Aaah. CV Joints. I had both of the CV Joint Boots go on my Tercel. Everytime I would turn, the loudest clunking/banging sound would be heard.

I ended up replacing both them and that solved the problem.

As for the muffler, one time, my muffler literaly cut near the middle and close to falling off. I went to canadian tire and asked them to simply repair it, as in weld the broken area. The guy said sure. Come back tomorrow.

I come back and then some other guy says NO! We don't weld. We only replace mufflers. It's gonna cost $x .. I forget..over a hundred for sure.

I'm like what?!? Took it to another garage and got it welded for $20.

Scrappy Tire, as I like to call them, have mediocre service when it comes to cars. Very wishy washy.

I don't really trust the guys at crappy tire much, they always have a different answer.

My brother went there for getting new wheels put on his car. He then drove home 20 minutes on the Queensway, got home and checked the nuts on the tires. They were all only finger tight! He could have lost a wheel, wrecked his car, and / or killed himself or someone else. That's just negligent if you ask me.

There is a good garage on the way into Stittsville ("Stittsville Auto" ??), but it's usually very busy. I was impressed with the guys there though.

I suggest that you or anyone who reads this blog avoid the auto centre at Canadian Tire. I have heard nothing but complaints from customers and of registered mechanics warnings to avoid that place. I suggest that you look for a garage that actually works on onlder dodges or dodge, chrysler, gmc brands. I take advantage of talking to mechanics when ever I get the chance and many of them tell me that they only work on certain types of cars because the systems are now so very complicated. Also specialized tools are required for certain types of cars... Going to a garage that works on your brand of car generally gives you a better quality repair at a cheaper price.

I will never go to Canadian Tire again! A couple of years ago my gas pump broke down. Fine, it was an older car. However, the closest garage was Canadian Tire. They installed a new pump, and tried to get me to repair both my fuel fitler and my fuel tank because they "can't guarantee your tank won't leak". Well the tank didn't leak before and since I hate Candian Tire I told them to only fix the pump since I would be taking the car to my mechanic. They insatalled the pump and when it was all said and done the bill was close to $600 (this did include a diagnostic). Ever since then I have had problems with that car. When I went to my own guy, a real mechanic, and had him put in the new filter and tank he noticed there was a hole in the gas tank... He also said the whole job at Canadian Tire ($600)only should have cost about $300. Needless to say I was not impressed.

You got to be carefull with any auto mechanics, espically the one's that work at Canadian Tire. I had a friend that worked at Canadian Tire as a mechanic in high school. Needless to say, he wasn't too impressed some of the jobs the guys did there. Like James said, I'd prefer to go to a dealership the same brand as your car. They're more likely to do things right since they ultimantly want you to buy a car from them. Though I stress more likely.

The main reason that stores like Canadian Tire don't check every little detail (As suggested in the initial email by the initial author is that they are on more of a time commitment to get you through. You were already complaining about the time it takes to get your job done - if they were to check every detail that relates to every little problem - rather than simply starting with what seems obvious as they do - it would be twice as long for every vehicle. Plus, the biggest complaint they get from customers is about cost - if they checked everything, your $500 bill would quickly triple with all the things they could find wrong with each car.
Don't cut down big-box stores service level - they don't have the capacity to be as touchy-feely with you as a small garage simply because of the volume of cars they put through in comparison to a smaller garage. Keep in mind that the mechanics at Canadian Tire stores go through the exact same classes and training (if not more because of the backing of an owner) than mechanics at smaller garages.

I went to Canadian Tire and paid out over $300.00 in front end work, had problems went to another garage. I was told there and shown that the stabbalizer links I was told were put in new at Canadian Tire were worn out in 7 months, with little driving. Went back to Canadian Tire and told service manager about it, he told me I would have to pay labour only. Why would I pay labour again on a two parts that were not replaced in the first place. Stabbalizer Links do not were out in 7 months.

