Official Dealership/Mechanic shop thread!!!

[msommers]

This is where we should post everything, good and bad about dealerships/local mechanic shops. It will be really nice to just look in one thread and see what everyone has had to say. I'll start out with all the places I have taken cars and give a rating and short blurb, keep the novels to a minimum or a seperate thread entirely:

1) (+1) Autodream: Did my RB20 swap and multiple parts. Excellents guys and good service. Competitive pricing.

2) (+1) 54th and 4th Auto Repair: This is where my mom and I take our vehicles for maintainence, my mom mainly. He is a Honda/Acura expert but was very good with my Nissan 240sx. Good prices.

3) (-1) Sunridge Nissan: Only have bought parts from here. Guys can't figure out their heads from their asses, unorginized, I have also tried them on more than one occassion with the same results.

4) (+1) Centaur Subaru: Went to look at a possible WRX last year. Didn't end up getting one but the service and knowledge was excellent. I went with my mom which may have helped. I was only 20 years old at the time.

5) (-1) Barlow Trail Subaru/Jaguar: I was with my mom looking for a WRX, no one came out to see us in the lot. We went in, no one got up out of their seats, I had to go over and ask a lady at her desk to talk about a car and had to even ask her for a brochure. Might I also mention we were the only customers I could see in the entire building and in the lot. Terrible service.

6) (-1/+1) Alvin Automotive: Service and knowledge was excellent, the owner even took me out in his car. This was the same time I was going to shops about getting a swap done in my 240sx. However he was almost double the price of Autodream, and was wanting to take all winter to finish. Autodream did it in 1.5 weeks for half the price and ran excellent.

[Mitsu3000gt]

MECHANICS

1) (+1) Tune Dub - Absolutely nothing bad to say about George, he will be my mechanic from now on.

2) (-1) Two Square - Worst shop I have ever encounterd, long story and lots of money wasted. Very shady.

DEALERSHIPS

3) (-1) 5th Ave Auto House (VW Dealer) - Worst customer service I've ever received at a dealership hands down and I've been to ALOT of dealers many many times. Sales man straight up told us that he did not have time for us and we need to respect his time too.

4) (+1) Hyatt Infinity - One of the best dealer experiences in terms of people

5) (+1) Calgary BMW - Been there more times than I can count and A++ service every time

6) (-1) LoneStar Mercedes - Terrible customer service, would not let me test drive a SLK 32 AMG (used) for the sole reason that I am not 25++ yet. Even if he went with me, he wouldn't let me drive it - he let my dad drive though. I compare this to service at Calgary BMW where they treat everyone as a potential customer and let anyone drive almost anything.

7) (-1) Every Chevy/Ford/GM/Crysler/Cadillac dealership I've ever been to in my life...Every time I go, it's old guys smoking outside the building in a small pack all wearing leather jackets and they pounce on you like nothing I've ever seen before the second you step out of your car. Not only have I yet to run into one who knows anything at all about the product he's selling, but every second thing out of his mouth is "what will it take to get you to buy one today." No wonder Ford lost 5 billion last quarter and 7 billion this quarter.

8) (+1) Porsche - Amazing customer service, there is a lady saleswoman there and she knows her stuff and allows test drives by yourself and treats everyone as a potential customer.

9) (+1) ZR Auto - Had nothing but good help there when we came to actually drive something instead of just oogle the exotics haha.

10) (+1) AUDI - They are very good to me there, helping me with parts or service or whatever it may be. Also, on the sales side of things I've never had a bad experience.

11) (+1) Centuar Subaru - Always good help/service/knowledge, but they treat the STi like its a Veyron when you want to drive one.

12) (-1) Calgary Subaru - The sales people know nothing and treat their cars like ferraris when you want to drive something.

13) (+1) Platinum Motors (not the mitsubishi dealer, the place just off McLeod). Owner is a great guy, so is his staff. My dad bought a car there and it was a very good experience. Also, none of that "admin fee" bullshit that they add onto the bill for 100% profit.

Those are all the ones that really stand out that I can think of right now, I will add later.

[SilverBoost]

Stadium Nissan (+1) : I get nothing but great service from these guys. And even though I have never bought a car there, the sales guys seem straight up and I've got to know a few just from hanging out there. :)

Stampede Pontiac (-1) : Brought my Jimmy in there for a full inspection. Then was told by 2 other mechanics - as stuff started breaking on a road trip - that the truck needed work in some areas that should not have been missed in a full inspection. They tried to make good by taking it back and givin gus a deal on some repair work, but it doesn't make me feel confident that it was such an oversight to begin with. We've been back a few times since and new stuff pops up all the time suddenly, yet during actual inspections at the same place it seems to go unnoticed. Not impressed.

EDIT: I'm switching my neutral on Stampede Pontiac to a -1. Went in again, and again I left feeling like I just threw away money and yet had zero resolution of my issue.

