Barry's Quality Care Automotive in Richmond Hill - be on your toes

[kleung21]

So...

I have been with Quality Care automotive in Richmond Hill for 10 years. They recently had an ownership change and the new owner is Barry. Small mom/pop shop. Wife works as well there.

I REALLY wanted to like them; but I'll post a neutral review here and advise people to be careful of possibly un-necessary work. Myself; I have lost faith in them and will be moving to another mechanic.



Brought in my 2008 Lexus for rear brake pad change as it was the brake indicator was squeeling. He recommended the rotors be changed as well. No problems with that; all reasonable.

Then he talked me into getting the front pads AND rotors changed as well. I was used to trusting my mechanic so... go ahead. I did not ask for any measurements to be taken of the brake pad/rotor wear.

On reviewing my records, I now realize that the front rotors/pads were just changed at the dealership with OEM parts ~ 40,000 km ago. I do at least 50% highway driving so... the front service may not have been necessary.


The overall damage for front/rear brake job was $835.47 after tax.


I don't want to give a negative review as it may simply be my mistrust/paranoia. I will only say that there MIGHT have been un-necessary upsell.

I mean, changing brakes & rotors MORE frequently can only be a good thing from a safety standpoint. It just might not be the most economical one.

So... I want to flag them and put them in the "be careful" pile.

[aris]

If your not sure the condition of your brakes then this post isn't really fair!

[kleung21]

If your not sure the condition of your brakes then this post isn't really fair!


Fair enough and that should be noted....

That is why it is a personal review and why it is not a negative review.

Having said that and in support of my concerns...

My 2001 Celica went 136,000 km before I changed brake pad and rotors but that was a manual.

My 2010 Altima is at 80,000 km and no need to change yet.

Yes, cars can have different brake compounds/the lexus may be more aggressive so that may not be an indication....

However, I changed the first brake pad/rotors on the lexus at 69,000 km according to my records after I returned home.

(and that was because I thought noise from the front was from the brakes... it turned out to be the tires in the end as the lexus dealer's head tech actually took my car out with me for a test drive after the brakes were changed and the noise persisted) so 40,000 km for another rotor/brake pad change just seems somewhat lowish).

Anyways, I wish them the best as they seem like nice people. I will say that I used to go out of my way to visit the garage for a long time under the previous owner so they were . I hope they find success and this is my personal craziness and paranoia.


I put this review on the forum rather than google/facebook reviews precisely because I wanted FORUM members to be aware of the very common "replace all brakes" recommendation.


Although NO reflection on this garage; These are the results of an APA investigation on garages.

http://www.apa.ca/readarticle.asp?id=440

http://www.apa.ca/newsitem.asp?id=441

and it is disturbing to say the least.


It would also be nice if fellow forum members added reviews as well... So far, it seems like Street performance auto in Markham seems to be the mechanic of choice for forum members...

[kleung21]

Finally, to be fair; only doing 1 axle can cause problems too and I can see why the garages want to replace everything to reduce the chance of return/comebacks.

On my Nissan Altima; I replaced the rear rotors/pads myself once and then on the highway noted a fine vibration in the brakes.

Thought I had screwed up something with the rears but turned out to be the front rotors were warped. I was blaming the rear pads/rotors so I went to a shop to have it checked out.

AFter they replaced the front rotor/pads (which had PLENTY of material left on them); the vibration went away.

So... There is that....