Varsity Automotive

I’ve taken a couple of my vehicles here, the first time was to have a muffler put on. I do most of my own repairs, but cutting a rusted muffler off wasn’t something I was going to do in my backyard. I phoned them up, they gave me a quote of how much it would cost and how long it would be, and the price seemed reasonable, and they were very close to where I was living, so I chose them. As it turned out, the job took twice as long, (the rusted bolts were so far gone, they had to heat them up with an acetylene torch) but they stuck with the original price. So kudos to them for not robbing me blind, which they would have been perfectly entitled to.
However the second time I took another car in for an alignment, as the steering wheel was off center, and the car drifted off to the right. I paid around $ 100 which is the standard price in Vancouver, and when I got my car back, the car didn’t drift anymore. However the steering wheel was still off center. I took the car back and they had one of their techs drive the car with me in it. His conclusion was, the car was tracking straight so the alignment was fine. That the steering wheel was off «because the hills are slanted.»
So in the end, I took the car to a mechanic friend, and he told me that it was standard procedure to make sure the wheel was centered, and that if the wheel wasn’t centered then it wasn’t truly aligned. I ended up having to take it somewhere else to get them to line up the wheel properly.
So all in all, one good experience, one bad experience. They do good work here, but I wouldn’t recommend getting an alignment from them.

I took my car here for a tire change over and oil change. There was some noise in the front end of my car also. They were also able to figure out what the noise was from and fix the problem so my car was safe to drive again.
They also did a once over of my car and let me know the status of the belts, brakes, and other parts of the car. They communicated the thorough report to me in a way that was easy for me to understand.
My car is high millage right now and is rusting, and they let me know that there were a few issues they tend to see with this make and model of my car that can cost a lot if needing to be repaired at this point. I really appreciated the honesty around forecasting things in the near future that might need to be repaired. I can better plan the retirement of the old «Batmobile» of mine with this information.
They also vacuumed out my car as a nice gesture they do for their clients. I was very pleasantly surprised they did this as I have a dog that tracks the whole beach into the car with him sometimes and the car needed a vacuum.

Hi, just wanted to say that last year Varsity fixed my vehicle properly so it could clear AIRCARE, (originally was rejected and I called Irv Ross @ West coast Frame and Wheel Alignment for a referral– referred me to VARSITY), well this year, (yesterday) I had my vehicle checked over at Varsity first before setting off to AIRCARE.
NOTE: Varsity (an authorized AIRCARE centre) has the instruments and sensors and know-​how to check and make sure your vehicle indeed will pass, if not, they can tweek it.
They confirmed that according to their instruments my car should pass. As well, I would like to add that Jason, Blair checked my vehicle instead of taking their coffee break, so that I could get to AIRCARE at foot of Fraser St. (Kent) and get to my appointment with my DR.
Not only my car passed, I had enough time to return to Varsity and thank them for this great service and pre-​check. WOW, what a time saver and this sure spares the nerves. I can highly recommend spending the time and getting your car pre-​checked by Varsity before scooting off to“THE DREADED AIRCARE”. Why waste time and money?

I have been a loyal customer for about 9 years now and am a big fan of this shop. The gentlemen who work there are very friendly and helpful, and are completely straightforward and trustworthy. I have never once had the sense of any «padding» or suggesting more work than was necessary. This is an excellent, reliable, and trustworthy outfit.

Gone here twice. Both times they ‘fixed’ a problem, but I ended up having to take it either back there or to another shop because they hadn’t really solved the problem. Once the brake cylinder and the other time something as simple to diagnose as the alternator. When I would bring this up, they’d claim innocence, but they were sure to charge me full price… I also found they nickle and dimed me, or thought I was stupid. «Oh just topped up the oil! 10 bucks later…» The only reason I came there again was because it was within towing distance of my house. Beware the good reviews, either a family member or employee…

I took my car here to be serviced, and was very happy with the result. They were helpful and friendly. Straightforward in their answers and the invoice for a service (the usual factory scheduled maintenance) was very reasonable (half the price of the dealership!).
They did the work fast too, I dropped off my car on my way to work, and got to pick it up later that day. Easy!

These guys have been working on our cars for years. They are honest, professional and the costs are reasonable. It is everything one wants in a garage. The service hours are not an issue if you work around them.

Very friendly guys. I was out of town and mix up on communication of what to do with the car after repair was done. They were kind enough to pick up my mother-​in-​law, so that she could drive the car back.
Major repairs… With cars nowadays, you really can’t tell what is going on yourself, but they seem reliable and don’t surprise you with a bill that is different than their quote. They also explain what is wrong and why they need to do a certain repair rather than generic response.
Routine maintenance… I’ve been going to them for a bit and no problems as a result of their maintenance. They have recommend other work to be performed after the maintenance check, but they don’t do it all the time, so their recommendations seem to be genuine. Plus, I have an older car, so they don’t seem out of line.
Can’t remember, but I think the other reviewer is right on their hours (for some reason, I thought they were open on Saturday as well.) I usually get maintenance done during the week. Simple enough to call for hours.