[msommers]

I thought a lot of people would have some input here seeing as how large the community is. Not everyone is a backyard mechanic, any feedback is better than no feedback:)

[Weapon_R]

(-1) Sunridge Nissan - dealt with parts mainly during my brief ownership of a precidia. Never met a ruder group of people. They would sit and chat for up to 15 minutes with each other while I waited to be acknowledged. I will never recommend that dealership to anyone solely because of my parts counter experiences. Went on several occaisons and every time was the same.

(-1) Rams Transmission 17th ave & 52nd Street - 6 hours to do an OOP, and sells you parts that you do not need. I found out after I took my car there that the parts he made me replace to pass were in 100% condition verified by an independent mechanic. In fact, the aftermarket parts this guy ordered were of worse quality than the ones he made me change. Do not go there unless you want to be charged up the ass for work you dont need.

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Originally posted by msommers
(-1) Barlow Trail Subaru/Jaguar: I was with my mom looking for a WRX, no one came out to see us in the lot. We went in, no one got up out of their seats, I had to go over and ask a lady at her desk to talk about a car and had to even ask her for a brochure. Might I also mention we were the only customers I could see in the entire building and in the lot. Terrible service.

Same deal. When I was car shopping, they barely gave me a business card. Had to walk up to an office with a guy sitting there, staring blankly, to even get help. Had people looking at us like "why are they even here?"

(+1) T&T Honda: Very helpful salesman, when I was car shopping, they suggested lots of nice used cars, and kept an eye open, for three months after until I told them I found one. Also were veryl helpful to me and my buddy when we were looking at 06 Civic's (for me buddy) even though he's 20, and i'm 18.

[Hash_man]

(-1) Calgary Honda - The people in their parts department are useless. The girl couldn't understand what I was looking for when I asked for a clutch cable, and upper strut mounts/ top hats.

Their service department seemed to be kinda useless too. (could not diagnose a fairly simple problem).

[Tik-Tok]

(0) neutral - Advantage Ford. Buying from them was good, arguing price was good ($1500 off the mustang when they were still a very hot item) Service sucks. They can't do anything without you having to leave your car ALL day, even just an oil/filter change takes them the whole day.

Once, I picked up my car, IT STANK, big time like someones dirty socks, there was 1/4 tank of gas missing, and only 2 km put on it since I left it. Which = to some mutherfucker was using MY car/air conditioning to cool off their stankass feet on a hot summer day.


A BIG (-1) to Fountain Tire on Fairmount Ave (near glenmore). I ordered 2 winter tires to match my other 2 on my pickup, they called 2 days later to say they were in, so I dropped them off and told them I also wanted an alignment done.

They called 2 hours later to tell me that the tires were on, but i may want new control arm bushings before I align it. I asked how much, he said he'd get back to me with a cost... 2 hours later I get tired of waiting for a call back, and call them to tell them just to do the alignment, they say No Problem.

2 hours after that they call and ask if they can have the truck over night because they didn't get a chance to do the alignment. I say no, I need the truck the next morning, so tell them to forget about it, I'll re-schedule, and I'm coming to pick it up.

I get there, pay up, and then walk to my truck, only to find THEY PUT THE WRONG TIRES ON. They were NOT the ones I ordered. So I go back to the counter and ask them wtf? Then he tells me "Oh, we don't carry that tire anymore, so I just put on our closest equivelant, my neighbor has these ones and hasn't had any problems." and that he "meant to call me" earlier to tell me that "but must have forgot"

Now I'm fucking pissed, I ORDERED the tires because they had whitewalls which match 2 white wall tires I already had on, and match my `74 1/2ton truck with tiny 15" rims.

Anyways, don't go there, theyre a bunch of morons.

[NickGT]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok
(0) neutral - Advantage Ford. Buying from them was good, arguing price was good ($1500 off the mustang when they were still a very hot item) Service sucks. They can't do anything without you having to leave your car ALL day, even just an oil/filter change takes them the whole day.



:werd:

(0) neutral - Advantage Ford

Number 1 Mustang Dealer in canada. They knocked 7 grand off sticker for me on my new car (last of the 2005's).

But service is very hit and miss. No warranty work is ever done in one trip. If you're lucky you'll get it done in 2 or 3 trips.

[MintRacer]

tough to judge a complete experience with one person, as there are tons of people that work at every dealership and not everyone working there is going to be employee of the year.

[The Cosworth]

Subaru Near T&T on Barlow (-1)

Went in to look at an STi, they confused me with some other guy they had been bothering to buy the car, had me sitting in the managers office trying to convince me that I should buy it I have had enough time to think about it.

After they found out I wasnt him, they got me to sit down, and fill out a bunch of forms for a quote

Never got walked around the car or got to take it out.

After lunch that day I had 2 phone calls from him bothering me about buying the $53000 car!

BS :bullshit:


Crowfoot Acura (+1)

Sales guy was great, wanted to be helpful but was never pressured. If I were to go and get an acura I would find him.



