The average Canadian is spending $23 less in 2011 on maintenance and repairs than in 2010, according to a recent J.D. Power and Associates study of drivers with vehicles 4 to 12 years old. However, this is mainly due to a 9 per cent decrease in the amount of service visits. “Study data suggests owners of older vehicles continue to de-prioritize maintenance and repair spending in the face of uncertain economic conditions,” said Ryan Robinson, director of the Canadian automotive practice at J.D. Power and Associates, in a press release. “This is creating an increasingly competitive environment for automotive service brands as they fight for share in a contracting market.” And it appears that Napa Autopro is winning that fight. The company was first with 875 points on a 1,000-point scale used by J.D. Power in its 2011 Canadian Customer Commitment Index Study to measure overall customer satisfaction with automotive service and maintenance providers. Costco was at the other end of the spectrum, scoring just 746 points.
Five factors were used to determine that level of satisfaction: the process used to get the vehicle in for service; the service advisor performance; the quality of the service facility; the quality of work performed, and the process used for vehicle return/pick up. Owners of vehicles 8 to 12 years old are more likely to take their vehicle to an aftermarket facility rather and a dealership. Fifty-eight per cent were attended to immediately, compared to 39 per cent at a dealership Eighty-five per cent said the service advisor put them at ease, compared to 80 per cent at a dealership Seventy-three per cent said the advisor provided helpful advice, compared to 66 per cent at a dealership “Aftermarket facilities seem to be beating dealerships at their own game,” said Robinson. The list: Repair shops ranked best to worst (out of 1000) Napa Autopro, 875 Great Canadian Oil Change, 864 Pennzoil, 845 Goodyear Auto Service Centre, 842 Midas, 836 Subaru dealerships, 832 Acura dealerships, 829 Mr. Lube, 825 Jiffy Lube, 821 Mercedes-Benz dealerships, 821 Hyundai dealerships, 812 Toyota/Lexus dealerships, 812 Active Green & Ross, 811 Ford/Lincoln dealerships, 811 Fountain Tire, 811 Ford Fast Lane, 808 Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealerships, 807 GM dealerships
, 807 Kia dealerships, 804 Honda dealerships, 803 Mazda dealerships, 797 Volkswagen/Audi dealerships, 796 Nissan/Infiniti dealerships, 794 Volvo dealerships, 793 Wal-Mart Tire & Lube Express, 779 Canadian Tire, 764 BMW dealerships, 762 Costco, 746 The study is based on responses from more than 19,500 owners in Canada whose vehicles are between four and 12 years old. The study was conducted between January and February 2011 and June and July 2011. Independent garages and repair shops were not included in the study. Included but not ranked due to their small sample size were Esso, Firestone Auto Service Centre, Kal Tire, Meineke Car Care Centre, Mitsubishi dealerships, Mr. Muffler, OK Tire, Petro-Canada Certigard, Shell, Speedy, and Suzuki dealerships.The requested URL /sub.php?view=getTheFacts&subpage=filltires was not found on this server. Costco is an membership-only warehouse club that provides a wide selection of merchandise, from electronics and clothing to fresh produce and auto care, plus specialty departments and member services including optical, pharmacy, photo center, travel, tire center, and gas station.
It is the second largest retailer in the US and the third largest in the world. Costco focuses on selling bulk-packaged brand name products at low prices. It carries its own brand Kirkland Signature. American Express is the only accepted credit card in the US and other countries, except in Canada where American Express has been replaced by CapitalOne MasterCard. Costco has a favorable return policy that most items can be returned with a full refund. Today, Costco has 672 warehouses worldwide including 463 locations in the US. Car Truck & SUV Tires Tire Mounting and Balancing Consumers Tire provides new tires and tire services to customers in Toronto ON, Missasuaga ON, Markham ON, Barrie, ON, and the surrounding areas. Once you’ve been to Consumers Tire, you’ll never go anywhere else! Our line of competitively priced tires features some of the industry’s leading tire brands, like: We also offer a wide range of tire repair services and tire maintenance services. Visit your nearest location today.
"Sometimes we call it internally the Costco retro — we're going back to our base, back to our roots," said Marc-André Bally, vice-president business centre for Costco Wholesale Canada. Actor Alan Thicke dead at 69 A woman in a restaurant complained about my kids. Here’s how I responded Do Hamilton firefighters take more sick days at contract time? “I failed my kids”: An Ontario mom’s story on soaring hydro While the new format is aimed at small-to-medium sized business owners, including restaurateurs, lawyers, doctors and gym owners, all card-carrying Costco members can shop the store, at no additional cost. At 127,000 square feet, the business centre will be somewhat smaller than the 94 Costcos already operating across Canada. But because there will be no ancillary services — no optician, no bakery, no meat-cutting services — the number of pallets on the floor from which products are sold will be about the same as in a typical Costco, said Andrée Brien, senior vice-president and senior general merchandise manager for Costco Wholesale Canada.
Among the things customers won't find for sale in the Costco Business Centre: diamonds, tires, apparel. Still, at least 80 per cent of products will be unique to the new format, which will add an element of novelty for regular customers, said Bally. Many of the brands that will be sold from the new store will be from distributors that don't typically sell at retail. Another differentiator: While the business centre will sell fewer items, it will sell a greater variety of products within the categories it does carry. "The categories that we are in, we're very deep, so if it's bottled water, you're going to see several brands of bottled water," said Bally. "It still remains attractive for somebody that has a big family or somebody that is organizing an event, either a barbecue or a soccer mom." The hours will also be geared to a business clientele — from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday to allow them to shop before opening their own businesses for the day. Saturday hours will be 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.