canada tire inspection nightmare, long post

[after oil]

can i say "$#&*$" in the forum? because other than "shmucks" i cant think of a good enough word for the people in the shop at powell river canadian tire. (the only shop in PR that will still do inspections on JDMs)not all of them, mind you, one guy was nice, and the parts kids are nice but jeff and mike bradshaw are $#&*$.
the day before the inspection i was there booking and jeff who works at the counter took a look at my van and said "those lights dont say DOT, theyre an automatic fail!"
i asked about the tires, b/c the ones that came with the van are pretty worn, and he said" we're not allowed to say anything in the parking lot." but he was happy to tell me the lights were gonna fail. naturally i got the e code lights in and the DRL all wired up just fine. (thanks to BCdelica for tech help!)

i put the good tires from my nissan diesel truck on the van just to be sure about that part.

i went back after the inspection to discover it failed! the legit fails include:
leaky brake cylinders in the rear. a "blistered" brake hose in the front
the maybe legit fail: rear drums "oversized as per stamp on drum" and side lamps not illuminated

but the illigit fails: all lights and lenses not DOT compliant

you can imagine how shocked i was when they told me this, i explained about e code and told the where to look on the web, but they showed me a vehicle inpsections and standards bulletin that says the lamps and lenses must say DOT.
the bulletin is dated Novemeber 28, 2005!!!!!

jeff said" thats why you should not bring imported vehicles into the country"

every time mike said something like "must say DOT" jeff would nod and echo "must say DOT"

they wouldnt look on the web, they wouldnt listen to reason.


i phoned noel, who sold me the lights and he said phone brian kanga, prov manager of inspections of course kanga is out on vacation, but i thanks to sandy at service bc i found dave green who is in charge of inspections for courtnenay area. super nice guy he is! he had someone with him who agreed of course the e code passes. he toook a few phone calls from me and was always courteous.
when i went back later and asked mike to look again on the web to see the photos of the delica with e code on the prov inspection site he said he had to hear it from the government. so i asked him to phone dave green, and he wouldnt!! dave green had to phone him, he says!

i went back to CT and waited and waited to talk to mike the inpsector but they said he was on lunch. bullshit! i saw him working in the shop! i went to pay my $100 for the "inspection" (i didnt want to , but i thought they might not give me my key if i didnt pay) and then went to get my key, and waited and waited so i just went around and got it myself.


i phoned glenn at ccauto to get the brake parts and he was also very surprised about the $#&*$ at CT. esp about the rear drums, becuase glenn says hes never seen a vehicle fail b/c of that.

CT didnt enter th info into the web, i think. i almost never shop there, and i think now never, i sure as hell aint bringing my van back there. im sending the van to glen to replace the brake cylinders and do the inspection on the island. hes nice enough to come up to comox to pick my van up at the ferry so i can just come right home.

an extra $100 in ferry costs, $100 twice for inspections... sheesh

thanks for hearing my rant,
after oil

[Green1]

unfortunately Canadian Tire is extremely well known for how useless they are with OOP for JDM vehicles... I'm sorry you had to go through all of that.

[konadog]

Bummer! Sounds like a call and letter to Canadian Tire head office and the local store manager to complain is in order - And maybe the same to the local paper!! Oh, and there were edit calls for "sick s..t" so I can only imagine your "f...kos", well totally understandable, will cause a bit of a stir...

[jessef]

That sucks. Sorry to hear.

There are a lot of $#&*$ out there. But equally as many good guys.

It's too bad you got stuck with the ignorant guys.

Can you voice a complaint ?

Jesse

[rdub]

$#&*$..... in the nose...out the mouth....in the nose....out the mouth....ah! Chapter one completed. Next.

It'll all work out no prob!

Rich

[after oil]

i suppose i could complain, but it wont give me much satisfaction. i dont want anbody to lose their job or endure the corporate torture machine anymore then they have to. everybody's gotta work... i guess

[jessef]

jeff and mike bradshaw are $#&*$.

jeff who works at the counter took a look at my van and said "those lights dont say DOT, theyre an automatic fail!"

jeff said" thats why you should not bring imported vehicles into the country"

he said he had to hear it from the government. so i asked him to phone dave green, and he wouldnt!! dave green had to phone him, he says!

i went back to CT and waited and waited to talk to mike the inpsector but they said he was on lunch. bullshit! i saw him working in the shop!

an extra $100 in ferry costs, $100 twice for inspections... sheesh

everybody's gotta work... i guess

a) that is not 'normal' work

b) it cost you time and more money than normal

c) they are laughing at your expense

Honestly, that should be reported.