Heninger Toyota (-1)

And I USED TO WORK THERE, I went in a few months after I went back to school and no one would help me until I approached them.


Country Hills Toyota (-1/+1)

New car salesman was great, used car guy was a too busy for you dickhead

[Jynx]

Calgary BMW +1 - Great service, gave me respect even though im only 19, let me test drive a few cars.

BMW Gallery (neutral) - Let me and my buddy take a car out for a while. However service department was terrible, they promised my car back in 2 hours but took 6 hours to finish the work.

Platinum Mitsu +1 - Great experience with both New and Used sales department. Again treated me with respect and let me test drive a few cars even though im only 19.

Inifniti in the Auto Mall -1 . Went there to test drive a 03 g35 they had just gotten in but apparently was in the back getting some work done on it. They told me to come back in a week. I came back 10 days later and the car was still in the back and was told they would call me in a few days to set up a test drive time. They called me 6 weeks later. When i asked what was wrong with the car the guy didnt want to tell me.

Silver Hill Acura +1. Only dealt with the used department. They are great, they basically just throw you the keys and let you go for a ride.

Calgary Lexus +1. Great service, sales guy went out of his way to find out some information/history on a car i was looking into.

Nissan Brasso +1. Good service, sales guy let me go for a test drive rite away no questions asked.

SHAW GMC Neutral - Most of the time the service department has my car ready on time but the last 2 times ive dropped my car off in the morning for service they have called me later in the afternoon to say they would not have the time to look at my car and that i should book another appointment.

5th Ave Auto (volks) -1 . Seemed as tho the sales guy didnt really want to make the sale. Would not negotiate on the price of the car at all. The whole encounter was a complete waste of time.

Kal Tire Chinook and 42nd Street +1. Great service, great staff.

Tire craft near the hooters on mcleod +1. Great for suspension problems or issues with springs on modified cars. Really know what they are doing and are very reasonably priced. ( I have gone there twice and it has just been a 10 minute job both times and they didnt even charge)

Custom Auto +1. Paul is a great guy, went out of his way to make sure i was happy and that my car was worked on in an appropriate amount of time.

Speed tech -1. Over priced and bad service.

[Tik-Tok]

(-1) Calgary Hyundai / Suzuki Sales, went to look at a new Tiburon SE for my wife, get there, walk around the lot. No one approaches, I think Good! A no pressure place. Walk in, start reading pamplets and looking for a sales person... 5 minutes go by, no one has approached me while I'm reading Tiburon books, and sitting in/investigating one. Strange. i approach the secretary and ask for a sales person... sit down for 5 more minutes before some one bothers to come to the front and talk.

We want a test drive, so he brings us out to one of 2 tiburons (the only SE one), the car is disgustingly filthy, kind of annoying, but it's a test drive, not a test look, then...... car doesn't start... battery is dead. Off he goes to get a jumper. a few minutes later he comes back and jumps it. I point out the tire is flat on the passenger front. He says "No it's not, that's the way it sits", well the other front tire isn't sitting like that, and neither is the other tiburon's tires, and I'm pretty sure I know what a flat tire looks like :banghead: .

I say "fuck it" we're not dealing here. As we walk away the salesman says "You don't want her to buy a Tiburon don't you?" Talk about fucking insulting, it took me 4 years to convince my wife that buying asian was better than american, and this guy has the gonads to say this to me!

Anyways the last comment made me pissed enough to call the manager, and he made some bullshit excuses. But if that's how they treat a brand new car on their lot, I can't imagine how they treat cars in the service dept.

[msommers]

Originally posted by MintRacer
tough to judge a complete experience with one person, as there are tons of people that work at every dealership and not everyone working there is going to be employee of the year.

My point exactly. The objective of this thread is to get a lot of input so you can formulate a constructive decision on your own. Care to add some!:thumbsup:

[Justing]

AAA Automotive (+1) - Good guys, good service and the manager is a member of beyond:thumbsup:

Sheni's Auto trend (+1) - Nice guy, nice family business. Knows what he's talking about and offers good service.

Fountain tire-Northland drive (+1) - Good service all around by all members of the staff

[s3v3n]

this is a great idea :)

[edit - ill continually update this post for future reference, hopefully thread stays alive]

(+1) City Best Auto Centre - lengthy wait but a great bunch of guys and very chilled atmosphere. oop was done well and reasonable price.

(-1) 16th ave auto - werent very helpful and didnt seem to want to disclose everything. took a modded car for a test drive and biz owner started randomly pushing buttons on ebc but didnt have a clue what he was doing. during the test drive he told me he had promised the owner (it was a private sale that they were getting commission on?) that they wouldnt take the car out for test drives. promised documentation but wouldnt provide it even after my repeatedly asking for over a week. think they also own horton auto.

(+/-) import car specialists - had a pre-purchase inspection done. seem like ok guys but i question whether or not they actually checked everything they said they did.

(+1) davenport - havent had any work done here, but have generally had ok service when buying some small items.

