Thumbs Down to Wilson's Auto Tech West in Edmonton
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.
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