417 replies to this topic

[lanforod]

I'm very confused too.

[Matt R.]

Yes, a dodge Omni. Same as a Plymouth Horizon.

[aastra]

Luxury high-performance hatchback, before Mike K.'s time.

[Victoria Watcher]

Yes, a dodge Omni. Same as a Plymouth Horizon.

 

 

[Matt R.]

That’s a beaut! Mine was two tone blue. Hated that car, ended up costing me nothing as I got $500 cash for scrap so that’s good.

[aastra]

 

Luxury high-performance hatchback, before Mike K.'s time.

 

I forgot to mention it was also a serious AWD rally car.

[aastra]

It was the refined and perfected American automobile that scared the heck out of every Japanese and European automaker, let's just put it that way.

[Matt R.]

No that was the Turbo Firefly.

[Nparker]

I thought it was the AMC Pacer.

[Victoria Watcher]

Gremlin was cooler than the Pacer.

 

[aastra]

All of the above. There was a reason why these vehicles dominated the marketplace, the roadways, the racing circuits, the car shows, and culture in general.

[aastra]

The gremlin had one serious practical issue: you couldn't wash it after midnight.

[Matt R.]

Can someone please photoshop the chek 6 logo I mean the VV logo onto the Gremlin.

[vortoozo]

Oh yeah, it happens for sure. Just thank them for the assessment and say you’re only there for your free oil change if they come back with a laundry list of stuff.

Some stuff might be legit, like flushing your coolant or having your differential oil checked out.

How old is your vehicle, and what is it, if you don’t mind me asking? Maybe we can help narrow down some anticipated maintenance for you.

 

Wanted to update as I've had the service done.

If you have Canadian Tire roadside assistance (which comes included for free with some of the Triangle Mastercards), you get a coupon for a free annual oil change.

Since my dealership is up to $145 for a conventional oil change these days, I figured why not try it out.

I went to the Royal Oak location and was quite impressed.

It truly was free, no upselling, no additional work recommended that might have been unnecessary. They said usually the offer only includes filters up to $5 but they didn't end up charging me the small difference.

I was chatting with the service writer who mentioned he had previously been employed at a Ford dealership for many years and I could tell he knew his stuff. He seemed fairly new at Canadian Tire so I asked him what his impression of the techs there were and he mentioned that the head mechanic had been there for over 20 years, and his son now works as a mechanic there too.  I asked if they do something similar to Kia that recommends different service levels after different time/mileage intervals and he mentioned I could bring in the manual and have them do those things specifically, but some of them might be unnecessary and could be checked with a visual inspection before proceeding.

Overheard some conversations with other customers while in line and I could tell that these were honest folks.

So much so that I'll likely get all of my maintenance done there going forward.

[Mike K.]

Great! That sounds like a really good setup they have there.

One thing I’d like to suggest, is if you have the option of paying for a higher quality oil filter with these free oil changes, consider it. I don’t know if you can opt for synthetic oil or not (something I would also suggest if the service doesn’t already include it), but if you can pay an extra $10 for a top-end oil filter, it’s a good thing to do.

[vortoozo]

Great! That sounds like a really good setup they have there.

One thing I’d like to suggest, is if you have the option of paying for a higher quality oil filter with these free oil changes, consider it. I don’t know if you can opt for synthetic oil or not (something I would also suggest if the service doesn’t already include it), but if you can pay an extra $10 for a top-end oil filter, it’s a good thing to do.

 

It sound like I can pay for upgrades.

Kia dealership uses conventional oil so I didn't really consider synthetic. Something for next time.

[spanky123]

Wanted to update as I've had the service done.

If you have Canadian Tire roadside assistance (which comes included for free with some of the Triangle Mastercards), you get a coupon for a free annual oil change.

Since my dealership is up to $145 for a conventional oil change these days, I figured why not try it out.

I went to the Royal Oak location and was quite impressed.

It truly was free, no upselling, no additional work recommended that might have been unnecessary. They said usually the offer only includes filters up to $5 but they didn't end up charging me the small difference.

I was chatting with the service writer who mentioned he had previously been employed at a Ford dealership for many years and I could tell he knew his stuff. He seemed fairly new at Canadian Tire so I asked him what his impression of the techs there were and he mentioned that the head mechanic had been there for over 20 years, and his son now works as a mechanic there too.  I asked if they do something similar to Kia that recommends different service levels after different time/mileage intervals and he mentioned I could bring in the manual and have them do those things specifically, but some of them might be unnecessary and could be checked with a visual inspection before proceeding.

Overheard some conversations with other customers while in line and I could tell that these were honest folks.

So much so that I'll likely get all of my maintenance done there going forward.

 

The Royal Oak store in general is extremely well managed with many long time staff.

[sebberry]

Since my dealership is up to $145 for a conventional oil change these days, I figured why not try it out.

 

Do that twice and you could have paid for all the tools to change the oil yourself   I know, not everyone can do that. 

Doing that basic routine stuff myself means I can afford to have the dealer do the big stuff.  Clutch probably doesn't have a whole lot of life left  

[spanky123]

Do that twice and you could have paid for all the tools to change the oil yourself   I know, not everyone can do that. 

Doing that basic routine stuff myself means I can afford to have the dealer do the big stuff.  Clutch probably doesn't have a whole lot of life left

 

Although you can pretty easily find coupons or discounts on oil changes which bring the cost differential down to $10-$15. For that small amount I would avoid the cleanup hassles.

[Mike K.]

Speaking of cleanup, I once had a guy spray the interior of my vehicle with oil when he mishandled the oil gun.