Another CT Horror story! Tuesday December 7th I dropped my wives 2002 Neon off at the Coventry Rd. store in Ottawa to have 4 Nordic Ice Trac winter tires installed and the all seasons removed. As expected the wait was going to be at least 5 hours. Not a problem, I would leave the car there for the day. The person behind the counter seemed busy and rushed for time and quickly took my info and stated the final price. It included balancing and installation I was informed. Due to the weather I did not return for the vehicle till the next day, Wednesday, December 8th. Upon arriving home I opened the car trunk to remove the All Season Goodyear Radial (23km on the vehicle and tires) NO Tires! I immediately called the store to voice my concerns. Where are my tires, “well sir you ask for them to be disposed of, your invoice shows the $12.00 fee”. Why would I want to dispose of perfectly good tires, I just wanted to have winter tires installed. I was never asked if I wanted my all season radials disposed of, I assumed since it wasn’t discussed the tires would be bagged and placed into the trunk. To logical I guess. Today I returned to the store since I was informed that they would try to locate my tires but that the truck from the disposal company may have picked the tires up already. This I was told was the case, the tires could not be found. After a brief exchange of some heated words I was told that since I had signed the receipt that very little could be done for me. I demanded to speak to the manager but was told she would not be in till the afternoon and I would receive a phone call later today. Still waiting.

About four years ago, I brought a 1992 Sunbird in to CT in Sudbury, Ontario, to have it checked out. It was leaking and overheating. A couple of my buddies with some mechanical smarts told me it would probably be my water pump. CT checked it out and told me my headgasket was busted and that it would cost me about $1200-$1500 to get the engine work done. I decided it was time instead to get some new wheels, so I GAVE my car to my brother-in-law. Guess what? He put a water pump in it and drove it problem-free for three years!

I warn people off Canadian Tire auto every chance I get.

Me again. I thought some of you might enjoy this article.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1024857397160_20266597/

That's it!!I've had it with Canadian Tire. A few years ago they had an old yukkie store in Peterborough. It was small and packed like a junk store. You couldn't find anything especially someone to wait on you. Then we got a bigger better store. I welcomed the change, hoping things would improve. No such luck. Several occassions I would go in, and have to search for an associate to help me find something, and usually leave dissatisfied. I wanted to buy a patio set, willing to spend over $500.00 for one. No one would wait on me. I swore I would never go back to that store, and I bought my patio set at the Brick next door. Well, then we got another new Canadian Tire store at the other end of town. I figured, OK, competition, so I will give them a try. I went in to buy a new bike for my child. I had 2 small kids with me. The bikes were hanging on a rack a little too high for me to reach. I struggled for at least 10 minutes, trying to get the bike down, and when it wasn't suitable, I struggled to get it back up. Three associates waltzed by, not one offering to help. Did they think this was my daily workout? Lazy idiots. Needless to say, I left without a bike and went to Zellers and was immediately assisted and left happy with a bike. Now it is Christmas, and Canadian Tire had a telescope on sale. I went to Pickering to try and get it so I could avoid the stores in Peterborough. Unfortunately, they were out and gave me a rain check. I had to use it in Peterborough. I went to the store here and had to FIND someone to help me as it was on the very top shelf. I used the rain check and bought it. A few days after Xmas, the sky was clear and the moon was full so we tried to set up the telescope. What a surprise. It had been returned by someone else because it was defective. There were notes inside the re-sealed box stating so. What a dirty trick!! LETS SELL THIS PIECE OF JUNK TO ANOTHER UNSUSPECTING CUSTOMER TO MAKE THEIR XMAS VERY MERRY!! I can't believe they would put a broken product back on the shelf. I am returning it tomorrow and they can shove the telescope you know where. I WILL NEVER STEP FOOT IN EITHER CANADIAN TIRE IN PETERBOROUGH AGAIN!!

About a year ago I had purchesed a 4 litre container of Formula 1 oil from the Dalton drive canadian tire store in Calgary, Alberta. When I got home to change the oil on my vehicle I had opened the container to descover that it was used oil that I had purchesed from them. When I had returned to the ct store and explained to them what had happened they refused to allow me to exchange it for another container as they thought I had put the used oil in the contianer. Needless to say I was pretty much out raged as to what they had suggested I had done. It was an 8 dollar product when I was makeing a 5 figure salery at the time. Why would I try and do that for an 8 dollar product considerring the money I was making ?

