I brought my vehicle in to Meineke because I believed it needed new brakes. I was told by Brandon that they recommend I replace the front and rear brake pads and rotors and have a brake flush done. I was ensured the calipers were in good condition, but the front right wheel bearing and left front lower forward control arm needed to be replaced. After having the brakes done elsewhere, I brought the vehicle back to Meineke to have the rest of the work done, and also asked that they look over the brakes again, because it felt like the brakes were sticking. When I went in to pay, I was told that their mechanic took the vehicle for a test drive and that nothing 'sounded' wrong, and that new brakes would have a “breaking in” period. If I noticed anything weird after two weeks, I was to bring the vehicle back. So, I was invoiced for $834 for the work they did on my right front wheel bearing and left front forward control arm. Three and a half weeks later, brakes don't feel right and it sounds like a wheel bearing issue again. So back to Meineke I go, and it is the owner, Oscar, behind the counter. While trying to pull my file up, he can't find me by plate number or last name. The previous day, Brandon told me that my file in the system says Ford Edge, when the vehicle that was serviced was a Ford Fusion. Moving on, I provide Oscar with my invoice and tell him the suspected issues. After inspection, he tells me that the right wheel bearing needs to be done, and that it was the left front wheel bearing that was done the first time, and that someone had marked it RF wheel bearing on my invoice by accident. Even if that is the case, I did not approve work to be done on this side of the vehicle. After asking him if they still had my old wheel bearing, he told me that they are only required to keep those parts until end of day. He then quoted me another $325 to replace the right front wheel bearing, AGAIN. It is my belief that the left front wheel bearing was done by accident (possibly because they don’t have the right vehicle under my name in the system), and are refusing to own up to their mistake. I also told Oscar about another mechanic’s recommendation to add grease to the joint in the control arm, and he said that there is no way to know if there is grease in there unless this other mechanic ripped off the grease nipple. He said he would be making a 'note' on my profile because breaking this grease nipple would void my warranty. When I explained that I was about to make a six hour drive to see my family, the only advice that he cared to give me was was that he would not be driving my vehicle anywhere long distance in its current state. I immediately took my car to Midas, and had the work done properly. It cost me $285 to replace the RF wheel bearing (for real this time). On top of that, I had Midas do the brake inspection that Meineke would not. Turns out, my left rear brake caliper was seized and needed to be replaced, and because of this, the new brake pad I had just installed had already grinded down to nothing, costing me an additional $250 to replace it, AGAIN. There was also another $490 in brake work that needed to be done, which Meineke missed out on because they did not do a full brake inspection. The distance my car has been driven between my first visit with Meineke on July 29th and my visit with Midas on August 22nd was 930 km. Midas told me with the state that my RF wheel bearing and LR caliper were in, it is impossible that they would not have needed to be replaced on my first visit. Which leads me to believe that I was sent out the door of Meineke with an unsafe vehicle. Now that is some top notch customer service right there. I’m not usually one to leave a bad review, but having gone to the owner with no resolution, I don’t want to see anyone else deal with a similar situation. I highly recommend Midas on Robertson Road in Nepean, they have kept me very well-informed, fixed every issue and managed to save me some money in the process.

I was robbed in broad daylight by this horrible business. Do not go here, ever. This business is a scam. These people are thieves and liars whose sole intention is to steal your money. I walked in with a problem with my transmission and described the problem in great detail to a person who documented it and demonstrated that he understood my diagnostic inspection expectations. He also personally assured me that "I could leave it in his hands". Nearly two hours later I received a call and was told that the entire transmission had to be changed and they were not able to tell me what the problem was, basically the idea of taking the car to a garage was to find out what the cause of the problem was. When I went down to pick up my car, I was given a computerized document with all kinds of irrelevant problems one of which was replacing the air filter. Can you believe that? They had one job which was to identify the problem with the transmission and they did not do it. Further, they checked the calipers for no reason and told me I needed to do a wheel alignment since the old alignment would not remain accurate after what they had done. I had gotten a wheel alignment done a month ago which is now no longer accurate. They could not explain in any way what was wrong with the transmission and tried guessing names of parts that compose a transmission, trying to tell me that it could be anything. Upon expressing dissatisfaction with the service that I received, they only tried defending their deceptive inspection. They further quoted a very high price to replace the entire transmission. I took the car to a different mechanic who will be returning my car back to me in a couple of hours despite it being the long thanksgiving weekend. I would recommend anyone not never even consider this hopeless, woebegone and counterproductive business. Please look up Ottawa Transmission instead and after reading the reviews about that place you will not think twice about visiting this horrible business. Please also look up reviews for another business named Mister Transmission located at the same address as this business and you will find that other people have had similar experiences at that business too. After all, birds of the same feather flock together.