If you don't think it should, think of the next person that will be in your shoes with a RHD going into there and getting the same treatment and having to go through the same thing as you did.

Personally, I wouldn't be able to breath comfortably leaving that place in that state for the next poor guy/gal to run through the same crap without reporting it.

My 2 cents.

Jesse

ps. after reading it a 2nd time it really sucks. Sorry to hear. I hope the next person doesn't go through the same crap as you did. Make their management/upper's aware.

[The Pinkfingers]

Oh man that sucks. I have had a couple bad experiences with CT (and no longer take my van - not a Delica... yet - to them unless it's unavoidable), but I did have one absolutely amazing experience where they bent over backwards to get my car on the road when I conked out passing through Port Alberni -- with my whole family in the van as well.

Yeah, everyone's gotta work, and you don't want to take that away from them, but what if this happens to someone else? What will make them stop ripping others off? You're not trying to stop them from working, you're simply trying to get them to work honestly.

[konadog]

Wow, you're a bigger man than me! I'd be mad as a wet hen if I got treated like that. But hey, I'm not overly vengeful either and I wouldn't want or expect a job loss for anyone over it. BUT, those guys are responsible for knowing the rules, no excuse. If you complain perhaps they will be forced to sharpen up and the next guy won't suffer your troubles. And If I had employees that left my customers angry and calling them $#&*$, I'd really want to know about it...

[JMK]

I got so pissed reading the post, you could swear much worse an be justified. I often leave Canadian Tire with the feeling that if the employees could have found a better job almost anywhere else, they would have. We've had similar OOP inspection problems with the Petro Can in Banff, who look at OOP's as a good way to get alignment and tie rod work. They recently failed our immaculate VW Corrado based on an inner tie rod. They then tried to blackmail me when I said I was going to get the tie rod and replace it myself. They said they would not reinspect it unless they did it for $400.00.

So I have the vehicle blocked up in my garage and I cannot find even 1mm of play on the tie rod in question. I'm just going to eat the $150.00 inspection fee and take the vehicle to Calgary for reinspection.

A mechanic friend also pointed out to me, "grease your front end before you take it for inspection so there is less play on the joints".

[jwfchase]

unfortunately Canadian Tire is extremely well known for how useless they are with OOP for JDM vehicles...

Our experience is that goes for ALL vehicles. When on a road trip and broken down and CT is the ONLY option... maybe then...

[jcolvin]

" They then tried to blackmail me when I said I was going to get the tie rod and replace it myself. They said they would not reinspect it unless they did it for $400.00."

That would be grounds for an official complaint to I.C.B.C. Make it in writing, and they are at risk of getting their (lucrative) authorization to do inspections pulled. If you are really feeling sneaky, take a hidden tape recorder and get it on tape.

Or, write the letter and take it in to them before you send it to ICBC and perhaps they will "make it up to you".

Jonathan Colvin

[jrman]

I will shop at Romulan Tire - but I will never have any work done there for any of my vehicles based on a couple of bad experiences in the past. Agree with previous comment - the majority of their mechanics are bozos (though I do know of at least one that I can respect).

Sad that a couple of guys with a small amount of "power" seem to be "tripping" out on it....imagine these would be the kind of guys at Auschwitz who were just "doing their job"...ok, maybe that's a stretch but hope you know what I mean.

Good luck - I'm sure it will work out in the end.

[ccautos]

Just got the van back and stripped out for check over and I have to say this is porbably the nicest van I have ever had the pleasure of inspecting . It does require new front brake hoses and also the rear wheel cylinders are starting to weep but the rest of the van is like new !! I have no problem getting this van to pass an inspection with very minimal repairs . Obviously CT need to `get with the program` or basically read their manuals as to how to inspect these vehilces .

[Green1]

Our experience is that goes for ALL vehicles. When on a road trip and broken down and CT is the ONLY option... maybe then...

that's ok for us importing JDM vehicles, but I really pitty those stuck with the RIV process bringing vehicles in from the US who have no choice and MUST go to CT...