urgent-need to find shop in the west end
 

hi guys,

as ive been reading around, i know that some of you guys live in the west end. i was wondering if i could benefit from your advice about my curent problem:

i am currently enjoying the great time of exams...last exams of my engineering degree and i got a job that starts on the 4th of may, which leaves me with no time to replace the brakes on the back(drums). car has been sitting in the parking lot without one brake(needs flushing as well) for 5 months. battery is beyond dead...and who knows what else.

bottom line is that the car needs to be towed to a mechanic for a nice checkup of what could go wrong when sitting in -40degrees for a whole canadian winter. then needs the drum shoes replaced. do you know a good cheap mechanic in the west end (im queensway&park lawn) ? what should i do about the towing? i dont have CAA but i can call and get it if it gets activated in a matter of a couple of days MAX... and last but not least...how much am i loooking at?

thank you! this is a time sensitive matter, and any response will be greatly appreciated.:humble:

p.s. car is a 97 LX.

cmon guys,..noone knows?

I work at a shop, but it's not down that way tho.

Do you have access to a vehicle with a hitch?

Ok here's my advice.

1) Get CAA Plus. I think it takes a day or two max to activate.
2) Since you now have up to 200 km towing, you don't have to go to a local shop. To be honest I live 5 mins from that area, and I don't know any good shops around here. Have it towed to I-Garage (in Markham). He will do everything perfectly for a very good price.
3)???
4) Profit.

Without CAA, you're gonna pay at least 50 for a tow, even if it's somewhere close. So you might as well just pay the 120 or so for the CAA which I believe gets you 4 or 5 tows, so you would have a bunch left just in case something happens.

If you REALLY don't want to pay for the CAA membership, goto kijiji and type in towing and call up some tow truck guys, that's the cheapest way you'll find a tow. But then, personally I don't know any good mechanics here. If you can find one and don't care about the CAA memebership then that works out I guess. Otherwise do what I said.

thanks a lot for the help guys. i actually went and got CAA, but only the basic one because the Plus needs 7 days to activate. and i don't have that much time. i get 10 free km, 4 times. anyone kno how much it is after that?

secondly...i called green and ross for the hell of it and as i expected they quoted me 2-250$. then i called this lil chinese place near my area. it's on advance rd and kipling. terry auto (they do honda's and other japanese makes). they quoted me 50$ for the labour. that's more like it. i just hope they won't give me crap when i tow it there.

anyone have any experience with these guys? they seem to be a cheap but not such a good quality place. that's my first impression...and i will definitely keep in mind the place in markham altho it's quite far. if you can give me a number i can call when in need, i would greatly appreciate it. thanks again guys and let me know what you think about what i just asked.

cheers!

what problems should i be expecting after having the car sitting around for 5 months, especially through last winter? my battery is drained for one...and the oil all drained to the bottom so on the stick it shows way beyond the max so prolly there is no oil on the pistons right now. coolant is at min. rotors are covered in rust...thats all i could see when i took a quick look...anyth to keep in mind? (especially regarding the oil and starting it up for the first time in 5 mths)

There shouldn't any problems after the winter. Whenever i check a car (key off) ill pull off the oil cap and smell it for contamination, pull out the dip stick to inspect the condition of the oil (visually and once again smell it), give each wheel a shake horizontally and vertically (vertically for a bearings and hori for ball joints and steering), heat and Ac (if applicable), vents, shifter for play and stiffness, inspection of all fluids, hoses and wires for cracks and connections.