Service You Can Trust
Some time ago I went to my auto service company and said that there was something wrong with my brakes. I explained how when I pulled up to a red light, the car lugged to a stop. The service man said that there was probably wear on the brakes but the service schedule would take that into consideration and not to worry. I serviced the car two times after that and didn’t mention the brakes because the service man told me everything would be fine. The third time I took it in for servicing he called me and told me the brakes would have to be replaced as well. I took it in stride and paid the bill but it didn’t sit well with me. Sometime later the problem started all over again. This time there was a new person behind the desk who told me the brake pads were wearing and I should have them replaced before the disks were compromised. Now I knew that they were two separate operations and I could have saved the disks the first time around. What should have been a three hundred dollar job turned into a six hundred dollar job. I was not amused.
About that time I spoke to Chris about this matter and he took the time to listen. I decided I would take my car to him.
When I went into his shop I was impressed by how clean everything was. We discussed my car and I brought my schedule with me. Chris’s schedule was better and I was really pleased with the service. And his prices are better too.
Then I needed new tires. I have racing wheels with extra wide tires and they’re very expensive. I got quotes from a number of places in town and they were around seven hundred dollars for a set of four. Chris was able to find me comparable tires for two hundred dollars less.
For six years I’ve been driving around with a seat belt that was missing the plastic gizmo that keeps the clip from falling to the ground whenever you take the seatbelt off. When I was in Lethbridge I went into the dealership and they told me they would replace it for fifty dollars. I decided to go without.
Then I thought about asking Chris. I thought he might be able to come up with a generic gizmo. Chris often uses generic parts instead of parts from a dealership because of the price break, but also because some of those generic parts are even better than the ones from the dealerships. He did even better. He sent me off to a colleague who carries these parts and this lovely man would not allow me pay him for one tiny little gizmo because “Chris is such a great guy and I do a lot of work for him. We’ve been working together for years.”
Last week I asked Chris if he could clean my wheels. They’re chrome and will become pitted if they aren’t kept clean. He referred me to another of his colleagues. I phoned him and he told me what process he uses and how much it costs. This was not just an acid wash. This job included hand polishing and conditioning so that the wheels would be easier to keep clean at the commercial washes. When I made the appointment to come in and thanked him for the information he said “No problem, Chris is a great guy and I do a lot of work for him. We’ve been working together for years.”
I really love my PT Cruiser and I hope to drive it until I’m forced to hang up my keys. With Chris I feel confident that I’ll be able to do that. If you love your car and want to keep it running in top form, and if you want service you can trust, I suggest you go where I go – to Searle’s Auto Repair.
Carol Kittleson
