good mechanics in victoria, bc?

[dlb]

happy holidays everyone! i come bearing bad tidings—it sounds like my the head gasket in my bud's 4wd corolla wagon just went, and on xmas day while en route to his in-laws place for dinner. brutal! he lives in victoria, bc but neither of us know of any trustworthy mechanics there. anyone here able to suggest any?

thanks, and all the best to everyone!

[marlinh]

Your friend should ask around. I am sure there is someone trustworthy there. Shop rates would be outrageous though. The one guy I knew there looks like he has retired.

[TURTCEL]

Hate to say it but you can always check yelp.com for a mechanic.

Peace

[dlb]

thanks guys. unfortunately, my buddy doesn't know anyone who knows enough about mechanics to tell if they've had good experiences or not. everyone is just like "well i take my car here," but they usually have to take their car back every 3 months for some other major repair so i don't trust them.

i looked online last night and found some shops with good reviews but they sounded generic. suspicious, i looked up other reviews by the same users and found their reviews for other businesses were identical. they're probably fake profiles made by the businesses solely to give themselves a few glowing reviews. at least i know a few shops my pal should stay away from but it's not much of a start. however, i know a few good mechanics in my town so they might be able to refer me to some places in vic. i'll try that tomorrow after boxing day.

[Mark]

There are companies that charge for bulk positive reviews under fake names on those online review sites. So now I wouldn't trust them. Unfortunately, I've done most mechanical work myself over the last few years so I don't know who's honest locally or not. Obviously everyone says to stay away from Canadian Tire. I went there a few years ago to have some tires installed. They said my tie-rods were worn and they could replace them for about $600. Of course they were fine, so I said no thanks.

[Petros]

It is always a gamble to go to any repair shop. Usually local independent shops in small communities have more to loose if they make a mess of their customer's cars (word gets around), but that is no guarantee of competence. There are 4 independent repair shops (and several chain oil change and chain tire stores) in the old down town part of Arlington where I live, two are okay, one is excellent, one is so incompetent I do not know how they have any customers. but they have been there for years, and still there.

best bet would one that specialized in Japanese cars, is in a smaller community and independent (not part of a dealer or large chain). And make sure you get everything in writing, talk to other customers, and ask around about their reputation.

[Jarf]

We spent 3 years in Vic and unfortunately I can only give you the names of a couple of places NOT to go.
Sucks finding a decent shop, that's why I usually end up doing my own work.
Every couple of years I get to the point where I think I had enough and sub a repair out, every time I end up being disappointed.

If you don't find anyone, let me know and I'll make a few calls, we still have friends out that way and I could lean on one or two for a good referral.

[Petros]

make sure it is a head gasket and not a leaking hose or something simple.

You might try some of the liquid head gasket repair formulas. they do not always work but only cost $10 to $40, and are likely as reliable as any given repair shop but at a lot less cost. Make sure they follow the directions exactly.

Sometimes these things actually work, I had it happen.

[TURTCEL]

You might try some of the liquid head gasket repair formulas. they do not always work but only cost $10 to $40, and are likely as reliable as any given repair shop but at a lot less cost. Make sure they follow the directions exactly.

Sometimes these things actually work, I had it happen.

My Dad said he had a friend that he worked with that used one of those head gasket repair additives and he got over 50,000 before he sold the car. Guess the stuff can actually work. It is quite the process apparently but if followed exactly some of them actually guaranteed fix or your money back...pretty good deal if you ask me.

I have seen these products go all the way up to around $75...could be the difference between that and a $1200 head gasket job though.

Peace

[Petros]

this is the head gasket repair compound, not the normal stop leak. regular radiator stop leak might cost about $4, the head gasket repair I have seen start around $10, and some brands as high as about $40. I do not think I have seen them as high as $75 (I would not have paid that much considering a head gasket only cost about $18). You have to flush out all of the coolant and anti-freeze (it will react with the antifreeze) and use only pure water plus the sealant. On the one I tried you run it for several warm-up and shut off and cool down cycles. than drain it all out and let it sit overnight for it to "cure". fill with coolant and drive it the next day. I did it on a badly overheated Nissan v-6, I drove it another 8 months without issues and sold it that way.

[dlb]

if it were me, i would try the liquid head gasket repair just for fun, but my buddy has no wrenching skills and is afraid of him or his gf winding up stuck somewhere again with another tow bill to pay. understandable.

from what my friend described, i'm very confident it is the HG. he was driving on the highway when he noticed a cloud of white smoke behind him and that the car lacked power when he stepped on the throttle. he estimates he pulled over within 30 seconds of noticing the white cloud but i told him to have the mechanic confirm the head is still flat anyway. i asked if the temp gauge was high and he said he doesn't remember that particular detail but he knows he looked at the gauges when s*** hit the fan and didn't notice anything abnormal so it doesn't sound like it overheated.

he found a mechanic near his in-laws where the car is, an independent guy who his in-laws have gone to for a long time and speak highly of. fingers crossed!

it's funny, my friend's corolla has just over 400,000 km on it and all our friends are telling him to junk it, that it's not worth fixing—never mind the otherwise excellent engine and trans condition, new battery, all new brakes, and zero other issues. i was worried my friend would be of the same mind but he agrees with me that it will cost less to repair the HG (and have the timing belt done since it's due to be replaced anyway) and have his reliable car back than it would be to buy another used car and have to work through all of its problems.

[Petros]

this 4afe engines have a completely different head design and are much more tolerant of overheating than the 3ac head design. I wonder why it blew in the first place, may have been loosing coolant through some other leak and than it overheated and blew out. The head on the 4afe is not particularity prone to warping, but it should be checked for being flat anyway as a matter of responsible repair work, also he should look for another source of coolant loss as well, leaky hose, heater, radiator, etc.

Many people look at any old car and just see nothing but more and more costly repairs as it gets older, they think it can not be made reliable with one fix. This is often true, and there is a somewhat a gamble that most people are not willing to take, that something else expensive might occur soon after you do a costly repair, on any older car. Even so, if he knows the car well, it has served him well, it is still much less costly to fix (if done properly), than to replace with an equivalent car. That would be true even it needs several other repairs after this one.

If people are fearful of older cars, than by all means sell it to a wrecker without repairing it for $300, and go into debt for a "newer" used car and spend $3000-5000 for another car, and take your chances. Not me. These cars are very reliable, and many will run for many many more miles with just a few routine repairs.

[larry mcgrath]

A real good way to find a good shop is to stop one of the mobil tool dealers SNAP-ON Matco, Cornwell ect They know who the good mechanics are. Larry

[TURTCEL]

A real good way to find a good shop is to stop one of the mobil tool dealers SNAP-ON Matco, Cornwell ect They know who the good mechanics are. Larry

Good call Larry, I totally agree with you. You being a former Snap On dealer and me being a former MATCO dealer we can both vouch for how your suggestion.

Peace

[scotisha]

Hey DLB,

Have you heard back on how the repairs went or how that shop was? I need a few things done that I don't have time to do and would like to get a mechanic to do them.

Thanks,

S