(+/-) speedtech / strd - got me the items required ... just took a really long time to order. prices so-so.

(+1) mopac - good service and good prices. helpful staff.

(+1) westside mitsu (edmonton) - order a lot of parts from these guys ... good prices, great service. free shipping to calgary.

(-1) rcts - have tried to order stuff through them at a couple car shows but people there wouldnt give me the time of day. in the middle of trying to speak to them theyd straight up turn their back to me and start chatting to somebody else about the weather. left me a little surprised and embarrassed.

(+1) kal tire (north hill) - nice service manager, good service/work. nice friendly staff.

(+/-) u-wrench - owners kid is awesome and a good setup. left feeling like i kinda got jacked on price tho, otherwise i would probably have gone back again.

(+1) Advanced Auto Color & Body Shop Supplies - awesomely amazing. great customer service and went out of their way to help me out even with just a small order. made me want to go scratch my car up again just so that i could go back and give them some more business.

(+1) Precise Engine Rebuilders Inc - really really great bunch of guys who were able to help me out a lot. seem to know their stuff and were more than willing to help me out in a jam. went above and beyond what i expected from them.

[SilverBoost]

Originally posted by s3v3n


16th ave auto - werent very helpful and didnt seem to want to disclose everything. took a modded car for a test drive and biz owner started randomly pushing buttons on ebc but didnt have a clue what he was doing. during the test drive he told me he had promised the owner (it was a private sale that they were getting commission on?) that they wouldnt take the car out for test drives. promised documentation but wouldnt provide it even after my repeatedly asking for over a week. think they also own horton auto.



this alone is enough for me to never ever ever bring my car there. Not that I ever would. You should post up the car it was, maybe the owner is on here and would love to know that his car was being sent out on test fligths when they said specifically to not do that.

[Justing]

Here's a few more i can think of:

CMS (+2) - Amazing service everytime, good guy who are willing to help you out.

Speedtech( +1/-1) - Decent service the first time i was there. The second time i couldn't get any service at all, one other person in the store couldn't get any service either so i just left.

BMW Gallery (+/-) - The service department is really hit and miss. Sometime the people are nice and helpful other times the people are annoyed that you need regular maintenance:rolleyes:

[msommers]

More places I forgot to mention:

(+1) Kal Tire on 19th ave about 23st NE: My mom and I have probably purcahsed a total of 4 sets of tires and done alignments there each season. Great guys and decent pricing. Is a HD mechanic shop as well which is nice.

(-1)Speedtech: Went there on 3 occassions and everytime came out disappointed. First was to look at rim and tire packages and their's were considerably more pricey than anywhere else. Second, I asked for them to compare or beat a price for an RS*R Exmag exhaust, wouldn't even come close while the the price for the other shop I got on the phone. Lastly wanted R33 GTR seats. He mentioned he had someone in Japan and would get me a price in the next few days. I phoned back 3 weeks later to find out they forgot all about it.

(-1)The Car Salon: Had tint removed and put on. The tint itself was good and bubbles vaporized in a matter of days. Winter came around and found out my defroster lines had be cut badly when they tried to remove the old tint. Never went back to rectify the situation.

(+1) Mopac: Awesome guys, very knowledgable even with the JDM imports, decent pricing.

Keep em coming' it's nice to see where everybody goes!:thumbsup:

[tomt64]

Kramer Mazda: +1 The parts lady damn knew everything I asked for and since I own a Probe its exactly the same as the MX6, very helpful and understanding!
Advantage Ford: -1 They are arrogant in there, or is that just my opinion? Im trying to get some parts and the person doesnt have a clue and almost acts as if Im not there. The best feeling was going outside and off the lot.
Lexus of Calgary: +10! :D I work there, and there are no shady mechanics, all of them know their shit and I would trust any of them with my car.

[85 Notchback]

Originally posted by NickGT


:werd:

(0) neutral - Advantage Ford

Number 1 Mustang Dealer in canada. They knocked 7 grand off sticker for me on my new car (last of the 2005's).

But service is very hit and miss. No warranty work is ever done in one trip. If you're lucky you'll get it done in 2 or 3 trips.

Advantage is pretty good, I would also give them a neutral rating though. Everytime I go in there, I never get any service for whatever reason.

Just an FYI though, if anyone purchases a car at Advantage Ford, Woodridge Ford, Big 4 Dodge, or Village Honda, expect all the bodywork to be done at Woodridge Autobody, the same guy owns all 5 companies.

As for mechanic work, it's not the dealerships fault that things need to stay there for the day, or overnight, especially when they are booking 3 - 4 weeks in advance.

So tiktok, I hope that explains why it takes so long for Advantage to get anything done, lots of times they also send stuff to Woodridge to be taken care of, just so that the vehicle can be done the next day.