Josh Oniel

Never deal with Canadian Tire. My daughters car developed a leak in the power steering line, took it to Can.Tire on a Wed.,couldn't do it till Fri.AM, called Fri.noon to see if ready to pick up. They were unaware the car was in for service.Repaired it, took it home,next day she went to use the car - no power steering, all the fluid had leaked out under the car. Called CT, their response "Oh sometimes that happens" picked up car and repaired it again with no explanation. Same day our van was in for an oil change at 4:00, at 4:45 the service manager came out and said the drain plug had snapped and as all the mechanics had gone home we would have to leave the van overnight and they would repair first thing in morning - we informed him we had an appt.in London, 1-1/2 hrs.away at 10 in morning that we had booked for 6 mos.No problem. Next morning he calls and said they would have to put in a new oil pan as they couldn't guarantee drilling and putting in a new plug. Couldn't get a pan till Monday.Needed vehicle to get to appt.so told him to put in the plug.Also according to him, none of this was their responsibility, even though they had a tech doing the oil change who snapped the plug. 11:00 I called and vehicle was just done, no call to let us know. Needless to say we had to cancel our appt. Also they had previously installed a new serpentine belt on vehicle which was squealing badly since they replaced it. No problem before but was replaced on their recommendation for cracking. Now they say it is the belt tensioner that needs to be replaced. Funny it wasn't a problem before they replaced the belt. To put on a new oil pan and to fix the tensioner would be approx. 500.00, we had already just paid 203.00 for having the plug fixed that they broke. I called the store owner to complain who finally returned my call at 5:30. He said the plug was a previous problem, not their fault,that the mechanics had said it could possibly break if they tried to do an oil change (outright lie)Sorry for your luck. They screwed up two of our vehicles in one day. His excuse for the failure of the repair on my daughters car was she could have hit a bump on the way home and that is common for that type of repair.My 30.00 oil change could end up costing me 600.00.Nice profit if you can get it. Needless to say I will never deal with Can.Tire again. Should have learned our lesson with dealing with them previously when one time the mechanic didn't tighten the oil plug and we lost all our oil and another time after fixing a radiator they didn't put on hose clamps.I just figured with a new store and new mechanics things might be better.My advice - don't take your car to Can.Tire for service. Our store is in Wallaceburg, I'll deal with a small garage from now on, at least they are more interested in keeping their customers satisfied which is definately not high on the list for Can.Tire.

Welp, I just came back from the CTC service garage South end of Barrie and I'm thinking of taking them to small claims court. The car wouldn't start one day and had to be towed...timing belt. Reasonable since it had 210k and never been changed. 3 months later the gas tank started leaking. Reasonable since it's 4 years old and the 3rd tank and I've accepted the fact they just make sh$tty tanks for the car. I asked them to check the fuel pump just in case...it was FINE & dandy. One month later, the car doesn't start. I don't hear the fuel pump pressurizing when you first turn the key. The diagnostic came back "faulty coil..replaced". I'm starting to get suspicious now because they said the engine was flooded, but I didn't smell any gas under the hood. 3 days later...no start. Diagnosis...FUEL PUMP. OK you bastards, replace it and your service manager is gonna hear about it! Got a phone call...the cable to the fuel pump is badly corroded, pins are breaking blah blah. OK replace the )$)(*&%^% cable...Manager needs to start fearing for his life now. STOMP in to the store to talk to Manager Woodenhead...
- where's the diagnostic printout? - there isn't one because the mechanic just determined the pump to be defective
- when the tank was replaced a month ago the fuel pump was FINE, including the cable because the mechanic didn't recommend replacement. So how come 1 month later the pump doesn't work and the cable is badly corroded, pins breaking off? - Because you'll need to take our word for it.
- How come I didn't hear the pump pressurize but you say the engine was flooded? - the mechanic made the diagnosis, it's not related to the coil.
- I want a written diagnosis of the problem. - the mechanic will call you tomorrow.
- how can they diagnose the fuelpump if the cable is badly corroded with pins falling off? - the fuel pump could still be good, we don't know.

THIS IS GOING TO SMALL CLAIMS COURT AFTER I SUBMIT AN OFFICIAL COMPLAINT TO THE MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AND COMMERCIAL AFFAIRS WEBSITE ONLINE SYSTEM.

I've been officialy screwed over and they cannot prove continuity of their 'diagnostics'.

Hello

I am "currently" Employed as an Installer and "certified" Drive Clean Inspector by Canadian Tire 457 In Kanata.
First I would like to say that this particular store is filled to the brim with nothing but greedy manegement with the exception of maby 2 or 3 which have nothing to do with the Automotive department.

