[DJ]

I think experience and certification are important I recently got my red seal certificate (Canadian equivalent to ASE Certification) and I work in a small independent shop. I am the only licensed tech in the shop the other guys are well experienced however when it comes to the newer cars there is a lot of relearns and calibrations that I am the only one that has a clue about. Those guys are great at physical r and r however there attitude is that they don’t need to learn the new procedures because the just don’t care. But the vehicles they are great at fixing won’t be around forever I think certification also shows a that a person can finish what they start but is not necessary as long as the willingness to learn new things is always there.

[DJ]

I work as a tech in a small independent shop so i see a little bit of everything and my personel preference is domestic i think the imports should stay in whatever country they came from. Now working on them consists of scraping or burning half your skin off your arms there is also pathetic service info and parts are just as rusted and seized as anything domestic. I admit domestic cars commonly require more service and repairs however imports don’t have all the little things they have one big failure which is just as costly.
Which brings me to engineering Honda and toyota for example as so far ahead in engineering yet it took until well into the 2000s to figure out what this crazy thing called a timing chain is. Couple common domestic problems here that the imports are just as guilty of
oil leaks and burning
broken ball joints
rusted out exhaust
sagged suspension
brake noises
engines and transmissions.
belt squeal (hondas manual tensioner).

As far as the owners go there are some really good owners and some really bad owners domestic and import.
BUT WHAT REALLY PISSES US OF IS WHEN SOME IDIOT WITH AN INFINITI or ACURA or some sort of high end import calls us to price out an oil change.
Or Import owners are shocked when it takes 3 days to get parts because we are in a small town. (ford and chevy dealer only). So that being the case are parts system does not move at lightning speed.

So that is just my opinion but don;t be to suprised when your honda breaks a ball joint and cv axle when u are in the middle of nowhere and
nobody has those parts in stock.

[Author]

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