Here's a shocker...

[bobbo]

http://news.sympatico.cbc.ca/consumernews/canadian_tire_store_sells_questionable_repairs/4d3b7223

[Snake556]

Never saw that one coming...

Jeeze, Canadian Tire needs to smarten up. Someone's gonna get hurt or killed cause of them...

[Geno]

Heard horror stories of this place... go in only to replace tires, come out and seems they replace an engine!!

[Bugsly17]

unlicensed mechanics doing/signing they shouldnt. happens at local canadian tire every day. i know...i worked there!

people putting brake pads on the wrong way..HOW DO YOU DO THAT?

[MarusGTR]

*sigh* reminds me of last winter when the Sentra's alt blew during a bad snowstorm while I was on the campus. Drove back with a small spot in the windshield that was cleared by the wind turbulence on the hood and enough juice to spark the plugs (couldnt brake or idle since spark would get weaker, blew a couple of deserted red lights) and went to a local Nissan since I assumed were probably the only service still open.

They charged me 900$ for labour and I waited 6 hours for the new alt. Not like I had a choice.

F***.

BTW it was Moncton Nissan, Bathurst Nissan is top notch.

[archaeic_bloke]

yo man thats nothing...

my GF brought her 2009 VW jetta to canadian tire for an oil change... the drian plug was only finger tightened... her oil drained all into the street along the 2 mionute ride home.. of course she didnt notice.. so next morning when i saw blue smoke as she started the car.. checked the oil.. NONE! ...hahah imagine my surprise eh?...

"hey babe.. did u try to change the oil urself or something? lol where'd it all go!?"

i didnt really care cause its obvious they would be liable for damages, i bought some oil, put it in and went to merson instead lol.

[EMAGDNIM]

unlicensed mechanics doing/signing they shouldnt. happens at local canadian tire every day. i know...i worked there!

people putting brake pads on the wrong way..HOW DO YOU DO THAT?

How is that even possible?!?!? Anyways, my friend used to work there in HS and he use to tell me some crazy stories as well.

[krarks]

@Marus92

I don't see how that cost $900. Labour should not have been more than 150-160 so that means the part was either ridiculously marked up or cost a fortune! I don't even thin OEM would run that high man.

Anyways, as a mechanic, stories like this one (Can tire one) just makes my life that much harder. I see so many skeptic customers everyday and I don't blame them. Even working at a dealership, people do not trust us. Again, stories like this make them doubt what we tell them even more. Personally, I could never do that to another person. It's just not in me and I would never want it to happen to me.

This is a good lesson for anyone who doesn't service their own car. First off, don't take what the service adviser is trying explain to you as what is ACTUALLY going on. Service advisers are not techs. Their knowledge on vehicles is very limited. If so, ask for the tech to explain what's going on. If you still aren't 100%, have them show you. Don't be afraid to go back into the shop. If they won't let you see the problem, screw that shop and take it somewhere else. There is never a reason why you cannot see YOUR vehicle and have the problem shown to you.

[Manny-u*nit]

this is sad, last time i was at shitty tire there was a ferrari, looked like the one in magnum p.i getting worked on. i think it was probably for a out of country inspection but still i was shocked someone would actually trust canadian tire with a ferrari.. like comoooon people

[markc32]

diy!!!

[m_melen]

*sigh* reminds me of last winter when the Sentra's alt blew during a bad snowstorm while I was on the campus. Drove back with a small spot in the windshield that was cleared by the wind turbulence on the hood and enough juice to spark the plugs (couldnt brake or idle since spark would get weaker, blew a couple of deserted red lights) and went to a local Nissan since I assumed were probably the only service still open.

They charged me 900$ for labour and I waited 6 hours for the new alt. Not like I had a choice.

F***.

BTW it was Moncton Nissan, Bathurst Nissan is top notch.

900 IN LABOR? Are they 300 an hour? What a ripoff

[RHDskyline]

Service advisers are not techs. Their knowledge on vehicles is very limited.

Well this may hold true for some shops. it is not always true.

My father has been a service advisor/manager for the past 20 years. Prior to that. He was a technician. And ive been in the shop with him, when he literally has to explain every last detail to the technician. In that case. I would rather have the service adviser explaining to me. But of course there is no way of knowing which shop is like this and which shop isn't

As for taking your car to Canadian tire. I have never taken my car there and i always recommend against it to my friends.

I buy a lot of stuff there, but i install myself.

If the people behind the counter can't help me find a simple part, there is no way in hell i trust someone that works there to work on my car.

I believe that people who own a car (men specifically) should know how to do basic stuff like, oil changing, changing accessory belts, swapping tires, batteries, spark plugs. and stuff like that. Cause you will save a lot of money in the long run, and you know how the job was done.

Like my one friend. She felt her wheel shake and her dad instantly took it to Canadian tire. I told her once i get off work i can look at it. But they took it anyway. Luckly they didn't have room for her so she brought it home. When i got there, i took the "shakey" wheel off and noticed there was ice build up on the inside of the rim which would have threw the wheel balance off causing it to shake.

Got the ice out of it and put the wheel back on. Good as new.

I don't even want to know what Canadian tire would have charged to do that, and what they would have said was the problem. Even worse yet, they probably would have created more problems

Of course every shop is different and its a hit and miss. No way to know for sure.

[MarusGTR]

@Marus92

I don't see how that cost $900. Labour should not have been more than 150-160 so that means the part was either ridiculously marked up or cost a fortune! I don't even thin OEM would run that high man.

I was pretty pissed off about it man, but I took it and left. They lost most of the time trying to figure out what was wrong, which was kind of obvious. They changed the battery terminals too, but it's not like it should make a difference in labour. I'll never go there again though. I probably payed for the gas because the alt was outsourced or something.

Anyway, the alt looks fancy with fluo-green covers around the coil though

[Nismoist]

this is sad, last time i was at shitty tire there was a ferrari, looked like the one in magnum p.i getting worked on. i think it was probably for a out of country inspection but still i was shocked someone would actually trust canadian tire with a ferrari.. like comoooon people

Probably a Fiero to Ferrari conversion, it is more common than you would think, there were tons of kits that turned Fieros into Ferraris and Lamborghinis. I cant imagine an actual Ferrari owner going to Canadian Tire.

[gtrtt]

I worked with a guy who took his car to a toronto canadian Tire for an oil change and "tune up" . After he had picked it up it was fine but when it stated to rain a couple of days later his wipers wouldn't work. turned out to be that the wiper motor had been disconnected. True story- I was the one who found it and the way the harness was it was impossible to come off by itself and the connection was tucked away so it wasn't easily seen. That would have been an easy 'replacement" .

Nick