this article makes me sick.

when I first started driving over 10 years ago. I'd go to some places that tell me I need to replace stuff all the time. Even though I know I just had it done like 3 months ago.

One guy even did a wheel alignment on me without asking my permission first! When I asked why he said, we didn't have time to wait for your response as it's time sensitive. FUCK. This was like 3 years ago. I bitched and moan but in the end settled for paying 50% of the cost cause I didnt want to argue.

BINGO, this is the problem with franchises/chains

Yea I get the amount of pressure on the franchisies to do business and keep their business running. However cheating customers into buying their products and replacing them when they are almost squeaky new is just crooked. Business is business, but you don't have to go that far.

This is why it's always good to know something about cars so you can always protect yourself in cases like these.

took my car to CT just to see what kind of things they'd come up with. i knew i had a loose cable and to change my almost rusted spark plugs.
they quoted me at i think 750 for new header, battery (replaced last jan), new head gasket, brake pads (replaced 4 months ago).

i then took it to my neighbor who i BELEIVE manages a shop.
1 hr later, he says my spark plugs need to be changed, aswell as a new cable of some sort. quotes me for something like 100, plus i gave him 50 for the work. only thing he missed, new tires lol.
always take it to a reputable source, not a source that you "FEEL" is reputable

shops trying to extract most they can from people, people are naturally greedy so of course they'll do this where they feel they can exploit people, i ain't even mad

but yea, its a sad sight

sad thing is, lots of reputable shops that do outstanding work, earn less than the likes of CT

PM me, I don't like to advertise where I work on the forum.

these sort of shops need more recognition

Learning to be a weekend mechanic is gonna save u tons of money in the long run. The truth is many minor things can be taken care of by yourself but people r too lazy or scared to try it on their own first.
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good find

Thats a great undercover mission.
Yah, it definitely sucks when mechanics try to rip you off...or any carparts salesman.

For that second to last video clip with the asian guy at counter, W5 shouldve showed them the video, that wouldve made him like WTF?? hahaha...

We should have a RS Undercover Probe.

Have a group of people that's knowledgeable with their cars, take their perfectly maintained vehicle to a shop for an estimate. Of course...the only difference would be...we'll be doing an "estimate" only, since no one will reimburse your bill :)

It will be interesting to see the list of crap shops locally recommends to be done to your car.... :fullofwin:

they should do one with towing companies

ie: purposely park a car illegally, and then wait for a tow.
film the whole fucking thing and then take them to court for property damage

If you paid even one cent you are encouraging them to do it to the next guy. I bet you get ordred around by girls all the time too. Grow a pair.

I was at an acura dealer today and overheard a customer who had a nail in his tire. They told him he had to replace the tire and get an alignment with the new tire. Such a scam

Little do you guys know that dealerships are one of the biggest scammers. Just like what is posted above.

They'll charge you for things that they didn't even do, LOL.

read the pdf of the conversations btwn w5 and active green and ross, interesting stuff...

Here's a good story,

This happened at Kal Tire 170st location in Edmonton,

This kid goes out one morning to start his civic and it wont start, it turns over but will not fire. So he gets it towed to Kal Tire, they do some diagnostics and tell him his engine has almost no compression and he will need a rebuild to the tune of 3500$.

Well he mentions to one of the clerks there that he was thinking about swapping in a B-series so the clerk directs him to me.

This kid calls me up and explains his situation, we tow the car down and I take a look at the engine to figure out whats up with his car, sure enough it cranks (quickly) but wont fire, and has very low compression.

I've seen this before, take off the valve cover and upper timming cover and sure enough, snapped timing belt. Popped a new one on, did a comp test, and he was good as new.

So this guy was going to spend 3500$... when all it needed was 150$ worth of timing belt and labor.

The simple check for that is take off the oil cap, look and see if the cam's turning. Tells you one of two possibilities.
1) Belt broken
2) Teeth stripped off belt at crankshaft pulley

I've seen it about 10 times in the years I've been working now. It's amazing to see how many people miss it though. The other one is lack of compression because the ignition module/coil are done in, and the person just cranks and cranks it and floods the cylinders, washing out the rings. Result? No compression, sounds like a broken timing belt. Solution? Fix coil/module issue, wet cylinders with oil (a few drops is all it takes, for each) and just start cranking until it regains compression.

lol @ $3500 quote to swap the engine in a Syphilis.

Why of all places to choose from would he take it to kal tire to diagnose his engine problem? lol

had an experience like this before with a repair shop. basically ICBC authorize a set of parts to be replaced on my car, which included a subframe. this repair shop i went to decided to repair my subframe by welding it back together, and keeping the money given to them to replace it. i'd gladly give out the name of the shop here, but they're probably somehow affiliated with revscene and given a conflict of interest (aka, "sponsorship") the thread wouldnt go far

i let ICBC know and they obviously didn't give a flying fuck. the shop is still a "certified" repair centre. it's no small time repair shop either

post the shop
shop like those deserves to be called out

the shop is full of working people, and 1 managers decision shouldnt cost them all their jobs. also, revscene needs its money, wouldnt want to compromise that as well.

i leave it up to people to be as meticulous as i was with my cars repairs. if you're not then good luck with the gamble