Recommendation: Kal Tire

[triver525]

It's not often that I will actually go out of my way to recommend a shop but this Kal Tire has absolutely fantastic service.

I took my car there yesterday to have an alignment done and the guy took my car with little or no advance booking and it was done within 3 hours of me dropping it off. Super convenient for downtowners because the C-train station is like 2 blocks away. Anyway, I got the car back and they noticed that the tires were worn close to the warrantee limit and he offered to replace them (pro-rated of course) under the terms of the warantee. The service I received up to this point, in my opinion, was above average even up to the point of me picking up the car but I am even more impressed now.

When I got my car home I noticed that the antenna mast was broken and the top of the car was scratched like it got run under the overhead door. When I called the manager about it he didn't even try to give me the regular BS "it could have been done anytime after you left our shop." He just said, get it fixed and send me the bill. It seems rare to experience this level of integrity in a auto shop these days; hence my recommendation.

[bennyhanna]

So Basically

The did what they are suppose to.

I think the bigger question is, Why did the scratch and the broken antenna happen in the first place.

[boxer23]

wow they didnt even qusetion u thats aweosme...next time i will think about them:D

[Akagi Redsuns]

No thanks, I rather take my car to a shop that doesn't damage my car in the 1st place.

Don't get me wrong, it's great that that the shop is taking ownership and picking up the tab to fix the damage which is VERY rare these days......but it will still cost extra time to get the damage fixed, and damage that should have never occurred.

[triver525]

Your right, the damage should never have occured. But the integrity that the shop showed to take ownership of their mistakes is highly commendible. I'd go back to a shop that admits they make mistakes before I went to a place that says they don't make any. Right there that says to me that the policy is "it wasn't our fault."

[98brg2d]

It would have been more commendable for them to tell you about the damage when you picked up the car and offer to take it for repairs themselves (and maybe give you a rental while it is gone.) It is one thing to admit fault when questioned but a totally different thing to bring the issue forward. I would consider what they did a lie by omission. Atleast they are paying for the damages.

[Loose]

Kal Tire gouged the shit of my wheel doing a flat tire repair. They paid to fix it, but i say fuck Kal tire, and BRIAN

:poosie:

[Mckenzie]

:werd:

Those guys are great in there. They have taken my car three times now without notice for a flat repair and not charged me a cent!

Seeing that and from my own experiences I would not hesitate to buy tires from them...Kirt is great.

People have to realize that stuff happens some times...they did not purposely break his property but the fact that they fessed up and did not put up a fuss about paying for damages is very encouraging. It is hard to find a place that takes care of customers in this manner.

[Isaiah]

Originally posted by triver525
Your right, the damage should never have occured. But the integrity that the shop showed to take ownership of their mistakes is highly commendible. I'd go back to a shop that admits they make mistakes before I went to a place that says they don't make any. Right there that says to me that the policy is "it wasn't our fault."

I agree. Perhaps the tech that worked on the car didn't want to get in trouble and didn't mention the damage to anyone.

[Loose]

The tech that gouged my rim must have been a total douche. Who the fuck gouges a polished aluminum Racing Dynamics wheel 3/4 around the lip, and has the audacity to just put it on the car and not say anything.

[cocoabrova]

Originally posted by Loose
The tech that gouged my rim must have been a total douche. Who the fuck gouges a polished aluminum Racing Dynamics wheel 3/4 around the lip, and has the audacity to just put it on the car and not say anything.

That's funny, the Kal Tire that I went to did the same thing to not 1, but ALL 4 of my high-polish iForged Aeros that were on my E36 I had. You see, I had gone to this Kal Tire many X's before, and yes they had done 3 free-of-charge flat repairs, and yes they accepted responsibility and paid my wheel-polishing bill, which incidentally was about $800...But the point is that it shouldn't have happened in the first place, and they should've informed me about it, instead of passing it off.
Now I've dealt with ALOT of different shops in town, and have NUMEROUS horror stories to tell you kids, but the bottom line is that there will never be a shop that will give you perfect service all the time, every time. Some will come close, but there's just too many circumstances that could negatively reflect on a shop's rep i.e. parts shortages/backorders, sub-standard quality parts, broken/broken-down tools and/or equipment, employee error/stupidity/having a shitty sex life....I guess the only thing consumers can do is to hope that everytime their vehicle(s) go in for service, that they come back to them in the same or better condition, for the quoted $$.....