They never answered the phone calls guess they don't need business to stay open . So I called one day to enquire for a service got my answer so 2 weeks later I started calling on a Thursdays to book for a Saturday appointment no one answered ..left a message nobody called me back Friday I called it rang left a message with number to call me back nothing not a return call from Thursdays nor from Friday. Monday I called . No answer so I called head office talked with a receptionist she called the same location I was calling she couldn't get threw as she started to book the appointment for the service I requested threw the guy I talked to the couple weeks prior I called to get an alignment done asked specifically do you do them on Saturday yes we do call back when you change the parts and we will book you in . So after 2 days of call with no call back the 3rd day was being book in from main head office I specifically Said I need it done on Sat she takes all my information and says I can do Tuesdays or Thursday .. I said No iv asked for sat ohh we don't do alignment on Saturdays after me telling her I was told that location does the man who answered says yes but wouldn't answer the phone for days . So I don't have time for games if they can't get straight when they can and when they want to answer or even return a call back from a couple calls . I can just imagine the work they would do lost my business . I gave a chance then I gave a 2nd and 3rd . So no I will not go back to these guys very unorganized and doesn't seem like they want business . Your loss my dollar will go to the next in line . Happy to say iv had my work done and alignment done and happy with the company that did the work I feel safe knowing the company I chose put me and my repair 1st not like this company Meineke 5 thumdown

I had just bought a used motorcycle and needed it safetied before being able to register it in Ontario. As I had just taken my old motorcycle here previously and been treated fabulously, I was quick to get my new one here as well. Only problem was that they can only perform safety inspections on bikes. They can't DO anything about any problems encountered on it because they don't even have a motorcycle hoist to do any work - at any of their locations! I wasn't made aware of this bit of information until the Monday after I had dropped it off over the weekend - where I was enthusiastically told "Don't worry Chris, we'll get it done". Well I can say now I am pretty damn worried because I now have to go get my bike, drive it over to one of the bike shops in the city and get them to do the work that Gary's SHOULD have been able to do. Did I mention I work on the other side of the city and take the bus to work? It's not exactly easy to do this! NOT IMPRESSED. When trying to come up with a solution to this predicament, the guy I was talking to on the front desk was no help. He just kept saying "I'm sorry but we can't do anything", he wasn't even trying to come up with any solutions! Now I'll be lucky if I can get the work I need done on my bike completed in time to get it over to Service Ontario and get it registered before their 6 day deadline passes. THANKS A LOT Gary's. This would not have been an issue if I had been told in the first place that they can only do inspections because I would've went somewhere else. Never coming back. I will not be recommending these shops to anyone.

Never bring your car to this location, first of all they are a bunch of scam artist! They safitied my car which was not safe to drive after brining it to my mechanic ! I brought my car in to get a ball joint replaced after wearing out 1500km in their policy they would cover labour and parts! My mechanic told my it needs to be replaced and showed me the problem! I brought it to Gary's automotive almost a hour away from my house, I called the night before saying j was coming in. I show up and ask me to come back tomorrow I refused and they took my car in! Then I left... They called me a few hours later saying all that they needed to do was tighten the ball joints they put in, but my mechanic at home showed me that they needed to be replaced, and I told the guy at Gary's that's, then five mintutes later he said the mechanic that worked on this ripped the boot... Funny how they change their story from lose bolts, to a ripped boot! Then... After he tried to make pay for labour to fix the warranty they have written on my bill, I refused! In the end they eventually did it but they tried every single way to get out of it! I would not trust them to do anything on my car ever again not even a simple oil change because the mechanics in their are uneducated, scam artist, if you feel like something's fishy their .....it probably is! Anyways I advise customers to avoid this chain and support local garages! Cheers

