Southern Ontario Mechanic Reviews Thread

TDIBone

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 23, 2012
Location
Brantford, ON
TDI
2015 Golf Sportwagon TDI
I need a good TDI mechanic near Brantford. Any recommendations?
I used Beech Motor Works in Hamilton because I used to work near there, but I actually used Brantford VW for some smaller stuff since they offer a discount for older VWs. Interested to see what others recommend.
 

QZone

Active member
Joined
Oct 18, 2008
Location
Ontario, Canada
TDI
2013 Touareg TDI Highline
+1 for Lorne Park Car Centre on Royal Windsor Drive. I got stuck 400 km from home with a bad CV joint on the Passat TDI. They got me in the day after I called. It's a 3 bay shop, clean and well-equipped. Both guys working there are quite personable and I spent a couple enjoyable hours talking cars while they replaced the front axle. They sourced a new axle not a rebuilt and the cost for the part and labour was quite reasonable. Kyle worked on my car and he was quite meticulous, particularly with the Allen bolts on the inner joint after their 200k km salt bath. I also appreciate someone who hand-torques wheel bolts, especially if I'm trying to change a tire with the tools provided by VW. These guys know their stuff. Good shop!
 

bruca003

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2009
Location
toronto
TDI
2004 golf GLS TDI, 2005 passat wagon tdi.
DCB automotive. Picked up my car yesterday. Did quite a bit of work on my car. Before going to DCB I was told I need a new turbo by VW and further testing was required to diagnose a possible bad tranny. So now we fast forward to DCB auto, didnt need a turbo or a tranny !! Will definitely be back Brandon. Thanks again..
 

Mo1991

Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2017
Location
Cambridge,ON
TDI
Mk4 Jetta sports edition 5 speed
Hello everyone!

I have two BEW TDI's in Cambridge, ON and I am looking for someone to do the routine things on my car + help me learn as well. Need some small repairs currently such as the alt clutch pulley job. Would pay decent money for the work as well.
 

P2B

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 11, 2006
Location
Toronto & Muskoka, Canada
TDI
2002 Jetta, 2003 Jetta, 2003 Jetta Wagon
Shout out to Perjad at Precision Tuning - and Wingnut

Not a mechanic review, although I trust Precision for that too.

Wife's alternator quit out of the blue while she was running errands yesterday, barely made it home - dim headlights and a christmas tree dash as she pulled into the driveway.

Called Perjad at 9am to order a Bosch reman, he called back at 12:30 to let me know it had arrived at his shop.

Car was back on the road by 3:30 thanks to Wingnut's excellent how-to.

Simon
 

ymz

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 12, 2003
Location
Between Toronto & Montreal
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI Wagon, 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon
Any Porsche places in the GTA that can be recommended? A friend who has a 2009 Cayenne "S" was just given an idiotic quote by the dealership for brakes (about $5000 for all 4)... I can't imagine this to be all that mysterious / difficult...


Yuri
 

2.2TDI

Veteran Member
Joined
May 1, 2011
Location
TDI
⠀⠀
Any Porsche places in the GTA that can be recommended? A friend who has a 2009 Cayenne "S" was just given an idiotic quote by the dealership for brakes (about $5000 for all 4)... I can't imagine this to be all that mysterious / difficult...


Yuri
LOL

Pads and rotors, according to the cost on germanparts.ca should be around 600-700 bucks

Unless there's some fancy tools involved in taking the calipers apart, I would imagine it should be a straight forward brake job. I think the rears might need to be put into service mode because the handbrake is electronic, but if they don't then I imagine any decent independent mechanic wouldn't charge more then 3 hours labour at around 100 bucks an hour... so around the 1000 bucks mark total. Still not cheap but hey it's a cayenne...
 

Johhny04

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2006
Location
Markham, Ontario
TDI
2003 Jetta TDi
Any Porsche places in the GTA that can be recommended? A friend who has a 2009 Cayenne "S" was just given an idiotic quote by the dealership for brakes (about $5000 for all 4)... I can't imagine this to be all that mysterious / difficult...


Yuri
McCowan and Bullock in Markham. 3 shops. Speedstar automotive. Autobahn Motors. Keltech Performance. All 3 shops service Porsche vehicles.
 

ymz

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 12, 2003
Location
Between Toronto & Montreal
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI Wagon, 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon
Thanks... I'll pass along the info... I'm sure it'll be much appreciated!!!