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Originally posted by cocoabrova


That's funny, the Kal Tire that I went to did the same thing to not 1, but ALL 4 of my high-polish iForged Aeros that were on my E36 I had. You see, I had gone to this Kal Tire many X's before, and yes they had done 3 free-of-charge flat repairs, and yes they accepted responsibility and paid my wheel-polishing bill, which incidentally was about $800...But the point is that it shouldn't have happened in the first place, and they should've informed me about it, instead of passing it off.
Now I've dealt with ALOT of different shops in town, and have NUMEROUS horror stories to tell you kids, but the bottom line is that there will never be a shop that will give you perfect service all the time, every time. Some will come close, but there's just too many circumstances that could negatively reflect on a shop's rep i.e. parts shortages/backorders, sub-standard quality parts, broken/broken-down tools and/or equipment, employee error/stupidity/having a shitty sex life....I guess the only thing consumers can do is to hope that everytime their vehicle(s) go in for service, that they come back to them in the same or better condition, for the quoted $$.....

I wanna hear some horror stories, that way when something else bad happens to me, I can come back to this thread and not feel so bad :thumbsup:

[cocoabrova]

Originally posted by LilDrunkenSmurf


I wanna hear some horror stories, that way when something else bad happens to me, I can come back to this thread and not feel so bad :thumbsup:

Haha, maybe one day I'll compose a small book with all the stories that I can remember:nut:

[GTS Jeff]

Yeah, I like Kaltire too. The one in Edmonton southside really does seem to go the extra mile to provide good customer service. They made the mistake of putting the wrong sized tires on my car, but as soon as I pointed it out, they apologized and took $50 off the price for making me wait an extra 20 minutes.

Mistakes happen, but good customer service is no mistake.

[Cooked Rice]

i only let CMS touch my wheels. bob is a great guy :thumbsup: A centre cap off my new rims had fallen off the day I got them installed. I called up bob the next morning, and had one shipped out to me overnight free of charge.

[SR240SX]

Kal tire FTW! lol i work there and yea we do have to get things done fast when "waiters" come in..i find it pretty amazing myself how good the service is lol:werd:

[BlackArcher101]

Originally posted by triver525
He just said, get it fixed and send me the bill. It seems rare to experience this level of integrity in a auto shop these days; hence my recommendation.


If I were you, I would have started this thread AFTER you have the money in your hands. I've heard the "send me the bill and we will reimburse you" thing before. And take a guess what happens, you go to get some money from them and they say "We never agreed to that".


As for Kal-Tire, I'll never go there again, save for warranty stuff on my tires if applicable. I had new tires put on, and the tire and wheel FELL OFF completely while going 120 km/h. The studs had sheared right off, with the nuts still on the half that broke off. They used the air impact gun on it to tighten them. I had torqued them myself before the incident, but the wrench clicked off right away since they were overtorqued to begin with. That was the Lethbridge location.

Now in Edmonton, I brought it in for free tire rotation. I waited in line to give my keys, and the 2 people in front of me were there to complain about shoddy work done. One guy got scammed on the brakes (charged for new pads, never changed them). So they finally wheel the truck in, and I watch them rotate. The kid putting them back on didn't even rotate them correctly. Just did back to front, not side to side as well. He also reefed on the torque wrench really hard when torquing them. That's a no no. You turn lightly until it clicks. You don't raise yourself off the ground then slam yourself down onto the wrench, thinking the torque you just applied is close to the setting.

Needless to say, I took it back to work, took off the nuts and re-tourqed them myself. It's tires for crying out loud, how hard is it to find someone capable of simple work these days. :thumbsdow :thumbsdow

[GTS Jeff]

Originally posted by BlackArcher101
The kid putting them back on didn't even rotate them correctly. Just did back to front, not side to side as well. On directional tires, you cannot rotate tires from side to side or else the tread would point the wrong way.

[GTS Jeff]

Oh yeah, another good thing about Kal-tire...the people there will open the door for you and greet you in a friendly manner when they see you walking towards the front door. It's a small gesture, yes, but I welcome it after always dealing with the mainlanders at Wendy's that refuse to make eye contact with their customers and can't give their full attention to the customer in front of them for even 20 seconds, because it's just so damned important for them to yell at another mainlander in the back in poo-toong-wah.