Called in to inquire about replacing an A/C compressor with a few other minor problems. The clutch went but we felt it better to replace the whole unit. As I told him the general problem before even looking into his system for labour etc, he tells that the compressor alone will be approximately a $1600 job. The problem with the current compressor is the clutch portion of the unit, I explained that I didn't need the system recharged at which point he asked me "what's the point?" Even though I had mentioned to him we just needed it replaced for the car to function as it was on the same belt as the drive Pulleys I explained it again for him to tell me the price would be about $300 less. Called CT Kanata and was quoted $870 and change for the exact same service but WITH the new compressor. Not sure where their numbers came from, whether they were including the new compressor or not but regardless the price was absurd. Didn't bother with full quote as I imagine with the rest of the minor things needing done it would have been upwards of $2500, would recommend as a first choice. Out of fairness I can't give it one star as I didn't actually get the vehicle serviced there, so cannot speak to the quality of their mechanics but was about as close as you would get otherwise and the experience didnt seem like it would have gotten any better. Especially from was I've seen in these reviews.

Total scam. I went to have my muffler and brakes done and left paying twice what I should have due to them finding problems that I now don't believe existed. Went back less than a year later to have the drums replaced as both had bearing problems (yet I went 6 years with the old drums?). The warranty didn't cover labour - fine. But they stripped the spindle either removing or replacing the nut and told me it would be $500 to fix the car - maybe more if they had to replace the harness? I went back to the shop early, heard them on the phone with others explaining all the new problems they found with other cars...my stabilizer hasn't worked since the first time i brought the car in, and now the abs and stabilizer lights are on after the second visit. Oh, when i arrived at the shop my front tires were also off. When I asked why, they said they always do a full inspection. For all I know it was the front they stripped. Lifetime warranty or not I'll never step foot in there again. I really feel for the guy who dropped his 92 honda off for a brake inspection - I'm sure he's not leaving without spending several thousand dollars unless he's much smarter than I am.

I brought my car into Gary's Kanata after the terrible knocking sound in the front end of my car got to a point where I knew SOMETHING was wrong and it had to be fixed. I dropped my car off, and waited anxiously to see what was wrong with it. Ryan called me back within an hour to let me know the specifics of what was wrong, which turned out to be both my front struts. Being a smart consumer, I phoned around to a few places for quotes on the repair. Gary's Kanata performed the repair for me at a little more than half the price of what my dealership wanted, and for way less than any of the other garages I spoke to. My car now sounds fine, drives great, and my girlfriend's father no longer gives me dirty looks when I'm backing out of the driveway, as there no longer is a terrible clunking noise. Great customer service, and Ryan helped identify a few issues that I might want looked at in the future. After dealing with quite a few garages, I can honestly say I was comfortable at Gary's, I never felt once like I was being pressured into buying something I didn't need, and it was clean!!! When is an auto garage ever clean?! Keep up the good work!

Went here for an oil change prior to family vacation. They told me I needed new front wheel bearings. There were no signs to me of a bearing problem, but I thought best to change. I specified I wanted OEM bearings. One week later, on return to Ottawa, bearings started to make a terrible noise and were getting hot. Drove home on Highway 7 at 50km/ hr. with frequent pullovers to let cars pass and allow bearings to cool. Problem added stress and 3 hours to drive home. Went back to Garry's, they replaced the bearings, but no real apology. A month later the same problem. Went back, they told me noise was coming from the tires. Went to another garage, even though tires had 20,000 k left, had them changed. After the change, garage tested the vehicle for me, told me the wheel bearings were shot. Went back to Garry's, and they agreed for the 3rd time to change the bearings - said they would put in the very best. (So what were they putting in before when I requested OEM?). These bearings are holding out. What an awful experience and waste of my time!

This happened end of Aug 2018 when I took my old car to do safety check. They have reported 4 items to repair/replace before they can issue pass safety state.The total cost was high, almost $2,000. Two of these items were something to impact safety, but not all 4. I asked the operational manager there if we can still register the car without safety check. He said firmly no and Ontario will not register this car without it. The new owner and I agreed about reducing the price and covering the cost, so what ended up to be around $2,500 what was actually from our pockets. After the suggested work was done we went to Ontario ministry of transportation and during the change of ownership process the officer there told us we did not need to pass safety by mechanic to do registration. We were completelly missinformed by the manager about this just to allow his business to grab extra work and money. Both of us were very dissapoited with his work ethic and we will never go back there.