Now... any Volvo recommendations? My friend's wife's car just developed a leak in the power steering lines... the dealer wants $2500 and says they'll need to just about take the engine apart... 6 hours... (aren't cars fun? I'm so glad that I can fix our TDIs with the help of suppliers like Roseland and Precision (as well as those Southerners from the other side of the border...)



Yuri
 
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20062015VWman

Member
Joined
May 10, 2019
Location
Toronto, Canada
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI, 2015 Golf TDI
Derek Abela at Caledon Motor's is the best VW/Audi tech I've ever dealt with. Give him a call if you are in the Brampton/Bolton/Woodbridge Ontario, Canada triangle.

Address: 15396 Airport Rd, Caledon East, ON L7C 1E6
Province: Ontario
Phone: (905) 584-1254
 

pnyknight

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2006
Location
Scarborough, Ontario
TDI
'02 Jetta 1.9 GLS, reflex silver (pseudo wrecked Apr10/13); 2013 Candy White Jetta TDI
Any recommendations for Pickering/Ajax area?

And shops that don't mind you bringing your own parts would be a plus.
I second this Request.
anyone used Willies on #12 north of Brooklin?

Curious too, as I'm in eastern part of Scarborough (Markham/Eglinton)
I used to got to Precision when it was at the old location right beside my school
 

ymz

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 12, 2003
Location
Between Toronto & Montreal
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI Wagon, 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon
Doesn't it bug you when a trusted shop picks up moves far away? Back in the 90's we had one within walking distance... then they moved 40 minutes away... then in the TDI era, I went to Brandon (DCB) for those things I didn't want to fix myself... and then he went to Orillia...
 

siriusblue

Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2016
Location
Port Hope, Ontario
TDI
'09 dsg Jetta sedan
Cobourg- Port hope area recommendations?

recommend any tdi-owners who do their own tdi maintenance (and mods)
-in (or frequently by-passes) cobourg/port hope area
-mk5 competent and newer (most seem to stop at mk4)
-PM if some prefer to be anon.

Ive
-mk5 bentley service manual
-bluedriver app+odb2 plug. (think it sucks bad :confused:for my vw TBH)
-no other tools or access to roof/garage

Currently my understanding
-vw dealership in port hope has a knowledgeable parts manager Jason and very helpful service manager Dan. Cant comment yet on the tech(s).
-both Dayman Automotive and Port Hope Auto Service are/have VW Certified tech. cant comment on experience with mk5-up though.
-cobourg currently has 2 vw certif techs at OK Tire(formly Quick Service). John is really knowledgable and has had glowing reviews on google. Glen has put a new LuK DMF/flywheel in. Shifts noticably smoother and no clatter, since.

Anyone found a way to have replies forward to private email? could save lots of time; zero-turnaround time.
 
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amit9

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2004
Location
Toronto/Scarborough
TDI
None...
Cobourg- Port hope area recommendations?

recommend any tdi-owners who do their own tdi maintenance (and mods)
-in (or frequently by-passes) cobourg/port hope area
-mk5 competent and newer (most seem to stop at mk4)
-PM if some prefer to be anon.

Ive
-mk5 bentley service manual
-bluedriver app+odb2 plug. (think it sucks bad :confused:for my vw TBH)
-no other tools or access to roof/garage

Currently my understanding
-vw dealership in port hope has a knowledgeable parts manager Jason and very helpful service manager Dan. Cant comment yet on the tech(s).
-both Dayman Automotive and Port Hope Auto Service are/have VW Certified tech. cant comment on experience with mk5-up though.
-cobourg currently has 2 vw certif techs at OK Tire(formly Quick Service). John is really knowledgable and has had glowing reviews on google. Glen has put a new LuK DMF/flywheel in. Shifts noticably smoother and no clatter, since.

Anyone found a way to have replies forward to private email? could save lots of time; zero-turnaround time.
If you're looking for a forum recommended shop in Cobourg, try this:

Tara Macintyre
Manager

Cobourg Quick Service
8 Strathy Road
Cobourg ON K9A 5J7
Office: 905.372.2215
Cell: 905.269.0799
Email: Tara.CQS@gmail.com
 

wolf1389

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2015
Location
Kitchener, Ontario Canada
TDI
2014 Jetta sportwagen Comfortline
anyone know of a good TDI mechanic in kitchener/waterloo/elmira area? put a deposit down on a golf wagon tdi so i wouldnt mind havin a go to guy for oil and filter changes and dsg service.
 
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