[DRKM]

I love customers who know it all!

On most cars Radial Tires should not be cross rotated. The word comes down from the Manufacturer. Also I learned it in school too... So....


About tourquing, at most shops you puts tires on with tourque sticks. Also to shear the stud the poor guy must have gone way over board! haha That sucks....

[TNation]

Kal Tire has been a pile of shit for me.
I once had my tranny flushed and my tires rotated and both times my car leaked oil and had to be towed back to the shop, once it leaked on my driveway. The service was pitiful and when they replaced CV boots, they installed the wrong part and it had to be towed a THIRD time...
Bullshit service, arguements with the manager were constant even after this so-called "service", and outrageous prices made me never EVER choose to use Krap Tire again.
Mind you, I used the Sunridge Kal Tire...

[GTS Jeff]

Originally posted by TNation
Kal Tire has been a pile of shit for me.
I once had my tranny flushed and my tires rotated and both times my car leaked oil and had to be towed back to the shop, once it leaked on my driveway. The service was pitiful and when they replaced CV boots, they installed the wrong part and it had to be towed a THIRD time...
Bullshit service, arguements with the manager were constant even after this so-called "service", and outrageous prices made me never EVER choose to use Krap Tire again.
Mind you, I used the Sunridge Kal Tire... You're a total douche though, so I'm not surprised they treated you like shit.

[max_boost]

Originally posted by GTS Jeff
You're a total douche though, so I'm not surprised they treated you like shit. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[max_boost]

6 years ago I had a brand new installed Rieger kit on my E46 and went to Kal Tire for a tire install. When they pulled my car out, the guy didn't realize how low my front is when he went to park it and boom, cracked it right over the parking block. At least they stepped up and repaired it for me. Now would they have done the same thing if I didn't witness it occurring?

Now I go to TireCraft for all my tire related needs. It's good to find a shop where you know almost everyone working there and they take good care of your stuff.

[7thgenvic]

I would never ever ever ever go to kal tire..................OMG.........

working at highline we usually delt with harper for mounting doing tire mounts......the one time that we needed a set mounted and harper couldn't do it in time. Kal tire ended up scratching 2/4 wheels and ended up having to send the wheels back to asanti :)

thanks n00b's

[SR240SX]

Honestly the location im working at now..ive never seen better customer service or even a better working enviornment..you can get along with just about anyone there just like that..about people saying that nothing should EVER go wrong with vehicles coming in....your retarded...shit happends and people DO make mistakes..im not saying its cool to screw something up on a customer vehicle but sometimes like i just said shit happends..no matter where you take your vehicle something can happen..nobody is perfect :werd:

[katana9x4]

I worked at an undisclosed Kal tire location for around 3 months....

Their customer service is great, but as for the actual service that is done there - Lets just say I wouldn't bring my own car there (if I owned one at the moment :( ).

They didn't even bother to train me or get me my own shirt with my name on it haha... good thing I knew how to change oil and whatnot when they hired me :rolleyes:

[Lo)2enz0]

Hey, it all depends on who you have working on your wheels. I work at the foothills kal tire and if there is a problem we fix it. The rule of the book is to exam the wheels for damage before mounting the tires because alot of people come in and say that we damaged wheels when clearly we didn't. Ig you have a sratch on your wheel, ussually a complete idiot is working on them and decided to be even more of an idiot and not use the custom machine to mount your tires. I take my time with custom wheel no matter how ghetto they are...well you know cheap. And i always keep my eye out for people who are doing them. But when you want to put a 215/35r17 on a freaking 17x8, its not easy and you have to take your time. so don't expect to wait around and drop them off in the morning and pick them up after work.