[s3v3n]

Originally posted by SilverBoost


this alone is enough for me to never ever ever bring my car there. Not that I ever would. You should post up the car it was, maybe the owner is on here and would love to know that his car was being sent out on test fligths when they said specifically to not do that.
yeah i was pretty shocked... the guy was completely clueless. he told me that the hks pod filters and egt gauge were stock :dunno:

i would have been pretty choked if i had requested that my car not be taken out and then to have this happen. its not as if he told me we could carefully drive it around the block either; he was messing with everything he could get his hands on and joking around about how he wasnt really sure what anything did.

this was some time ago now tho and the car has since been sold. suffice it to say, i dont think id let them near my car ... let alone let them try and sell it.

[msommers]

anyone else?

[962 kid]

Originally posted by s3v3n

(-1) rcts - have tried to order stuff through them at a couple car shows but people there wouldnt give me the time of day. in the middle of trying to speak to them theyd straight up turn their back to me and start chatting to somebody else about the weather. left me a little surprised and embarrassed.


In all fairness, why try and buy parts at a car show instead of phoning him after? Doesn't seem fair to give him the thumbs down because he goes to car shows to enjoy talking to enthusiasts about cars rather than focus completely on selling parts

[jhmed]

Maclin Ford (-2): Extremely disappointed. Took g/f's car into service for the usual 'just before the warranty expires service and inspection'. They kept it for almost a week. They put 30kms on it for an oil change and tie rod replacement! They claim its because they have different techs who specialize in different areas (which is true, they have a suspension guy, and electrical guy, an engine guy, etc etc) and each one has to test drive the car. I thought that was a pretty flimsy excuse, since 30kms is enough to go from Glenmore and Deerfoot all the way to Crowfoot! Anyways, they told us all the issues we pointed out were in our heads (which they weren't, we took it to Crowfoot Ford and they fixed them!), and the Service Advisor basically told me to stop harassing him... I called there once a day every day for five days asking when the car would be ready and got the same excuse that they were working on it... we never got one phone call to tell us the progress or to say the car would be or was ready. We just showed up on the Friday, and I was so mad we were going to have it towed to Crowfoot if we had to but it wasn't staying another minute at Maclin, and they told us it was ready... I complained to the manager but he didn't seem to give a shit.

Advantage Ford (-1/+1): Moved to the south and decided we weren't dealing with Maclin. We took the car to Advantage. She had some work that needed to be done and while it was there, she wanted a tune-up and inspection done. There were some burnt out lights that needed to be changed. I would have done this for her, but it was summer, and I was working at both my jobs, both full-time. She took it in and while they changed a couple lights by the license plate and the 3rd brake light, they missed the burnt out headlight bulb. What a crock of shit. Guess their 'light technician' missed that one.... and they never filled the washer fluid. She paid almost $600 in service work on her Ford and they couldn't fill the washer fluid?! Anyways, she called them the day after to ask why and they said just bring it back to us and we'll do it, no appointment, just show up. She showed up all right, and received a bill for $100! I stormed down there and they told me that the headlight had to come out to replace the bulb, and the reason the tech didn't fill the washer fluid the first time was because it was almost empty. I lost it. I asked why a)no one mentioned it in a telephone call the first time we had it in for service... they called about some other work that needed to be done, but no mention of headlights or anything and 2) why her service advisor never mentioned it on the phone that day when she called them and c) a complimentary washer fluid fill is just that, no matter how empty it was. Should I have filled it before we brought it in?! Defeats the purpose. Plus the 60cents a liter it costs is a drop in the bucket when faced with $100/hr door rate.

They had no answers for me, but they refunded the $100, (that's the plus one), but thank God the Focus got written off, and she bought a CR-V. I'll be doing everything to that from now on...

Kim Doans' Auto (+2): I used to sell parts to them back in the day and they do excellent work, and they are fair! They have done two out of province inspections for me and were very competant. The 2nd OOP I had done there was for a Vancouver CRX and a Honda dealer failed me telling me that my DRLs didn't work (it was an 88, and didn't need them by law) and that I had no lights in my corner lenses (which I walked to the parking lot and showed the service advisor that they worked, you just had to TURN THEM ON!). Kim checked it out right and according to the law, I passed.

Also, one time while working at PartSource this guy came in for a water pump and asked where a good place to take his car was. I told him Kim Doan and he took his car there. Turns out it wasn't the water pump but a $15 hose. Kim replaced the hose and told the guy to return the pump. Excellent service! He could have replaced both, charged the guy for it and he wouldn't been the wiser but Kim is an honest man and he didn't... that says a lot about his integrity!

[seeyouu]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok
(-1) Calgary Hyundai / Suzuki Sales, went to look at a new Tiburon SE for my wife, get there, walk around the lot. No one approaches, I think Good! A no pressure place. Walk in, start reading pamplets and looking for a sales person... 5 minutes go by, no one has approached me while I'm reading Tiburon books, and sitting in/investigating one. Strange. i approach the secretary and ask for a sales person... sit down for 5 more minutes before some one bothers to come to the front and talk.