My brakes went metal on metal over the weekend and i needed them done quickly because I was paying $60 a day for a rental. Oscar went the extra mile to get it in the shop and took a look at it within an hour (would have been quicker but I forgot to give him the lick for the wheels). Unfortunately the back was gone too because I had skipped the maintenance. Oscar explained everything and even walked through what parts he was ordering and why. Then gave me the best price available. Work was completed the next morning when parts arrived and they did excellent work. Finding out your car needs expensive repairs never comes easy but Oscar has integrity and has earned my trust for other upcoming repairs. Can't recommend enough.

Paid for a test to diagnose why my air conditioning unit wasn't work which was approximately $60. I was told no part was broken, just needed a recharge at the price of $250 (little pricey) and I would be done before they closed. I return after work to wait 45 minutes, and tell me they won't be able to get to it today, and to come back tomorrow for the recharge to be done. When I return, I get a call mid-afternoon saying the compressor is blown, and replacement cost is $1000+. When asked why they charged over $300 to recharge the system only for it to make no difference, they stated they had no way of knowing it was blown, but isn't that the point of the test? Anyways poor service, will not be returning.

While I’m not a huge fan of having to pay for car repairs and I could probably barter a lower price from a sketchier place, I understand it’s necessary to keep a car on the road. These guys are professionals and they give you realistic expectations and do good work. I’ve taken 3 different cars here for different work and never had an instance where I thought the money was wasted. I’ve brought my cars here a few times with stupid questions because I’m just not knowledgeable about some things and they give honest answers and I’ve never been charged for the stupid reasons I come in if it’s not actually an issue . Hats off to the whole crew there.

Excellent service, friendly staff, knowledgable and very fair price. Brought my truck there for some issue (radiator leak) After they did some inspection, gave me 2 possibilities, one was about $100, if they can replace a part without any issue because of a lot of rust. Or $850 if they have to replace everything. I was lucky everything got fixed for $103 A month later went there for second time to put 4 winter tires with new rims, Again excellent service, on time and very fair price. I definitely recommend them without any hesitation. Thank you Oscar.

Went there for alignment after changing lower control arms (both sides) and outer tie rod. On the way noticed noise still coming from the right side - suspected inner tie rod. Upon arrival mentioned that to Caleb, he promised to look at it first and then decide how to proceed. Turned out it needed replacement - I had one with me, so they took it to replace. Good job, mechanic pointed out some other things I can look at later, everything was done in time and I have my car the way I like it now. Thanks Caleb and Trevor, will be back when need comes.

They do not make appointments so prefer you leave your car with them. As I stayed in their lobby for 3 hours I saw how they do business. Basically they are too busy to really care and although they seemed to do good work at a reasonable price, they overestimated time it took to finish. My mechanic was pulling double the labour charge working on another car still on my clock. When I pointed this out, the manager said "we have to pay for the hoist and gas for the torch".

Left Toronto on Friday on labour day weekend. 150 km along 401 slowed down to hear the stomach churning sound of failing brakes. Called Gary's Saturday, on that same long weekend, presuming that they wouldn't help me til Tuesday. They not only got me in, they fixed my rear brakes, replaced the front, and got an oil change done as well. All for what I feel was a more reasonable price than Toronto, and at the 4 o'clock time they promised, I'd trust them.

I had a concern with my vehicle related to a persistent noise over the course of a few months. After seeing several mechanics within that timeframe with no resolution, a friend recommended that I bring my car to Oscar. I’m extremely relieved to have my concern finally resolved. Oscar is communicative, his team performs quality work, and the turnaround time is prompt. They will continue to receive my business without question.

These guys have come through for me on a couple of occasions. Their work has always been timely and very professional. They did an all around brake job for me and changed O2 sensors for me, and these were not the “easiest” of jobs for my type of vehicle. They were very helpful with finding the right parts for the job also. I drive 2 hours just to go to this shop because of their great work!!! Thanks Meineke Kanata!!!!

The owner/ operator of this location was not very professional. My husband and myself, setup 2 appointments for brake, rotor and oil change services for 2 vehicles. When we were explaining what we were told at another competitor, the owner became short and didn't want to complete the task on one of our cars and refused to honor the second appointment. We left with a bitter taste in our mouths.