I highly reccomend kal tire because for 1, the service is great. we try to get your car in and out and even if you show up at 5:55 we will still get the job done. If we strip or break a stud, we will contact you and pay for it outselves even if the stud if finished. last week i broke a stud torqing a wheel on a truck to 130 and the wrench didn't even click. the stud was finished, we replaced all 5 free of charged so that the customer would end up causing more damage to his truck while driving. But remember each shop is different. I will tell you this, chinook and northhill kal tire have a high turn over rate compared to the kal tire off 52nd SE where i work. I highly suggest dropping by and hey, if you want ask for Laurier to mount your wheels. I don't mind and I am sure you will be happy.

two thumbs up and wouldn't go anywhere else even if i didn't work at kal tire

[adam c]

i much perfer fountain tire.. my mom used to goto kal tire and had nothing but problem after problem there especially with bashir...

anyways she went to fountain tire on mcleod (south of chinook) and then when i got my first car i started going there too.. they have been great to me and even know me by my name, they have gone the extra mile for me on a few occasions especially with my previous car

[TNation]

Originally posted by GTS Jeff
You're a total douche though, so I'm not surprised they treated you like shit.

coming from an arrogant piece of shit bitch that drives an 86 Celica? :rofl: Buddy go study your nutrition, thanks.

[adam c]

Originally posted by TNation


coming from an arrogant piece of shit bitch that drives an 86 Celica? :rofl: Buddy go study your nutrition, thanks.

AE86 = Corolla dude

[BlackArcher101]

Originally posted by GTS Jeff
On directional tires, you cannot rotate tires from side to side or else the tread would point the wrong way.

However, mine were not directional.

[BlackArcher101]

Originally posted by DRKM
I love customers who know it all!

On most cars Radial Tires should not be cross rotated. The word comes down from the Manufacturer. Also I learned it in school too... So....


Straight from my manufacturer... as per the book that comes with my truck and the shop manuals for my truck... rotation is done diagonally.

[GTS Jeff]

Originally posted by TNation


coming from an arrogant piece of shit bitch that drives an 86 Celica? :rofl: Buddy go study your nutrition, thanks. You see, this is why you don't get any respect, not even from the grease monkeys at Kal tire. Don't you realize that you have to be "correct" if you're trying to insult someone? You can't call a white guy a nigger and expect him to be hurt by it...

86 Celica? - Nope. Wrong year and model. It's an 85 Corolla and 05 Legacy. There, now that I've told you what I drive, why don't you try again?

Nutrition? I guess you've missed all the posts in the past couple months making fun of you and Police (who's now banned) for continually hanging onto your thread of hope that I'm actually in nutrition. Actually, I do have a BSc in BioSci from a couple years ago, but no nutrition. Anyway, what about you? Ohhhhh that's right, you're a runny-nosed teenager flossin your parents rides. No education to speak of and no accomplishments or aspirations in life, making you a general leech on society. Forgot about that. My bad.

Arrogant? Nope, it might seem like I'm a know-it-all, but really, I'm just strategic about keeping my mouth shut when I don't know what I'm talking about. And I'm also good at calling out douches like you. Sorry about that bro.

[TNation]

Originally posted by GTS Jeff
You see, this is why you don't get any respect, not even from the grease monkeys at Kal tire. Don't you realize that you have to be "correct" if you're trying to insult someone? You can't call a white guy a nigger and expect him to be hurt by it...

86 Celica? - Nope. Wrong year and model. It's an 85 Corolla and 05 Legacy. There, now that I've told you what I drive, why don't you try again?

Nutrition? I guess you've missed all the posts in the past couple months making fun of you and Police (who's now banned) for continually hanging onto your thread of hope that I'm actually in nutrition. Actually, I do have a BSc in BioSci from a couple years ago, but no nutrition. Anyway, what about you? Ohhhhh that's right, you're a runny-nosed teenager flossin your parents rides. No education to speak of and no accomplishments or aspirations in life, making you a general leech on society. Forgot about that. My bad.

Arrogant? Nope, it might seem like I'm a know-it-all, but really, I'm just strategic about keeping my mouth shut when I don't know what I'm talking about. And I'm also good at calling out douches like you. Sorry about that bro.

I would've loved to hear all that but first of all, try typing without your boyfriends dick in your mouth..
Sorry, Celica is a bit too classy for you... Corolla sounds better :thumbsup:
I want to be like GTS Jeff! I want to be trailer trash and have an e-opinion on everything! I want to study nutrition to figure out how to lower my weight! Look at your long response... something hurt you bitch? :rofl: The only way you can hear any good about yourself is to talk to yourself, you chump.

