Firestone Tire and Automotive Centres

I was looking for a place to go to get a tune up done and to diagnose a sound that was coming from the engine so I decided to check Unilocal for reviews on Auto shops. This is where I found Firestone automotive, the reviews were good so I figured why not give them a shot. I was very impressed by their service and the way that they treat their customers. They do a great job at an affordable price and don’t try to rip you off by offering things you don’t need. Definetly going to become a regular customer.

I have visited Firestone twice now for major car repair issues and have received an amazing customer service and repair service from this location. Mike, the co-​owner, of this location is a really nice and friendly guy who takes time out to explain the problem to you throughly, even goes as far as drawing diagrams to show you exactly what is the issue.
He even arranged for a car rental for me when my car needed to stay there for a day and made sure everything was done according to my schedule. His prices were fair and honest.
I would highly recommend getting your car repairs done at this location.

After giving up on Active Green and Ross (
) because they seemed incapable of doing simple jobs right the first time, I tried the Firestone.
As a university student, I used to work for a gas station with repair bays in Windsor. Art Lesny’s motto, printed right on his business card, was «honest work at a fair price». I never knew the man to pad a bill. He told it to you straight, he was ready to work something out, and he had the old parts with your bill and for your inspection. He paid me a fair wage (nicely above minimum, merit raises, and a raise when minimum went up to keep my earnings in line). He’d back you in a customer dispute (
). Our repair bays were closed on the weekends but Art would have free Saturday seminars (with free donuts and coffee) for women drivers, kind of defense against the mechanical black arts classes. He taught them what to look out for, what to check themselves, etc. It was pointed out to him his flyers advertising the class, while well intended, came off as being a bit sexist. So he promptly changed them. We kept the topless FAG Automotive girl calendar behind a closed office door. (When your auto parts company is called FAG, you need to over compensate around the blue collar types.)
When I was first starting out in Toronto, trying to eek out a living on $ 23K a year, I found another mechanic, a big friendly Canadianized Polish guy and owner of a Midas at Keele & Bloor. I was driving a 80s era Acadian that in 1993 – 1994 was reaching the end of its serviceable life. It was becoming a black hole for money but I needed it to get to my job in Mississauga (I was able to dump that car around 1995 and buy a new car cash courtesy of a book deal with Reed Publishing… thank you Internet in its infancy and book publishers throwing mad cash around to anyone who had writing cred and knew how to use a modem!). The Midas guy took some amount of pity on a young single fella trying to get his start. I had a weird, hard to diagnose problem that had the thing in the shop several times but would mysteriously «fix» itself. He never charged me. «It will eventually break and I’ll get my money then.» He noted he had a firm policy with his workers. «First unnecessary repair I catch you doing, you’re out!»
It can take a long time to find a mechanic that lives Art’s «honest work, at a fair price». I’m thinking I found it again at this Firestone. Really friendly family man (beautiful wife and child tastefully displayed via a framed photo on the back counter) seems to run this place. This was my second visit. What I thought was another muffler problem turned out to be a loose belt. He could have easily scammed me but he didn’t. Oh and those wheel bearings Active Green and Ross replaced less than two years ago (
)? They needed replacing again. I literally drive this car on Sundays. Why should they have worn out so quickly?
The only down side to this place is the hours run 8 – 5:30, making it a bit hard to get your car after work. They do seem to be open well before their posted hours and non-​summer months they have Saturday hours, which sure helps. Might be nice if they had a Tues/​Thursday extended hours but then end of the day people do want to get back to their families.