This is where I always take my car. Honest mechanics. Brought in my vehicle for some exhaust service, turns out it was just a loose bolt or something easily fixable. They flipped it back out to me within an hour and didn't charge me a penny. Some places would have taken me to the cleaners or just made up an excuse and then done work that didn't need to be done. Will be returning again

My friend recommended I try Gary's after a couple of poor experiences at another garage. I was a little hesitant to take my car in. After much debating I decided to give them a try and was pleasantly surprised. The guys that I talked to seemed to know their cars. They did the job at hand and didn't try to push other crap on me. I will definitely try them again.

I called in without an appointment with a broken exhaust and was immediately taken care of by Oscar. My truck was on the lift being assessed almost immediately and fifteen minutes after arriving I had a quote for the repair and the work had started. A very big thank-you to Oscar and the mechanic who worked into his lunch-hour to complete the job.

Went to get a 1 year old car with only 30K on it certified, in order to sell it. After the $150 for the certification, they told me I needed a new serpentine belt for ~$400. They had be between a rock and a hard place. I now find out serpentine belts in a vehicle are good for between 100k and 160k kilometers. Last time I'll be going there.

Went in for winter tire balancing due to a vibration . Tires were not the problem. Gary's charged me for a front end inspection and quoted a ball joint replacement cost. I declined and went to my dealer who quoted me twice the price. Hence back to Gary's the next day who did the work that day. I'll be going back to Gary's for future work.

I bought a used car that was saftied here. It had 2 visits, the first to identify anything required for a safety, and the 2nd visit to verify the needed repairs were done. They missed a big structural defect that was easily visible within 5 minutes to 2 other mechanics. One that definitely doesn't pass a safety.

their intention is to just rip people off. I was told that one of the reasons my car fails safety is because of a small dent on my fender...ridiculous...and they fixed two minor issues in my car before even asking for my consent and charged me $123 for that..i wouldNOT recommend anyone to go there

I have never had an issue here when I bring my car in. They never over sell me tasks, they are up front on what absolutely needs to be done and on what tasks can wait. Their prices are reasonable and I think their customer service is great. I really like this place.

I didn't even end up going to this garage, because when I stopped by to ask to take a look at my vehicle about a servicing a need done, the man at the front was huffing and was just a bother to him to be there. Tried asking him some questions and he was just pissy.

The team at Meineke in Kanata are professional and knowledgeable. I trust them over some of the nonsense you get from other places I've been to in Kanata, especially when it comes to safety matters. Friendly, trustworthy and deliver on their promise.

I would not recommend Gary´s to friend´s or family. They are corporately owned and do not have the customer´s best interest´s in mind. I was more then definitely oversold and prayed apon. Not to mention the young men they have working there

Was told by Oscar my brakes needed changing and a gas cap was my issue for the engine light 107$ dealer only later for that gas cap reset the car and it's still on oh and my car sounds worse now then before. Won't be going there ever again

Kept putting me off and never returned my calls to tell me what was going on with my vehicle and parts. Charged me for a diagnostic then said they would call me in a day to let me know about the parts....never called back. I had to call

great sevice, fast ,friendly ,honest place to do bussiness. I saved even more money buying tires at gary's . together with manufactuers rebate and the one given to loyal customers I was able to save $110.00 on a set of 4 tires..

Great customer service at this Meineke!! They were very accommodating with my schedule given the time crunch, very efficient and offered advice for future maintenance. Well done and I'll be back.

Friendly and super fast! I called Oscar and his team at 11 am and by 4:45 pm my car was fixed and ready to go. I really appreciate how much they helped me out with my car. Definitely recommended!

Two vehicles serviced this month. All issues fixed and plans for future repairs. Excellent staff. Also, very accommodating for service timing to personal schedule. Thank You Oscar.

Average garage , great customer service Brandon always tries to get you in for repair even in a crunch. The repairs are good ,no issues thus far been going here for 7 yrs

Awful awful service!! If I could give this shop a 0 star review I would! do not give this company your money! Oscar is rude, not knowledgeable and very unprofessional!

Thoroughly enjoyed every experience I've had here. Oscar helped me get my car sorted, they were quick, easy to deal with and cost effective! Highly recommend!!