My Beef is not with the Employees, but with the management Who have Absoulutely No concern for your car whatsoever, All they care about is your money. Dont get me wrong, their very good actors when your waving your hard earned dollars in their face Ill give them that. But behind the scenes however Its all about dollars.
Their always pushing their hourley employees to "sell more" this means they want us to "shop" the car and look for something thats wrong.
Ive recently been fired for "not being productive" this means I havent sold enough off of peoples cars.
However in Respect to you blerb Ryan, I found a few holes in your story. I agree with you on the fact that this Canadian Tire should be Boycott, And I agree with you that you wernt being treated as a person, but as a dollar sign.
But the problem isnt the Mechanics.
My fellow employees are probly the best bunch of people Ive ever had the pleasure of working with.
Believe it or not they are Honest hard working people.
As for the holes in your story, You said that Mike said that you needed to replace your rear ball joints. On your particular vehicle there are no rear balljoints. And as for adjusting your motormounts after a drive axle replacement, Im not bullshitting you this really is unheard of
I would be consulting the people at haynes for that one.
The bottom line is that the Licenced mechanics and apprentices really do know what their doing, they are very experienced and tedious.
But however, My rant is not about the mechanics but about the Employers.
Since the store has been taken over by corperate office alot of things have changed.
For instance we as the employees are not trusted what so ever.
If you havent noticed already alot of Cameras have been installed in the store to "prevent theft and to protect our employees" I dunno, mabye im wrong but I never Thought I would have needed "protection" while Im eating lunch in a lunchroom where no customers are allowed.Oh and by the way our uniform lockers are also in there, this Classifies it as a change area so its Highley illigal.
As for the Up selling, They now have a sheet for all the installers to fill out what they sell on cars. They call it a "contest". The Person who sells the least...... Losses their Job!

FRAUD AT IT'S FINEST

Took my vehicle into Crappy Tire Richmond Hill today for an Oil Change Special. It had been advertized that you get a Quaker State filter, and Quaker State Winter Oil. $35.00 seems like a pretty good price for this service.

It seems like it was a good thing I was keeping my eyes on the mechanic, rather than browsing the store.

The mechanic collected the materials to do the job, filter, 5 qts. of Q.S. Winter Oil, and raised the car on the hoist. No problems. Drained oil for a reasonably long time. Even better, get the crap out. Replaces filter, and drain plug and lowers car. "Conveniently" forgets to put in Q.S. Oil and proceeds to fill car with Bulk SHIT oil.

At this time, I attempted to go into the Garage to give the mechanic a piece of my mind. "You can't go in there sir... That's a restricted area". I pointed out that the mechanic was putting the wrong oil in my car. Oh, we'll speak to him about it. Sat back down, keeping a close eye on my vehicle. Driven out, without draining bulk oil. When I spoke to the manager, he flat out denied it. Then they took the car back in, drained it, and did the proper job.

I am considering pressing charges of FRAUD or False Advertising.

if I hadn't noticed, I would have been charged for the job, that wasn't done.

Don't take your car to Canadian Tire unless you're stranded and have no other options. If you have to, WATCH YOUR MECHANIC, wait, we can't call them mechanics. GREASE MONKEY.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Let this be a warning to you.

I took my car into Canadian tire a few months ago to get it checked out. When i started it, it would rev up and then almost stall and then rev up again and almost stall and then finally it would level out after a couple seconds and it would hesitate for a few seconds before it started. I went to part source and asked them what it might be and they told me that it might be my idle control but im pretty sure he misunderstood me because i had no problem when my car was idling, only starting. I took it into Crappy tire and told them what it was doing and they told me they'd take a look. A few hours later, they called me and, sure enough, they said it was the idle control AND the throttle body. Also, they told me that there was a problem with the emission control that i probably wouldnt have to get fixed untill the summer but it didnt have anything to do with my problem. I got them to fix it and i went to pick up my car, expecting it to work correctly, and paid the $225. a couple weeks later, the problem started up again. I took it back, with my work order, and they told me the problem was the emission control. I asked him why they had told me that i didnt need to get it done untill summer and he just told me that "these things go and you can never really tell how long you have". Nice of them to tell me this now. I got my car back after another $90 charge and, of course, there was no change. I made them take a look at it again the next day because all of their mechanics had left for the night. They called me about 3 times the next day telling me that they couldnt find anything but they are going to keep looking. The last time they called, He told me that he was going to clean the throttle body again and see if that works and a few hours later, they called and said my car was ready to be picked up. I went to pick it up and even though they warantee their work, they were going to RECHARGE me for the cleaning that i did not agree to (The mechanic told me he was going to do it). The problem started up again and i had a friend of mine, who is a mechanic, to look at it and he changed the plugs and wires and it was starting up fine. It was still hesitateing a little bit but he told me that was because the fuel pump is ready to go. I originally thought that this was the problem, but of course, Canadian tire decided to change and clean something else that did not need to be done. Because of this original charge, i am without a car and cannot get the fuel pump fixed due to a lack of "funds". Thanks alot Canadian tire.