We want a test drive, so he brings us out to one of 2 tiburons (the only SE one), the car is disgustingly filthy, kind of annoying, but it's a test drive, not a test look, then...... car doesn't start... battery is dead. Off he goes to get a jumper. a few minutes later he comes back and jumps it. I point out the tire is flat on the passenger front. He says "No it's not, that's the way it sits", well the other front tire isn't sitting like that, and neither is the other tiburon's tires, and I'm pretty sure I know what a flat tire looks like :banghead: .

I say "fuck it" we're not dealing here. As we walk away the salesman says "You don't want her to buy a Tiburon don't you?" Talk about fucking insulting, it took me 4 years to convince my wife that buying asian was better than american, and this guy has the gonads to say this to me!

Anyways the last comment made me pissed enough to call the manager, and he made some bullshit excuses. But if that's how they treat a brand new car on their lot, I can't imagine how they treat cars in the service dept.

Calgary Hyundai/Suzuki (-1)

Me and my Dad went to check out an SUV, and it took a while for a salesman to come, but he did come himself. We wanted to test drive one, same deal batterys dead, gets the booster, adn guess what, he forgets the key in the car and locks it, so we just left and the saleman was a moron...

[That.Guy.S30]

subaru of calgary (-2/+1)

number 1: go in for my appointment for an oil change. decided to wait, was told it was going to be done in 45-60mins.... add on another 240mins later and my car was done. 5 hours for an oil change and i didnt even get a car wash lol

number 2: still fairly steamed about this. happened on friday when i went to get my winters changed at CMS. turns out, a tech at SoC took my wheel look key. Since he was the last person touching the car i went back to SoC to see if they had my key. not only did they insult me by saying they did not take my key but they also tried to slap me in the face by telling me to buy a new set for 40 bucks. they kept on telling me that they have a "master set" they use. if that was true then why do they always ask me to leave them the lock key? what a bunch of crap. after some bickering, one of the service managers comes out and tries to tell me the exact same thing as the tech. some more BULLSHIT!! after i told him i am not paying a cent for new wheel locks b/c THEY lost it and not ME, he decided to do some research on the history of my car. turns out that they DID use my wheel locks as they are not factory subaru units and that the tech DID have my key in his tool set.

he appoligized, but is that enough? i was accused of losing my key, pushed into buying new locks and treated like i was the liar. the only good part of this was when the service manager realized he and his staff were wrong and appoligized. because of their mistake i had to take 2 work days off as i had to make another appionemtn with CMS the next day.

[ashee]

Originally posted by jhmed
Kim Doans' Auto (+2): I used to sell parts to them back in the day and they do excellent work, and they are fair! They have done two out of province inspections for me and were very competant. The 2nd OOP I had done there was for a Vancouver CRX and a Honda dealer failed me telling me that my DRLs didn't work (it was an 88, and didn't need them by law) and that I had no lights in my corner lenses (which I walked to the parking lot and showed the service advisor that they worked, you just had to TURN THEM ON!). Kim checked it out right and according to the law, I passed.


+1/-1 for Kim Doan

+ Kim Doan is one of the nicest guys I've ever met always willing to help/answer questions even happened to have the same kind of vehicle as my dad that he was about to get rid of and let him take all the parts he wanted from it first.
- When I got my vehicle fixed there (not by Kim) I had to take it back 3 times because the same problem still wasn't fixed [first time bill was $900, second time free, third time another $500].

[Weapon_R]

+1 Calgary BMW - nicest group of sales staff, service personnel and parts counter i've encountered in a while. Treats their customers well and respectfully. The sales counter even goes out of their way to give me printouts on where and how the part is installed because they always know that i'm doing my own repair. Scott at the parts counter is a great guy to deal with.

[s3v3n]

Originally posted by 962 kid


In all fairness, why try and buy parts at a car show instead of phoning him after? Doesn't seem fair to give him the thumbs down because he goes to car shows to enjoy talking to enthusiasts about cars rather than focus completely on selling parts
the entire reason theyre there at all is to promote their biz and in turn gain customers and sales. they managed to do none of the above. he WAS talking to an enthusiast... ME. he decided that hed rather shoot the shit with the guy he was workin the booth with tho. for all of those reasons, he gets the :thumbsdow from me. :dunno:

[M.alex]

(+1) Mr. Volvo Plus - http://www.mrvolvoplus.com/contactinformation/

Me and my dad have been going to him for over a decade; top notch service (and he does more than volvos, lol - worked on my mustang, 911, and g35)

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by M.alex
(+1) Mr. Volvo Plus - http://www.mrvolvoplus.com/contactinformation/

Me and my dad have been going to him for over a decade; top notch service (and he does more than volvos, lol - worked on my mustang, 911, and g35)

Really? I live near there, I walked in one day asking about a car on the lot, the guy was a complete ass to me.

[M.alex]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok


Really? I live near there, I walked in one day asking about a car on the lot, the guy was a complete ass to me.