[BoS_DC2]

Originally posted by TNation


I would've loved to hear all that but first of all, try typing without your boyfriends dick in your mouth..
Sorry, Celica is a bit too classy for you... Corolla sounds better :thumbsup:
I want to be like GTS Jeff! I want to be trailer trash and have an e-opinion on everything! I want to study nutrition to figure out how to lower my weight! Look at your long response... something hurt you bitch? :rofl: The only way you can hear any good about yourself is to talk to yourself, you chump.

No offense but you sound like a child who's been deeply wounded on the inside.. :drama:

[SCHIDER23]

well I used to work at the foothills kal tire for about 9 months back when I started I actually had people that knew what they were doing ask allgonoshow he was there and man it was fun, after I left and stayed part time for 3 more months I was the only one left out of the group that I started. a few left for tirecraft others just left for better work somewhere else. Now days car side is run by newbies there is only 1 guy that knows anything there and he is moving to the front soon.

The rest are... well lets just say I will not let them touch my tires at all, even truck side guys know not to let them touch theirs tires for reasons I can't mention. One thing that makes me laugh is last time a buddy was telling me they were celebrating they did a 4 tire changed over in 2 hours that is nonsense, it should only take 30 min to 1 hour max but oh well lol.


:eek:

[Latino21]

Ha I don't post much here but Kal tire on foothills is a joke to me. I work for burnco and I know a few people there and there's my buddy who they call spic or spic juice and James and they did a 10 tire changeover in 30 minutes flat compared to the car side when I brought my 2001 eclipse the dicks scratched my brand new wheels and said that the scratches were there allready and ontop of that they open a hole on the wrong tire (needed a flat repair) when I told the guy at the front that the nail was on the left rear on the truck and the moron put on the work order Right rear and I got charged $36 for them opening a hole on the tire and patching it. From what I heard from my buddy is that if u bring your car to get lets say 4 rotates u will have to wait for atleast 4 to 5 hours to get the tires rotated. The only side that runs smoothly would be Truck side and the area where they do the allignment other then that it's pretty much crap. The other funny thing is that they need people badly for service trucks, truck side, otr guys, and a lot more for car side but the morons either fire people if they don't work fast enough or they push them to quit and then they're crying for people and they pay you I think 11.25 to start, the 2nd bad part about the kaltire in foothills is that the lazy guys that barely work can get a raise easily but the hard workers only get like 37 cents for a raise or lower. So Lorenzo if u say this place is the best then ask arround the people that work harder and see what they think of that place and I bet u they will say that place is bull. :whocares:

[GTS Jeff]

Originally posted by TNation


I would've loved to hear all that but first of all, try typing without your boyfriends dick in your mouth..
Sorry, Celica is a bit too classy for you... Corolla sounds better :thumbsup:
I want to be like GTS Jeff! I want to be trailer trash and have an e-opinion on everything! I want to study nutrition to figure out how to lower my weight! Look at your long response... something hurt you bitch? :rofl: The only way you can hear any good about yourself is to talk to yourself, you chump. Shouldn't being trailer trash preclude a willingness to attain a degree? So basically, if I am trailer trash, then I probably don't have a nutrition degree, or if I do have a nutrition degree, then I'm probably not trailer trash. Which is it? Either way, your fairy tales are contradictory. :dunno:

[Lo)2enz0]

Originally posted by Latino21
So Lorenzo if u say this place is the best then ask arround the people that work harder and see what they think of that place and I bet u they will say that place is bull. :whocares:

I do have to agree with you. james and carlos work there ass off over on truck side. I worked my ass off over in car side. Now i am one of the apprentice mechanics because of it. The problem with the car side is some of the guys there don't give a shit, others do. It all depends on who you get. I have seen people mess up and i have made corrections and even on a normal 4 tire change over it doesn't matter how cheap your wheels are i always go that extra set. After pulling out cars customers have commented about how i even cleaned the brake dust off of the wheels and how careful i am. I know i didn't work on your car because i would have remembered it but i do believe i saw you roll up one day with your music blasting, if your the same eclipse driver. Alot of guys don't know how to use the custom machine properly which is also a problem. like guys trying to mount wheels that have reverse drop centers the wrong way, or guys not even using the custom machine cause they want to just get it in and out. And i am sorry for what happened to you. and could bet that an employee that recently is not with us anymore was the one working on your car. I used to watch him and when i would give him advice he would just look the other way. but he is no concern anymore. I think its a great place, everyone who is left are all great guys. hopefully we could give you a new impression on the car side.