Problem is that there's so many stories of shady mechanics that some people will think they are being taken advantage of and not believe the mechanic.

For me, I have a reputable mechanic so if he ever tells me something is wrong with my car that needs immediate attention, I believe him.

On my Rav4, I had a slow leak in one of the tires that I didn't notice. Dealership noticed when the car was in the shop and they told me about it. They gave me the option of them repairing the tire or just swapping with the spare so that I can fix the tire elsewhere if I wanted to. They swapped it for me for free, and I took the tire to my mechanic who fixed it for free (vs. $30 at Toyota).

fair enough, in that case the shop wouldn't dare to hold the car if they were lying about repairs that needed to be done and trying to rip people off.. thats a whole other lawsuit in itself.

shops would only hold a car if it was a serious safety issue.

I'm being very black and white I'm not saying every shop under every circumstance should be doing this. but once in a while a moron comes along with a death trap on wheels that's too cheap and stupid to fix it and drives it away then their brakes fail and blame everyone else.

I'm not talking about DRIVING the car I'm talking about RELEASING the car. Have you never heard of a tow truck?

My issue is with the shops demanding that they be the ones who fix it and not allowing the car to be released at all, they aren't authorized to seize someones vehicle on a whim. If it's a legitimate hazard they should call the police not pull some auto shop vigilante bullshit, they aren't allowed to force someone to have the vehicle repaired at their shop simply because they found the issue, the RO has zero obligation to have a specific shop perform work just because that shop suggested it and claimed it a hazard.

then that's where we are arguing the same point. There's no way they can hold the vehicle until the repairs are done at that specific shop. The vehicle will not be road worthy and you need to tow it and fix it- not drive it.

IMO, call the cops to force them to release the vehicle and get it towed to a preferred one, to avoid getting a VI.

Or just bring $300 to Canadian Tire on Boxing Day, buy yourself some nice tools and learn how to do things yourself. Google and YouTube have made it possible for even someone with no real mechanical experience to self-teach themselves basic maintenance and simple repairs..

No offense to the legit shops and techs out there, but I have a buddy who has apprenticed at multiple shops in the GVRD and some of his stories are appalling to say the least. I wouldn't trust any shop with my car unless it was somewhere well-known like the Speed Syndicate, and even then I would only go for things I can't do at home such as alignments.

I have my BC motor-vehicle inspectors license and from what i remember from my course, I can not legally hold a car even if i see it is a hazard on the road. I'd have to release it and call the "compliance people". They are some group in charge of some sort of BC inspection or saftey thing. Either that or call the cops.
Been about 17 years since i've taken that course so things might have changed since then.

I had a couple of calls from a friend of mine who was a mechanic inspecting some bikes that were unsafe. I was able to talk to the owner who was there at the time and convince them to not ride the bike away. I did mention the danger due to the mechanical condition and the additional consequences if I spotted the bike on the road in that shape. One guy had wrapped duct tape around what was left of the tread. Seriously!

I guess duct tape really does fix EVERYTHING!

Well, in MY case, the women didn't find me handsome..............:failed: