Avoid Carline on Bridgeport in Richmond
 

I brought my car to Carline on Bridgeport there to diagnose for aircare issues as I previously posted. They charged me $100 for the "diagnostics" they did to my car which was totally useless. They told me to get a whole new exhaust system and that "should" fix my problem and they said they can do it starting at $900 and we'll go from there they said.

I told them its okay I just want my car back first, pay the bill, then I'll decide. So I went to get my car and they lost my aircare inspection sheets! The sheets with all the readings when you do the aircare. Then I ask them for a diagnostic report that they did for me, so possibly I can show it to the next shop I would take it to or something. They said they didnt have one for me!

Fine I paid the bill for my car and I left. When I went outside to my car I saw that my driver door had 2 huge paint chips missing from it and my door was dinged too not only missing paint.

I went and told they guy and he basically told me that I was full of shit and there was no way it would be his doing and kept giving me the usual runaround excuses. I know it wasn't there when I brought it in because I parked the car in the garage overnight and first thing in the morning I brought it to Carline so there is no way I wouldn't have noticed. Guy even told me "Oh too bad, Time for ICBC".

Maybe the owner or manager didnt know abt it, and maybe the mechanic did it, but at least they could possibly address my concerns as customer and attempting to work something out.

So anyways if you love your car avoid Carline, their business work ethics seem pretty shady and they dont seem to know waht theyre doing.

Coles Notes:

1) Brought car to Carline to diagnose aircare problems
2) Didn't diagnose anything at all still charged money
3) Lost aircare report sheets and didnt provide diagnostics report for the aircare
4) Left 2 huge paint chips dings in my driver door and denied it

Picture below is the dings on my car, pretty damn bad

wow, that is some real bad damages. Takes someone without a brain to do that

Not one but two....... Thanks for the advice.

No problem, as with every shop there are good and bad sides to everything. Just this time the service and workmanship was bad enough for me to warn other car enthusiasts and let them know of my experience. I wouldn't wish this to happen to those of us who love our cars.

Ouch.

As for air care, go to www.aircare.ca enter your VIN and you can find the readings from previous tests.

Have you gone for restesting yet ?

ouch!

well depends on what your car is and what you have failed for air care, but there might not be necessary to have a diagnostic report as it seems quite simple that you will need a new, functional exhaust to start! We won't know the condition of your car but I guess if you don't trust them, any shop you are bringing next will give you the same "problem" too...except for the door dings (god knows who did that)...

wtf? do u fucking work for that dumb ass shop? How can a new exhaust system fix a aircare issue? Only thing that will affect the reading would be the cat itself and nothing else on the system.

ouch sorry to hear OP... you need to take some legal measures it seems.

hey can you guys help me with a quick question, I have no idea how aircare works, never done it, but I do know that my aircare is coming up this year, since my car is a 2003.... I was wondering though how would I go about getting aircare at my own time and choosing, instead of ICBC's.

thanks

haha you probably don't know you can fail air care if there is no catalytic convertor present (on most vehicle) or if they suspect your exhaust is leaking (rusted out muffler or exhaust pipe). So if OP's car doesn't have a catalytic convertor, or if the exhaust system has multiple leaks / excessive rust spots, then it's not hard to explain why a shop wants him to put on something functional first...or for some cars it could be so rusty that if they try to change, let's say a catalytic convertor, the mid-pipe isn't going to hold and seal properly etc...

i am not going to judge if $900 is too much or too little for a whole new exhaust system because it could be expensive for a Civic / Corolla but it could be cheap for a Benz / Brimmer. And when he says "whole", what is actually included?

one of my friend was just suggested to replace his whole exhaust system 9 months ago because it's rusting everywhere + even trying to patch where it is leaking now multiple places can leak in the next couple months! He got a quote of $500 and he thinks it's very expensive for his $2000 1994 Honda Accord. So he chose to patch and just 9 months later another two spots are leaking now, so he thinks it's better to replace the whole unit NOW as he has saved enough money for sth he is expecting now...

that's why i asked OP what car he drives and what he has failed...and like volvo-brickster says, he can get his result back from aircare.ca

Dont shit on the thread please, the purpose is for other car enthusiasts to be aware and take it into mind before doing thing. Ultimately the choice is theirs to take.

sorry to hear man but those are some really bad dings, its like someone stabbed your door with a crowbar

don't know what i'd do either in your position... don't think you have many legal options

Wow, sorry to hear bout your experience and the dings do look bad. It looks like you'll have to deal with ICBC because it'll be impossible to prove that the shop did it even though you know they did. You could try to speak to the manager/owner and see what they say.

To the OP, if u're looking for a reputable shop, try Advance Automotive on #6 road / Westminster hwy. They have been around for almost 2 decade and very experience with the simple matter of aircare. Ring them up 604-278-1803

I've never taken my car to carline but i used to work for a place that had business dealings with them. im not surprised this happened to you. imo the owner(s) general attitude, work ethics and business practices are pretty shady. anyways, good luck to op with your current situation.

+1 went there one time for alignment, good service, professional, definitely recommend them

That's an expensive lesson: Always inspect the shop's work before leaving the lot.. or better, signing over the payment (I do a cursory check on things like oil cap etc before taking the cars back when they were in for annual services).. Since most shops have shop insurance; Once you leave the lot, it is hard to get the shop or insurance company's attention. With digital cameras so cheap, it is worth it to have one in the glove compartment and take snaps before and after.. much like renting a car.

A few years ago, I had my friend take my S to Carline since he said he knew those guys and they would do great work. I had a small hairline crack in one of the welds on my Ti exhaust. Well, to fix it, they wrapped some fiberglass exhaust bandage over the crack and made another hole in my mid pipe near the upper bolt on the mounting flange.

I wasn't impressed and haven't gone back to them since.

omg ... looks like they did that on purpose becasue you pissed them off by deciding to take you car back and go somewhere else instead ...

Yep these guys have pretty shitty workmanship and business ethics. Sorry to hear about other peoples bad experiences too. Spread the word if you can.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll spread the word too in my neighborhood.

ugh. i had a few people/shops recommend to me to go there for welding work for an EGT bung and i was just about to make an appointment... now i have to find someone else. thanks for the heads up, and i'm sorry for your misfortunes :(

We should have a car shop shit list. Someone make it and we'll sticky it :)

those are two serious dents, perhaps from the tools in the shop ?

no pun intended? :rofl:

Good idea ^. This is absolute BS. Will stay away from them.