Yea - don't mind Irvine - he has a peculiar sense of humor and combined with being cocky, some may see him as offensive.......but most of the time he's pretty damn funny; plus he and his guys do *very* good work

[black_2.5RS]

-2 for NW Acura: Went there a year ago to buy an RSX and wandered the lot w/ my girlfriend like an idiot for 30-45minutes. No one talked to us. Walk into the showroom, for 20 minutes. Again no one talks to us. We look around, sit in a car. Again, no one talks to us. I had to go ask the guy sitting at his desk talking with other sales people for a brochure. Then he says, what will it take for me to sell you this car? I wanted to say - how about some freakin' help and a test drive.

Ended up leaving and went to Silverhill who treated me waaaay better and greeted me pretty much when I entered the show room.

Even - Centaur Subaru (Sales Side): Went to the showroom and walked around for 20 minutes without anyone helping me. Finally, sat in a car and got some attention. After they found out I was serious in buying a car, that's when I got much love.

-1 for Centaur Subaru (Service Side): Their service department isn't the greatest. I have some pretty back rattles in the car (VIN plate rattles) that I want them to fix under warranty. They said they did a bunch of work and they didn't do anything.

[jasonrx-7]

(-1000) Blaskin N Lane (n.e calgary) -First of all these idiots didnt do the correct inspection on my car as it was written in the book for the day i booked it. It took them 2 times as long (the WHOLE day) which they said only 2 hours. Then they quoted me some bullshit work that needed to get done, and quoted me a INSANE price. Also said i would need to leave my car there for 3 days.

(+1/-1) Master Tune (n.e calgary) -The positive-
They had my car done in one day, I payed the same as i would have with Blaskin N Lane, but i got a tie rod, tune-up, oil change, compression test, spark plugs
As well the lady in reception was very knowledgable and searched for my parts and called me back within 10 mins
The negatvie- They quoted me $800 to do my 2 rear bearings, they said only one was gone but couldnt figure out which one.

(+1/-1) LKT AUTO (n.e calgary) - The positive -
They looked over my car and found that i needed 2 Rear hub assemblys not just bearings. Then they searched everywhere and found them 75% cheaper with a friend at HYATT mitsu.
I had to pick it up myself, but it was 125/ each hub cheaper.
The negative-
They quoted me 4 hours of labour at only $50 ( which is a amazing price)
It ended up them taking 6 hours and the owner charge me $100/hour.
Because "3" mechanics were working on it. My car was there at 9am, the only person there was the owner, the other mechanics showed up at 10 am, I showed up at 1pm, and watched only 1 mechanic work on the car until 3p. I told the owner that shops charge there rate for them to fix your car, its a shop rate NOT a mechanic rate. Thats insane
I only payed $225 (labour) and walked out, cause that is crap

[.civictyper.]

(Dont ever fucking go here) BMW GALLERY CROWFOOT --- There service department is a joke. enough said. they are disorganized and show me no respect. :thumbsdow Save yourself the time and stress and go somewhere else.

[robpark]

+2 for Sheni's Autotrend... Always superb work...expert for Euro cars especially BMWs... Been going for nearly two years now...

[ZForce]

Dealerships:

+5 Glenmore Audi - Service department is extremely helpful, very prompt, great service.

-5 NW Acura - The service department is horrible. I tried booking a pre-purchase inspection, not only do they never answer the phones, they don't have voicemail or an email address. I left 5 msgs in 3 days with the receptionist and not one single call back. I tried booking the inspection with a compression test, and they wanted +150 for the compression test. The quote from the other Acura dealer was +50 for the compression test, wtf??? After the inspection was done, because I was at work, the seller picked the car up. I called and asked them how things went, and they hungup on me the first time, than when I called back they had some chick explain that due to liability, she is unable to discuss this with me. I don't even think she worked in that department.

I don't even own an Acura, and I'm glad I don't cause I would hate to deal with that service department.

[whiskas]

(+1) Tire Craft on Mcleod by Hooters. I needed a custom alignment that was out of factory spec for autocrossing, they let me in the garage so that I could see the camber range on my suspension and decide on the right angles. One of the camber bolts ended up coming loose 1 day before an event and they tightened it back up and put everything back to my specs for free.

(+1) Tower Chrysler parts department, performance aftermarket for the neon isn't great so I'm stuck with Mopar. Great guys at the counter willing to dig through catalogues, factory service manuals to find obscure parts that I need. Some of their mechanics really know their stuff when it comes to neons, and were able to answer some of my more difficult questions.

(-1) Tower Chrysler repair shop, took my car there for mechanical inspection before I bought it. On the inspection there was a lot of issues like burnt out bulbs, fluid changes, etc. that were obviously put their to get money. Changing transmission fluid, on a manual of all things? Replacing bulbs that aren't even burnt out, or replacing belts that are still in great condition. I would take their recommendations with a grain of salt.

