding customers. From personal experience.

 

[addthem]

I'm in Northern Cali but if I had to pick a dealership in California, I would probably take it to LongoToyota.
They have a special customization department, 626 Customs that specialize in oem and aftermarket installation.
Since they based out of a Toyota dealership, parts they install oem or aftermarket are still covered under Toyota's warranty. If you do call, please verify. I can't be positive. This is based on other postings I've read.
I'm not sure how steep their pricing is but can give it a try.
Let us know who you end up going with. Good to know dealerships with decent pricing.

I got my trd lift kit installed at Longo for 1260 last week. I drove a few hours to go there because closest dealers were quoting 3-4k.
Took them 6 ish hours and they gave me a loaner for the day. Would recommend, but they are a huge dealership and it was sort of get you in and out feel. They have food and Starbucks and rental car onsite.

No complaints on the install. I did notice some resistance last 10% of full turn, haven’t checked if its rubbing, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t since I’m on stock tires w/ pro wheels.

 

[mfoga]

So I asked my dealership a month ago and they are calling it a 10 hour job plus alignment. My quote was pretty much the same as you low end one. It was around 3k.

People are getting it cheaper because they don’t live in CA. Put dealer s hourly rate is HIGH in come cases it can 2-3 higher. Hence the price difference. I know Ed Martin said they have a lower price but also won’t discount the parts ever so that is a piece of the puzzle too. You aren’t going to find a dealership in Ca with a labor rate around 150 which is what you are looking for. If you get it down mid 2k call it a win. Or drive to another state and hope for a much better price.

 

[mfoga]

I got my trd lift kit installed at Longo for 1260 last week. I drove a few hours to go there because closest dealers were quoting 3-4k.
Took them 6 ish hours and they gave me a loaner for the day. Would recommend, but they are a huge dealership and it was sort of get you in and out feel. They have food and Starbucks and rental car onsite.

No complaints on the install. I did notice some resistance last 10% of full turn, haven’t checked if its rubbing, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t since I’m on stock tires w/ pro wheels.

What did you pay for the parts?

 

[addthem]

What did you pay for the parts?

I bought it from a different dealer during July 4 sale. About 2300, had to drive to pick it up.

 

[CO/ZA]

I think there is an internal program that dealers are missing, they're quoting straight off the street labor.

Since it is a Toyota accessory, I believe there is a special code where they pay the dealer 1/2 or 2/3 and you pay the rest.

An Autonation dealer quoted me $1275 off the bat from the parts counter.

 

[mfoga]

I think there is an internal program that dealers are missing, they're quoting straight off the street labor.

Since it is a Toyota accessory, I believe there is a special code where they pay the dealer 1/2 or 2/3 and you pay the rest.

An Autonation dealer quoted me $1275 off the bat from the parts counter.

Yeah I think part of it was it’s so new many aren’t aware of it yet.

 

[PdlMnk]

I got my trd lift kit installed at Longo for 1260 last week. I drove a few hours to go there because closest dealers were quoting 3-4k.
Took them 6 ish hours and they gave me a loaner for the day. Would recommend, but they are a huge dealership and it was sort of get you in and out feel. They have food and Starbucks and rental car onsite.

No complaints on the install. I did notice some resistance last 10% of full turn, haven’t checked if its rubbing, but I’m pretty sure it isn’t since I’m on stock tires w/ pro wheels.

Wow! At that price, it might be worth a road trip!

Can you elaborate on what exactly you got done? What wheels and tires and offset do you have Thanks for the tip!

 

[addthem]

Wow! At that price, it might be worth a road trip!

Can you elaborate on what exactly you got done? What wheels and tires and offset do you have Thanks for the tip!

I provided the new trd lift kit that I purchased from another dealer. They did the install for the lift kit and alignment and calibration. I kept my stock 265/70/18 tires that were already on trd pro wheels. They didn’t change anything with tires or wheels other than the alignment after they put them back on.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Well I realize not everybody has the skills or the tools to do a lift on a 4runner.
Watch some of the all dogs off-road videos on this process and you will see how easy it is.

And it can be summarized in a few easy steps.

R&R the UCA ( if going over 2 in).
R&R the coilover. Take it in for a wheel alignment and that's it.

 

[MikeD]

I did post this in the regional sub, but not much traffic there., so I hope y'all don't mind me posting twice. Here's what I said over there.

I just bought a 2026 TRD ORP Premium Hybrid. I called two dealerships today and the labor costs for the TRD Kit were insane. One wanted $5600 just for the labor! The second one wanted $3100, but still way overpriced. I mean, I get I live in the Bay Area and things are more expensive but holy fuck nuggets! $3100 is about double of what I would expect to pay on the high end.

And I'm not just pulling numbers out of my ass. Reading on here and on reddit, people are paying between $1000-$1500 for labor. I would expect $1600 max here. Thoughts? Any known good dealerships that won't rip me off? I have a call into a local 4x4 shop, but I'd rather go the dealer route so I can keep the warranty in tact. Thanks!

