UPDATE: Below I mentioned another auto shop, which I went to to do my repair in the end. Here is the comparison.
Spadina: Over 2 day span to get results of what is wrong with my car, then says the parts are $300 each, so a total of $600 for one side then labour + tax. Says the parts will take 2 days to arrive, then about 2 days to install. So overall - expensive diagnostic, over charged on parts, length of time to get parts unnecessary. TOTAL: 5-6 DAYS for everything all said and done. Which would mean I would have to rent a car for that length which would cost another $200.
Other auto shop (wayyyyyy better): 1st day: inspects car, tells me whats wrong (same diagonistic as Spadina). I come back in a few weeks when noise was worse. Make an appointment. Come in for that time, he orders the parts right there and then. I take my car out for a drive to get the noise to happen. Come back in 2 hours and the parts are there. I got 3 parts for $475 compared to $600 for 2 parts and the exact same quality. Fixes my car within 4 hours in the same day and I get to pick up my car the same day. Came in at 12noon and got my car back at 4pm same day. TOTAL: 2 DAYS
Overall: Seemed knowledgeable, way too busy of a shop so things are delayed including just finding out whats wrong, and pricey compared to other shops when it comes to diagnostic/inspection of vehicle and parts. And I felt rushed.
Positives
- Nice guy. Explains in detail and physically shows you what is wrong and what needs to be repaired. Seems to be knowledgeable.
Negatives
- Too busy of a shop so expect to wait a few days to just be told what's wrong with your car. A job that is told to be 3 days, easily turns into a week since you aren't told what's wrong with the car until 2 days in. They need more employees.
- Also, I'm personally not a fan of how this shop runs. I like going to a shop, having the mechanic look at it and have the mechanic then tell me whats wrong on the spot. This shop runs with mechanics doing the work, writing a report, then the adviser reading the report, then contacting the customer. Takes too long.
- Everywhere else I go, I make an appointment (like I did here) but instead, they look at my car at my appointment time and tell me what's wrong within the hour. Here, you drop off the car, be told they will call you but instead you have to be very persistent about getting an answer since they are so busy and don't call you back. I don't like how that's done. When the issue has been figured out within the hour (which is what I was charged for), then I should be given the options right away so the process can begin a lot quicker and I'm not out of a car for a long time and I don't have to rent a car if it can be avoided.
- If a shop has too many projects at the moment, they should turn customers away instead of making them wait days to find out what's wrong because they're too busy to deal with all the issues. Don't take on more car projects than you can handle. Or just be honest and up front that it will take a while since you have so many other projects.
- I think if the shop wasn't as busy (as in had a lot of cars to repair already), my experience would have been better and it would have gone smoother except for the part prices.
Pricing:
- Yes things are expensive any shop you go to in Toronto and it's how it goes BUT what I realized from going to Spadina and another shop (I'll call it Shop A) was there are better options. Shop A (I won't say the name but if you want to know inbox me) charged $41.99 for a diagnostic. This included lifting the car up, inspect the car in all ways (without taking things apart) and oil up any pieces that may be causing the issue before doing anything major. I was also there during the inspection and was able to be by the car and physically shown the issues. That's a great deal - they charge for the service rather than by hour. They charge by hour only when they have to fix the problem ie. change out parts. Now at Spadina Auto Shop, I had to pay the hourly rate just for a diagnostic, which cost me $88 all said and done, and they did exactly what the other shop did. Shop around first for diagnostic/inspection prices before choosing your shop.
Hope this helps :) read more