(+1) Speed Tech, was looking for a set of Azenis and they had the lowest price in the city, they were out of stock but were able to get a new shipment in less than a week.

(+1) Muffler man rapid break center (long name haha) right beside chinook LRT. The oil pan drain bolt on my neon was stuck, I tried for hours to get it off, dealership spent a day with it trying to get it off and gave up saying that the bolt was stuck and would probably have to tap the bolt or replace the pan. I took it to these guys, and they managed to get this rounded out bolt out in less than 1/2 hour using some clever techniques with the torque wrench, very quick, very thorough.

[dino_martini]

(+1) Centaur Subaru - Twice we went there looking at cars, and even though both times we just decided to hold off on buying a car the sales people have always been good. Even though when we said outright that we weren't there to buy right away the sales people treated us no different.

(+1) Glenmore Audi - Treated us well. took us through the entire model range. They had an S4 Cabriolet in the show room and was nice enough to get the keys and put the top up on it just to show what it looked like in person.

(+1) Metro Ford - I really don't like the look or quality of Ford products. But the sales person came right up to us and talked with us, showed us through all the cars. He wasn't aggressive, saying that we should buy today, etc. Good place Metro Ford.

(+1) Honda West - Again, sales people there were good to us. No pressure to buy right there or test drive right there. Showed us all the features of the Accord, and so on.

(+1) Rennsport Calgary/Alpine Autowerks - I actually met the guy off the internet, Keith is a really good guy. He didn't mind taking me out for a ride in the 348 Spider he had at the time.

(-1,000,000,000) ZR Auto - As much as I know I'm going to get bashed for this, ZR Auto treated me horribly. I know I was not in the position to buy a Ferrari at the time, but holy shit the show room was empty and no one else besides me was there. I'm just looking at the Novitec 360 Spider they had there and a guy comes out of no where and tells me to leave. I was dressed nicely, I didn't look like a criminal. Give an enthusiast a chance. I will never ever spend a dime at ZR Auto. If I buy a Ferrari or Lamborghini I'll ship it to Vancouver or Toronto.

[RATM]

(+1) Centaur Subaru - They had no hassles at all when I was looking at buying / test driving an STI and a WRX. Really helpful and seemed pretty organized.

(+1) Heninger Toyota - Excellent sales team on the used side, i highly recommend them.

[240SX92]

(+1) Autodream - Guys are always friendly and looking to get you the parts you want at a good price. Had a few guys go out of their way to go in depth on Swaps, even if they didn't have the lowest price. Everyone there is REAL helpful, REAL nice.

(-1) Fish Creek Nissan - My girlfriend went in with 20g looking to buy a Versa, she had the money and was ready to basically buy one, but not one person in the store gave her any attention, the receptionist blew her off like she couldn't waste the time. We put a request in for a test drive, they said they would call back shortly...2 weeks later they called, girlfriend basically told them to go fuck themselves (in a half-nice manner though, told them how they had bad service and she wasn't going to deal with them ;) ) When my car was being shipped out here it was to be delivered here as the closest place... I called a few times to see if it was in, they couldn't bother to check, so I had to check myself. When it did come they basically wanted nothing to do with it I had to arrange all the paperwork. Probably the worst experience i've had with a dealership over many different times.

[AE92_TreunoSC]

(+10) Country hills Toyota- I have tones of experience from my work and family with these guys and they have by far the best reputation that I can think of.

They've replaced engines on used cars they sold months prior to the engine dying. They've fixed my moms paint chips for free on her matrix, and they treated me very nicely when I went in to see the 09's.

(+1) Kal Tire between barlow and 16thave NE - They've treated me very well, and even though I work at a mechanic shop, I recommend people to see them first, as they have the best prices and service out of all the tire shops I know of.

(+1) T&T Honduh - they treated me very well the few times I've gone, and I've had lots of friends buy cars from them, without any problems.

(-1) Subaru on Barlow - they didnt even get off their asses when I went in to look at a WRX, then acted rudely when I posed a question regarding a test drive.( I was dressed nicely and showed up in a decent car)

(-a gazillion) Gallery of Fine Cars -Dont turn this into another gallery bashing thread, but they are incompetent, and their cars are all shit, once again, from my personal experience from my industry and word of mouth.


I have lots more, but they are the ones that stand out. :)

[alloroc]

+5 All makes Auto repair. These guys have proven they do great work for a reasonalbe price over and over - true Subaru specialists.
+1 Moores Glass Calgary - great prices reasonable work
-2 Fix Auto / Apple autobody 1st street Had some major hail damage repaired a while back the paint was orange peeled they stripped many of the body trim bolts. On one of the pieces of trim that I had asked them to reattach they had just stuck down with two sided tape. Needless to say the repair only lasted a week. They didn't put in all the bolts holding in the front bumper and valence so those were rattling on every bump. They replaced the hood and only lightly sprayed the underside. They didn't block the fresh air inlets with rags and there was so much overspray inside you could smell it months afterward every time the heater came on - etc.