You ought to look for the several threads that cover lots of details about the Toyota TRD Lift kit - including these two:
Updates on OEM TRD Lift kit
TRD 2.5" Lift suspension installed - Ed Martin Toyota
I think most of your questions are addressed and lots of questions you didn't think of.
And there IS a Toyota price for the kit with installation. The dealer that I used printed out the accessory sheet with the Toyota price for the installed accessory. I've quoted my entry with a copy of that sheet below but, really, you should check out the whole thread. Chock full of real user experiences with the kit. (And much praise (from me and others) for Ed Martin Toyota who posted the actual installation guide with parts list.)
I'll be posting a bunch of comparative measurements of the TRD OR stock parts to the TRD Lift Kit parts and clearance changes to that first link at some point soon. (all the parts are bigger as one might expect - including new beefier longer axles vice the diff drop I would have done if I had installed the OME MT64 2135k kit that I was also contemplating.)

Congrats @DangItsDen and @CO/ZA - your rides look great. And your comments (especially the wife quote above:>) combined with a bunch of other info I'm going to share below 'for the good of the order' helped make my decision. I'm scheduled for dealer install later this week.

This post is a classic MikeD TL/DR but for those considering the TRD Lift Kit and other after-market solutions it may be helpful.

I was considering the OME #2135 kit and decided (after reading the detailed Toyota TRD kit installation guide for similar steps) that the process and time was ... daunting. So I got some estimates on installations for both kits from a reputable 4x4 shop. They wanted $2167 plus tax and alignment for the TRD lift kit and $5450 for the OME kit installed.

(BTW - I had two different 4X4 shops critique ARB/OME negatively. One said they "stopped selling the OME MT64 early after its release due to manufacturing problems - too many warranty claims." The second said they don't recommend them because of poor customer service from ARB - gave an example of not getting responses to service requests for a failed new winch that they were installing. I still think the OME is a great kit and these points were not a significant factor in my decision to go with TRD kit. But I thought them notable enough to share.)

For dealer install of the TRD lift kit, it turns out that Toyota sets the price under "accessories". I've not been able to navigate to the site shown in printout below, but the service advisor printed this out for me - with total price for the installed accessory consistent with what was posted by someone earlier in this or a related thread: $4430:

FWIW, I could pick up the kit at a different local dealer for same discounts someone else posted above:

I was told last Friday that there was one of these kits available in a PA warehouse and two in a NY warehouse. I suspect that most of the dealers in the mid-Atlantic/Northeast who have Internet Parts sales were "selling" one of those three kits. And one of them is now at my VA dealer service department, waiting for my TRD ORP.

Some other notable points from the service manager: He said that the accessory prices are set based on dealer getting 10% on cost for the part and a defined number of hours for the installation. He said that they pay for 9 hours but it "takes 16". He also noted that some of the time uncertainty are associated with those last several steps in the installation guide: 54. Configure TSS; 55. Configure Panoramic View; 56. Configure Parking Assist; 57. Adjust Headlight Aim.

So after all my research I pulled the trigger for the following primary benefits of the TRD Lift Kit:
1. That axel upgrade which obviates the need for a diff drop which is clearly a workaround - CV is beefier and longer (I think) and does not need diff drop to achieve good angle control. (I'm guessing a little on this but the rep at the 4x4 shop implied that axel upgrade is better than the diff drop he would sell me)
2. Dealer install maintains warranty. (And since my bigger tires are in the table in the install guide I think the caveats that Toyota puts on the accessory cover are .... dubious).
3. Dealer handles all the TSS "tuning" for height.

I decided that the $4430 accessory price (although not as good as at Ed Martin:>) was fair and about $1K less than what it would take to get the OME #2135 kit (without the benefits listed above).

I do not think I'm getting shocks as good as the OME MT64s. If I ever need to replace the shocks I guess I may upgrade then.

I'll show you all yet another Heritage Blue TRD OR with the lift in a week or two. I'm a little nervous about the height change - am doing this more for extended articulation than raw curbside height - but I know those things go together and I will learn to live with it. (And bumper upgrades for winch and swing out tire carrier might be in my future to push it down a bit).

I've got two days to go and could still pull out so advise still welcome

Edit: Updated to get images above to show (hope they do) and its almost too late for me to call it off - scheduled to start installation tomorrow morning.

 

[MikeD]

Well I realize not everybody has the skills or the tools to do a lift on a 4runner.
Watch some of the all dogs off-road videos on this process and you will see how easy it is.

And it can be summarized in a few easy steps.

R&R the UCA ( if going over 2 in).
R&R the coilover. Take it in for a wheel alignment and that's it.

Note that the kit includes new axles and knuckles so that is not quite it. (And the axle removal means a drain of the front diff - which is probably worth doing anyway.)
I could probably have done it myself but decided the personal time saved and having it installed with warranty protection by a dealer made sense for me. And dealer has the tools to do the Safety Sense 3.0 adjustments for the height change and alignment included. Check out the installation guide posted in the thread I linked in response to the OP above.

 

[PdlMnk]

OK, I just got quoted $1890 from my local reputable 4x4 shop. That's probably as good as it gets for the Bay Area. The only downside is Toyota isn't doing it, but it's the same TRD KIT, so shouldn't be an issue.

Total for kit and install is $4,488.76
Kit = 2598.76 shipped to me
Labor = $1890.00

The shop doing it is The 4x4 Shop in Livermore

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