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View Full Version : Thumbs Down to Wilson's Auto Tech West in Edmonton



gran turismo
05-15-2008, 10:20 AM
I took the advice of members on 780tuners and went to Wilson's Auto Tech West in Edmonton and was extremely unimpressed.

My car: 1999 Acura EL

Problem 1:

I took my car in for a tune-up. I had mentioned I heard a buzzing at about 2,500 rpm so they recommended removing the heat shields which I consented to. The day I took my car home, the sound was much worse.

So I called them the next week and took it back in. They told me they couldn't hear the sound. Fair enough. I leave, hear the sound on the way home and take it back in again. They still can't hear the sound they say. I make a video of the sound. I put it on a DVD. They watch it, agree there's a problem but have no idea what it could be. (You are mechanics right?)

I now give them detailed instructions on how to reproduce the sound. Drive the car around for about 10 minutes to warm it up. Shift from third to second and let the car run down the rpms through 2,500 and you'll hear a buzzing. Every single day I hear this. They tell me they can't hear it. But, it might be the "front pipe". Incidentally, this is a Honda OEM part and will cost $380. They won't guarantee this will fix the problem, and won't refund any money if this doesn't work.

I had a weird feeling and told them I didn't want to go ahead with this. So, last night, my friend and I drove around for about 10 minutes until we heard the rattle. I drove home and put it in neutral and revved it up to 2,500 rpm and my friend listened for the sound. It was immediately clear the sound was coming from the muffler and upon further inspection, it was obvious there was a piece of metal on the muffler that had come slightly loose. We pried it away a little bit with a screwdriver and the sound went away immediately.

All in all, this fix took about 20 minutes and cost me nothing as opposed to Wilson's Auto Tech's recommendation of replacement of the front pipe ($380) which would not have fixed the problem.

Problem 2:

I also complained of a "creaking" sound from the front end. The problem appeared to be much worse with warmer weather. This implied to me that something was expanding with the heat. Again, Wilson's has no idea what it could be. I did about 10 minutes of research on the internet and actually gave the techs the information that pointed to sway bar bushings needing lubrication. What do they do? They take everything apart, lube the bushings and take out the end links and drive it. (Logic tells me that if you perform two actions at the same time and fix the problem, you can't determine which action worked).

The sounds gone. Wonderful, but now they conclude that the end links need replacing (obviously it's not the lubrication /sarcasm). This will only cost $180. But the sounds now gone so why would I replace the end links? It's obvious that the lubrication worked and if anything needed to be replaced, it's the bushings themselves.

To make a long story short; If I had taken the advice of the techs, I would have been out $560 and still have the problems I complained about in the beginning.

I would not recommend this shop at all and have since told John, the service manager, about my experience. He actually agreed with most of what I had concerns about and was apologetic. Regardless of his apology, I can't, in good conscious, recommend this shop to anyone for work on a Honda/Acura.

nissanK
05-15-2008, 10:56 AM
Did you post this on 780 Tuners also to warn them? After all, they recommended it.

gran turismo
05-15-2008, 11:13 AM
Originally posted by nissanK
Did you post this on 780 Tuners also to warn them? After all, they recommended it.

Ya, I did.

http://forums.780tuners.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=80934

http://forums.780tuners.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=78928

GTS Jeff
05-15-2008, 11:38 AM
I think you're being a bit harsh on the shop. Usually vibration at a certain rpm means a loose heatshield and maybe the endlink bushings were worn out...

97'Scort
05-15-2008, 11:53 AM
Having a shop that's good at installations and replacement work is pretty common. It's not often, however, that you find a shop that's really good at diagnosing a problem. Keep looking around, there are good shops out there.

ianmcc
05-15-2008, 12:31 PM
So, if you figured out what was wrong so quickly why are you taking your car to ANYWHERE for service?

autosm
05-15-2008, 12:36 PM
You standards are way to high This is Alberta after all. Why did you not fix it your self in the first place?

Wilsons is one of the only places I would trust with my cars.

Would you have been willing to pay them straight time to drive your car around until they find the problem?
Did you offer to drive them around at your expense until the noise occured? Unless your answers are yes to the two above questions you have nothing to complain about.

Its not like they actually did the work and it did not fix the problem?

Did they charge you anything for the diagnosis they did?

gran turismo
05-15-2008, 01:52 PM
Originally posted by autosm
You standards are way to high This is Alberta after all. Why did you not fix it your self in the first place?

Wilsons is one of the only places I would trust with my cars.

Would you have been willing to pay them straight time to drive your car around until they find the problem?
Did you offer to drive them around at your expense until the noise occured? Unless your answers are yes to the two above questions you have nothing to complain about.

Its not like they actually did the work and it did not fix the problem?

Did they charge you anything for the diagnosis they did?

