__Canadian Tire couldn't diagnose a flat tire on a sunny day.

Canadian Tire couldn't diagnose a flat tire on a sunny day.

Don't let them fix your Honda, Acura, Dodge, Ford, etc.

Anybody else feel this way?

_I'm scared to even buy TIRES from them_ . . . I think they would screw
something up :-(

'Curly'

 

Then don't. Do they have no competition in your locale?

 

I hear ya Curly. I NEVER recommend anyone take their car to CT.

I have made this mistake, unfortunately more than once.... I had an old
1985 200sx. It was such a fun car.... had been rebuilt by the previous owner.
I guess he must have overtorqued the bolts holding the water pump onto the
engine, as one of these bolts snapped.

These were the days before I knew anything about cars.... I had already
replaced the rad as it looked suspect, but it didn't eliminate the leak. I
would be driving along, and all of the sudden all of my coolant would leak
out. Took it to CanTire as they were the only place I really knew of at the
time.

The bill ended up being over $1000 to replace a freakin bolt. Looking back,
knowing what I know now, I could have done the same repair for about $10-20.

Plus they buggered the timing when they put it back together....

Later, I softened and decided it was OK for them to change the oil in the
same car. Got it back and it was overfilled by over a liter.

Won't be going back there. Granted that some of the bad experience was
exacerbated by the fact that I knew nothing about cars at the time, but now I
won't even let them check my tire pressure.

t

 

-
===========================================

You missed the intent of my question.. I'm mentioning this as a Public
Service Announcement, for the poor souls that might wander in, assuming
that they've found the 'EXPERTS'.
A newsgroup search will confirm that many other Canadians wish somebody
had warned them . . .

'Curly'

 

I usually have nothing good to say about ANY car repair place but my
one experience with Canadian Tire was very positive!!

I was in Toronto at a weekend family gathering when my daughter's Civic
began misfiring badly. (And this was AFTER she spent $400 in NYC on a
tuneup at a Honda dealership the week before to supposedly fix the
problem.) She had to drive back to NYC Sunday to return to work on
Monday. I normally do ALL of my own work but I had no tools and no
choice but to take it to CT...the only place open on Sundays.

I was in the shop and watched the mechanic work. He was extremely
thorough and tracked it down to a bad MAP sensor. He couldn't get the
part before closing and we discussed options. We rigged a temporary
fix and she got back to NYC safe and sound. All for $80.

This guy may be the exception, not the rule, but I was extremely
satisfied.

--Jeff

 

Its all a crap shoot. What Tech is working; what are his skills- does he
have any. There are times when a customer ask questions on what to do or
how to do it and I have no clue and others where the knowledge is right
there in my head. The "Lead" tech at my last shop (25+ years exp)couldn't
do diag worth sh*t; he would throw parts at it; I would do my best and try
to logic out the problem. At my current shop one of the main tech can't use
a wire diagram well- but can rip a subie trans apart.
Finding a leak in a tire is the same. Sometimes we get a tire repeatedly in
for a persistent leak- I would rather find it and fix it-- it's always
easier that way; but some leaks wont leak for you. Sometimes you have to put
90 psi in it, others dismount it and inspect. Sometimes you put a new
valvestem in and hope for the best.

We are just people with different levels of knowledge- experience and
abilities. roll the dice.



--
Stephen W. Hansen
ASE Certified Master Automobile Technician
ASE Automobile Advanced Engine Performance
ASE Undercar Specialist
Currently working at a Subaru Dealership

http://autorepair.about.com/cs/troubleshooting/l/bl_obd_main.htm
http://www.troublecodes.net/technical/
http://www.familycar.com/Alignment.htm

 

<snip>



The problem with Canadian Tire is they tend to get the same people as Sears
and Firestone.

 

True- Put Goodyear, Midas in that phrase too.
Firestone gave me a start- Just out of the military; 20 years on jets and
such; shadetree mech in my spare time. Firestone was hell- I had some good
times and met some great people, and I learned. I did some good work there
.... and some stuff, well I learned from. Nobody can come from a auto tech
school and know everything, doing the job is the best source for learning. I
am amazed at the dealership I work for; for the knowledge of how "Other"
cars work is slim for most of them; if it's not a Subie they won't touch it.
Oh today I got taught "Subie auto transmission 101" it was a good day (but
no money)
Anyway I will never go back to Firestone; though I will always have there
tires on my cars (mostly).

Steve

 

The problem with most large chains like this is simply that they have trouble
KEEPING the good techs around. Internal politics, excessive paperwork, inane
procedures thought up by bean counters... muck and more muck that just
constantly drives away (no pun intended) the better minds and favors the
mediocre. Individual mechanics' specialties aren't used appropriately or even
recognized - like the example of the guy who could rebuild a tranny blindfolded
but couldn't read a wiring schematic to save his life: in some chain shops he'd
just be tossed at whatever job was up next when he was available, regardless of
whether he was the best one for that job.

Environments like this don't encourage creative problem solving, they just want
you to get the cars in and out quickly, while selling the customer as many parts
as you can get away with. (Not to sound TOO cynical, of course, because many of
the stores also have excellent LOCAL management, but they're still accountable
to someone higher up who only sees the balance sheet, and you end up with the
same mediocrity there as well).

Those with the real skills end up working for smaller shops where their
abilities are appreciated, or even open their own shops. If you're lucky, you
catch the Big Chain Shops when they have an up-and-coming prodigy, before he too
gets sick of the BS and leaves for greener pastures.

Sadly, this is true of most technical vocations: when I was doing IT support for
a small digital-arts school, I worked for a manager who recognized my particular
skills and knowledge and used them appropriately, and as such I always found
work interesting and challenging. As the company grew and the bean-counters
started having more say, that manager was turfed and his job taken over by the
guy above him (two jobs for the price of one manager!), who constantly told me
what a great tech he thought I was, yet left me doing the same pissant flunky
jobs for three years.

The school getting bought out by a big international corporation (the people who
own all those Art Institute schools) was pretty much the end, when the
bean-counters finally took over completely: the whole tech department was cut
back, support hours slashed, and being the guy who did the evening and weekend
shifts (by choice), I was one of the first to go. Which was fine with me, as I
was about that close to telling them to go **** their collective hat anyway.

I ended up working for a small company (just the owner and his wife), where my
skills are recognized and appreciated and properly utilized. My boss is
relaxed, largely the same personality as me so we get along great, and he's not
afraid to throw me at jobs that sometimes I'm not even sure I can handle (I have
yet to disappoint). Two of our competitors have tried several times to hire me
away, but they're both larger companies with the same kind of strict rules and
procedures and bean-counterish ideas - I'd have to be at the office at 7:30
every day, despite it being an hour commute from home and not even necessarily
in the same direction as the job, I'd have tons of paperwork to deal with...
they couldn't pay me enough (well, they could, but I don't think they'd really
want to GIVE me that much!)

Anyway, to wander back on track: the best mechanic I ever found was another
small operation, young guy who loved working on cars, and his wife running the
office. They did some great work on our vehicles, the guy was brilliant, and
their prices were good. We sent all our friends there, and they all agreed.
Then one day the shop was gone, and we never found out exactly why (I'd heard
they had a kid and he had to stop working such long hours). I don't know if
he'd ever been through the who big-chain muddle, but I wouldn't have blamed him
if he had and didn't last there.

 

AMEN!