recommend mechanic in Vancouver, BC?

[Scoobydoo]

Can anyone recommend a mechanic in the Vancouver area for an EA82 loyale? Nothing major, just driveline work like CV joints, wheelbearings etc. Looking for someone who charges reasonable rates and understands ways to get longer life out of an old car other than just replacing everything with new (expensive) parts until the problem disappears.

 

 

For other people interested in this topic, I'll give a rundown of the shops I've tried. (of course, these opinions are entirely that, opinions, so hopefully nobody will sue!)

 

Nic's - dead honest and good for basic work, but not great with diagnostics. Not especially familiar with Subarus and they may tell you it's about to die when it's still got lots of life in it. I went in to get my wheel bearings done and they told me the engine was about to die and I shouldn't bother. Nice of them to be honest, but the engine is still going fine with a bit heavier oil. Just a matter of different opinions on 'dead' I guess.

 

Varsity - great work but premium rates. I paid $400 to replace a front half-axle and a lower balljoint on the same side. Maybe I'm out of touch, but I thought that was about $150 too much. They are near where I live though, so sometimes I'm willing to pay the premium.

 

Mackenzie Heights - pretty much same as varsity, but further away. No reason to choose them over vasity in my case.

 

All-Import (N.Van) - Although a real pain to get to, this used to be the shop I recommended to everyone. It was a one man shop and Bernie was a whiz at keeping old cars running and his prices were very fair too. Sadly, Bernie sold the shop and moved away. Don't know anything about the new owners, as it's too far to go without a recommendation.

[speedbump]

Hey,Talk to the guys at Northshore Offroad,apparently theres a shop that builds the Subaru Canada rally cars near Capilano Mall(across the street) that does great stock work and can hook you up for mods for offroad and performance.Good Luck EH!!

[robm]

The previous owner of my car had it serviced at Bruno Automotive in North Van.

 

Meticulous documentation.

Rates vary depending on the expertise required.

 

For exmple, an engine pressure wash was 1 hour at $21/hr.

 

Axle swap was 1.2 hrs at $72/hr (pretty good!) but the axle istself was like $150 for a reman.

 

The reason I know this is because every last scrap of service history cam ewith the car.

 

I am gong to have to get a log book, to keep track of what I do with it, so I don't break the chain.

 

Scoobydoo, if you come up with a good shop in your area (sounds like you live around UBC, right?) please let me know. A friend of mine in that area needs a good, honest, reasonable mechanic, because I live way too far away!

[Scoobydoo]

Thanks Rob, I'll keep that place in mind. The shops I listed are good, but generally not cheap. You pay for convenience, which is fair I guess. I'm sure they cost more also because of the outragous property values in the area. Having a BCAA Gold membership is a good idea, as they'll tow you anywhere.

 

I'm tending to go to several specialty shops rather than one general mechanic (of course, that requires that you know what the problem is, and your regular mechanic will probably resent not getting the gravy jobs like exhaust and brakes and not do you any special favours.) If your friend just needs stuff like brakes, shocks, tune-ups etc then Nic's is a good place. I'd be a little wary of them on larger jobs that require more judgement and experience though.

 

I need an axle replaced right now and was resigned to doing it myself rather than pay $300-$400, but I came across a shop in Richmond, CV Joint Specialists, that just does axles. They quoted around $150 installed ($75 for the loose axle if you want to do it yourself.) I'd be very happy to pay that. They are even open on saturday. As other people have said on this board, you can change an axle in 20minutes if you know what you're doing and have the right tools, so even at that price they could still be making $225/hr.

Anyway, I'll let people know how it goes....

[speedbump]

found that shop i was talking about,its called total autosport,theyre just west of cap mall on the same side of the street. ph 6049809800

[robm]

Scoobydoo, that is a pretty decent price for the axle. Upchuck Tire wants $80 for the axle. I did mine in about 4 hours (first time, it will be quicker next time, if I still remember how in about 5 years!)

 

Not a bad time for the labour, either.

 

It looks like my friend might be getting an old Chev. Nic's would probably be perfect for that machine.

 

The PO of my car also tried Nic's. However, she went back to Bruno, even though Nic's was a lot closer to where she was living at that time. Obviously a happy customer.

[bigjim5551212]

A friend of mine, John and Murray Motors at 3rd and Quebec are good and have experience with Subarus

[Scoobydoo]

Thought I'd add a follow-up here. I tried bigjim's recommendation, John & Murray motors, and found them to be very good. They said it was the first online recommendation they have had, and all their business is pretty much word of mouth. They even offered to pick the car up from my home, since it is on their way. I'll definitely go back to them and recommend them to friends.

 

Before going to John & Murray for the wheel bearing, I had an axle replaced at CV Specialists in Richmond. They did a good job at a reasonable price, although I think the axle is binding slightly sometimes. Hard to tell which side it is. They have a 3 year warranty though, so I'll see if it gets worse and easier to tell if it's on the side they replaced.