I didn't fix this because I'm not a mechanic. I pay others who should know more than me to do that. And the problem became much worse AFTER taking it in. And to answer your questions. Yes, I did offer to have them take it for an "extended" road test. I certainly paid for it but I'm not convinced they did. In fact, when I asked John if they had taken it out for a long time, I heard him yell back to one of the techs who answered, "Ya, I drove it for ten minutes". I told them to drive it for at least 20 minutes to warm up the car/pipe.

No, I never offered to drive them around at my expense. I thought the "detailed" instructions on how to recreate the sound plus the DVD I produced would be sufficient. Apparently not.

And the last question. Ya, I did pay for a "diagnosis".

autosm
05-15-2008, 03:00 PM
Well you do have a point its just I have had way worse dealings with dealerships on cars under warranty. I guess they should have taken more time with the car.

My Nissan spent a month at a Calgary Nissan dealer with out fixing anything. Then After I pulled the car and got it into another dealer it was another 3 weeks to get a few simple items repaired.Then the check engine light came on and it was another month to get that resolved. I did get addicted to the coffee in the waiting area though LOL.

Its like anything its hard to get good people these days. Wilsons is one of the few places that I would trust to do honest work. Most of my family takes there cars to them and have been for years.

cyrusli
05-15-2008, 05:37 PM
yeah, rattles and cracks could be anything and sometimes.. not all the time it may just be someting loose, but it's always good to KNOW what is causing it.

I PM'd you Gran, lemme know if I can help.

Cyrus

canuckcarguy
05-16-2008, 07:02 AM
Originally posted by gran turismo


I didn't fix this because I'm not a mechanic. I pay others who should know more than me to do that. And the problem became much worse AFTER taking it in. And to answer your questions. Yes, I did offer to have them take it for an "extended" road test. I certainly paid for it but I'm not convinced they did. In fact, when I asked John if they had taken it out for a long time, I heard him yell back to one of the techs who answered, "Ya, I drove it for ten minutes". I told them to drive it for at least 20 minutes to warm up the car/pipe.

No, I never offered to drive them around at my expense. I thought the "detailed" instructions on how to recreate the sound plus the DVD I produced would be sufficient. Apparently not.

And the last question. Ya, I did pay for a "diagnosis".

How much was the diagnosis? Did they break even on meeting you? Even apprentice mechanics make $20 per hour nowadays. In your initial post, you say that 10 minutes of driving and the problem becomes apparent. so they drove it for 10 minutes. Now you insist that 20 minutes is required.

It sounds like they made a reasonable effort to fix a very minor problem that wasn't actually causing any drivability issues.

Mechanics aren't magicians, and they won't automatically know what's wrong with your car. And if you're capable of making accurate diagnoses on the internet, that's a bonus, it means you can give the mechanic some guidance, since you're the most familiar with your own car.

But compared to all of the real problems people have with service shops, this hardly seems worth blackening a shop's reputation for. They didn't rip you off, sell you faulty parts, or ruin your car. They weren't even rude to you. So what's the big deal?

heavyD
05-16-2008, 07:13 AM
Originally posted by canuckcarguy
But compared to all of the real problems people have with service shops, this hardly seems worth blackening a shop's reputation for. They didn't rip you off, sell you faulty parts, or ruin your car. They weren't even rude to you. So what's the big deal?

I agree. Wait until you really get screwed around before you start badmouthing a business. You are coming off as a bit of a whiner seeing as how you really didn't need to take your car to a shop in the 1st place.

atwnick
03-19-2013, 03:07 PM
I have just purchased this business that you are talking about. I am hoping to convince you to remove your original post and give me a chance to build a reputation of my own and hopefully have you give me a chance to make things right or at least a second chance. Please feel free to give me a call 780-448-2228
Thanks
Nick

Graham_A_M
03-19-2013, 03:59 PM
Nice try, but this thread is 5 years old as you may have noticed. Only the mod could change it now, since I haven't seen the OP post in, well ever really. He's LONG gone.

Man, I saw GTS Jeff post, and I was wondering WTF?!! Then I noticed just how old this thread was.
:rofl:

shakalaka
03-19-2013, 04:07 PM
^ haha I did the exact same thing.

Disoblige
03-19-2013, 04:08 PM
Good job on bumping this thread, only to make things worse for you...

Xtrema
03-19-2013, 04:18 PM
If you name isn't Wilson, you may want to change your business' name. It's easier.

Shit, nobody would even care if you didn't bump it.

GS430
03-19-2013, 04:25 PM
I remember trying to deal with Wilson's before..

I needed a simple oil change because I was short on time to do it myself, and the lady who answered was so set on the fact that they won't touch a Lexus. I had my own oil filter too. :banghead:

snowcat
02-09-2014, 10:53 PM
Bump.

Have you guys been on YT lately? I saw some ads that are so bad I searched google to see the business, where it is, etc (because the ad doesn't say), and this thread is top 5.

So: their latest ads on YouTube are facking horrendous!