Glacier Auto Sales
in Courtenay, British Columbia (BC), Canada

REALLY Made In Canada ™ BUSINESS PROFILE #270971

BUSINESS PROFILE »

* This listing is NOT VERIFIED Canadian ™ (Learn more...)

Table of CONTENTS »

  VERIFIED Canadian ™   Feedback   Home

Glacier Auto Sales « YOU ARE HERE!
  Business Profiles & Disclosures
        Courtenay Businesses & Services
              British Columbia Businesses & Services
                    Canada Businesses & Services
                          Online Guides & Directories
                                REALLY Made IN Canada ™
                                      LOCAL Trade Technologies ™

Top   Search   Table of Contents

Fleeced in Courtenay, BC writes this customer review about Glacier Auto Sales. As far as my couple dozen years of buying used cars goes, Glacier Auto gets the LOWEST marks in my books and is a name on my caution list when asked by family and friends about where to buy a used car in town! Several years ago, I purchased an older pickup truck from Glacier Auto, on the repeated assurances by the "owner/sales rep" that the vehicle was road safe and in good condition. Had I been more mechanically experienced, I would have recognized the extreme wear on one edge of the front tire as a strong indication of wheel bearing problems. When the wheel is wobbly, it can lean too far on edge and the tire wears out on that plane. But, I was not mechanically inclined, and I own that I did not take the truck to an independent mechanic to have it examined. According to numerous amateur and pro mechanic feedback (too late), spotting the worn tire would have immediately resulted in a thorough check of the bearings. I just assumed that a car dealership would be required by law to answer to some minimal standard of road safety, as compared to independent personal car sellers. In any case, within a few months, my front wheel started wobbling badly and it was clearly an unsafe condition. As this was such a recent purchase, used truck or not, I felt strongly that Glacier Auto had some accountability in this matter. When I returned with the truck to Glacier Auto, a "mechanic", apparently under regular contract by Glacier Auto, was summoned to look at the problem. I guess this "mechanic" did not know much about public relations when he blurted out that the wear on the tire was a dead giveaway of wheel bearing issues. Glacier's own mechanic was telling me that anyone with even a mild understanding of auto mechanics would have recognized the truck as being unsafe to drive. I was not happy to learn this. I know that, had I taken the truck to an independent auto mechanic, I would have either not purchased that vehicle, or immediately tended to the wheel bearing issue and made sure the selling price of the truck reflected the existing problem. So much for hind sight. Instead, appreciating that I needed a vehicle and it had to be SAFE, I offered, whom I assumed to be the owner of Glacier Auto, the opportunity to make things right. I suggested he take back the unsafe truck and upsize me to another vehicle on his lot. I was more than happy to pay the extra difference so that, at the end of the day, he would not be out any cash, and I would have a working vehicle. He repeatedly refused to accept this solution. I got the sense that he was relieved to get rid of that truck and now that the "lemon" was legally in my hands, there was no way he was going to burden his profitability by even touching it. Instead, he offered to give me a "good deal" on the servicing of the truck. Once my wheel was off, new bearings needed to be ordered and the "mechanic" working for Glacier assured me that he had the skill and experience to repair this problem. On to mistake number 2... I did not realize how shoddy and UN-safety conscious this "mechanic" was until he suggested that I drive back to my island (2 ferries away) with his vice grips temporary clamping my brake line shut because he was not quite finished the job and I did have a 6pm deadline to catch my ferry. At least the "owner" of Glacier had the sense to say that this was not a safe option, and instead, I had to rent (at my own expense) a car to get back home, only to return the next day. When I did return, the bearings in the truck were supposed to have been completely replaced and all should have been working. Or so I thought... No more than a month or so later, as I was driving down one of the steeping coastal hills on my island, my front wheel completely seized up and I barely made my way to a full stop without driving off the cliff edge. SAME wheel! After rounding up a local auto mechanic, I managed to get my truck towed to his shop, where I got the news. According to my local mechanic, not all of the wheel bearings were replaced in the wobbly wheel - something unheard of in professional auto mechanics. He explained to me that only part of the bearings were replaced with new ones, and the old remaining bearings were the ones which seized up while I was driving. What do I think of Glacier Auto? First of all, I find it hard to believe that the fellow ("owner") who sold me the car was unaware of the unsafe condition of the truck. As I understand now, and based on his own claims of vehicle knowledge, this was something he should have known. I'm also unclear on how this vehicle was allowed to be sold. I guess this must have preceded mandatory vehicle safety inspections for resales. I'm not sure. I was willing to forgive the first problem and even offered to put up more money to resolve this matter from both sides, but the Glacier Auto man chose to not support what he sold. And finally, the quality, or lack thereof, in Glacier auto mechanic services which only led to having to get my wheel bearings totally redone again also reflects badly on the quality of this "dealership". I spent hundreds on the first slipshod wheel bearing fix, hundreds on the second one, not to mention, towing costs, unnecessary ferry costs, car rental costs, and above all, unknown at the time to me, I was driving in a vehicle which should not have been on the road. I see that the autos sold at Glacier these days are nice clean newer models and the ticket prices are outrageously high. I stepped into the shop last year wondering if the old "owner" had sold the business to someone else, but I was told that this is the same business owned by the same guy. I explained my prior bad experience to the sales rep, and as I was telling my story, the "owner" man who sold me the truck walked through the office and, whether it's my imagination or not, zipped out of view as quickly as possible. If you take all the bad characterizations typically assigned to "used car salesmen", that does not even come close to how Glacier Auto ranks in my books!

Top   Search   Table of Contents

Top   Search   Table of Contents

Send your email to:  

IMPORTANT: When emailing us, please be sure that your email filters are set up to recognize 'reallymadeincanada.com' as a friendly domain (your first email will be automatically verified by our system and we don't want to end up in your "penalty box").

Top   Search   Table of Contents

Top   Search   Table of Contents

Glacier Auto Sales « YOU ARE HERE!
  Business Profiles & Disclosures
        Courtenay Businesses & Services
              British Columbia Businesses & Services
                    Canada Businesses & Services
                          Online Guides & Directories
                                REALLY Made IN Canada ™
                                      LOCAL Trade Technologies ™

What may we find for YOU?