A Consumer's War against CTC

Do you really know what the mechanics at the Canadian Tire Auto Service are doing to your car? (I)
On Jan 7, 2008, my car's condition was checked by a mechanic at the Tony Graham dealership:

(1) No vibration felt at highway speeds
(2) Checked for beating noise - nothing heard
(3) Inspected links at both front and rear - ok
(4) Checked wheel bearings - ok
(5) Only noise heard was normal tire noise

So, the results from this inspection on that day: no correction required at this time.

Car Mileage reading at this time: 167,827 km

Although I felt that my car was not performing as well as before, everything was in good condition from the mechanic's point of view.

My car's condition report on Jan 7, 2008

 

Do you really know what the mechanics at the Canadian Tire Auto Service are doing to your car? (II)

On Jan 14, 2008, I had my car checked again by a mechanic at the Tony Graham dealership.

The technician noted the following:
(1) Wrong axle currently in vehicle (right side)
(2) Right axle seal leaking (possibly caused by wrong axle)
(3) Right front wheel bearing noisy

As a result, the mechanic did a lot of work to fix my car.

Car Mileage reading at this time: 167,918 km

Compared to the mileage reading (167,827) on Jan 7, there were only 91 km used in 7 days. The difference includes the mileage I used to drive to both the Canadian Tire store and Tony Graham dealership and back, and also includes the mileage the mechanics used at both locations to test my car on the highway several times. Can you imagine what happened to my car?


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Well, that is a little longer story about the Canadian Tire Auto Service !

My car's condition report on Jan 14, 2008

 

Do you really know what the mechanics at the Canadian Tire Auto Service are doing to your car? (III)


I felt that my car was not performing as well on the highway as it had been before. On Jan 6, 2008, I went to the Canadian Tire Auto Service at Carling & Woodroffe in Ottawa and asked them to install two new tires for my car.

Check my receipt here

 

Do you really know what the mechanics at the Canadian Tire Auto Service are doing to your car? (IV)

After having two new tires installed on Jan 6, 2008, I felt that my car's condition had not improved. On Jan 7, 2008, I went back to the Canadian Tire Auto Service at Carling & Woodroffe in Ottawa. The service advisor told me that I needed to install two new rims onto the new tires.

After they installed the new rims, I discovered a new problem: a constant beating noise from the front driver side wheel at any speed. That is one of the places where they installed the new tire and rim.

I thought that the mechanic at the Canadian Tire Auto Service had not solved my problem, but was actually generating more problems. I left Canadian Tire and drove my car directly to Tony Graham to ask the mechanic there to have a second look at my car. Therefore, I got my car's condition report on Jan 7, 2008

The mechanic at the Tony Graham dealership said that my car was in a condition that did not need any correction at the time.

Check my receipt here

 

Do you really know what the mechanics at the Canadian Tire Auto Service are doing to your car? (V)

The beating noise from the front driver side kept annoying me yesterday (I only used my car on the weekend for grocery shopping). The mechanics at Tony Graham told me that I should go back to Canadian Tire if I really felt the car had such a problem with noise since the technicians there were the ones who installed new tires and rims for me.

On Jan 13, 2008, I went back to the Canadian Tire Auto Service at Carling & Woodroffe again!
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Date: Jan 13, 2008 (Sunday)
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Place: Canadian Tire Store Auto Service at 2160 Carling Ave., Ottawa
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8:00 am:
I told the service advisor about the problem with my car (lower beating noise coming from the front driver side wheel, at any speed).
9:20 am:
I saw mechanic (11) driving my car out for testing.
10:30 am:
The service advisor told me that the front passenger side driving axle was bent and that this was the cause of shaking on the highway. He advised me to change it.
I asked mechanic (11) about the noise problem, he said he heard nothing.
10:40 am:
I went out with the mechanic (11) to show him the noise.
11:20 am:
The mechanic (11) told me that he had checked the tires, balance, bearings, etc. and that everything was okay. When I asked him about the front driver side driving axle, he said the driver side axle was good.
11:25 am:
I signed on the work order to change the front passenger side driving axle.
2:00 pm:
I was told that the ordered part (axle) had arrived and that the mechanic was working on installing it.
3:50 pm:
I saw the mechanic (11) driving my car out for testing.
4:20 pm:
The advisor told me that my car had a lot of problems. First, the ordered axle was wrong; second, the front driver side driving axle was not good either. and both of them had to be replaced. I was given two choices:
(1) leave my car in the garage until it is fixed the next day (Monday).
(2) reinstall the original front passenger side driving axle (the one that was taken out) and come back the next day.
I said I needed to talk to the mechanic first.
4:30 pm:
I asked mechanic (18) to show me the problem with the front driver side driving axle. He showed me the problem and said that the wheel on it was loose. I told the mechanic (18) that I really needed to use my car that night, and asked him two questions to address my concern:
(1) Had my car been damaged because of mechanic (11)'s mistake?
Mechanic (18) said NO.
(2) If I had the original axle reinstalled, would my car return to its original condition?
Mechanic (18) said YES.
4:40 pm:
I went back to the advisor and told him that I had to use my car that night, so I wanted to have the original front passenger side driving axle reinstalled so that my car would be restored to its original condition. I said I would return to have my car fixed the next day.
5:00 pm:
Closing time, I got my car.
5:05 pm:
As I drove toward the highway entrance on Woodroffe Ave., I heard a really loud noise from the front passenger side, like an airplane passing beside me. I slowed my speed down to 30 km/h, kept it between 30-40 km/h (the airplane was still there!), flashed my emergency lights, and drove back home via a local route.

Check the work order on that day

 

more will come soon ....