The Rideau River at Burritt's Rapids, Ont.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Cancun, Mexico on November 11th.

Friday, October 13, 2017

A huge sigh of relief!

We received a text message from Kal Tire at around 5:30pm yesterday afternoon, telling us that Sherman was ready to be picked up. But we were quite far away, and they close at 6:00pm. So we stayed with our friends Jeff and Shelley again last night, and picked up Sherman first thing this morning.

Like I mentioned yesterday, we had no idea how much the bill was going to be.

I hadn't bothered asking for an estimate because I knew that they couldn't really give one. There are no "book " times for working on a motorhome like this. My original thinking was around $1,500. I was guessing that the labor rate was probably over $100 an hour, plus a couple of hundred in parts, plus Ontario's ridiculous 13% tax rate.

But then Ruth started saying I should prepare myself for more, so we started thinking between $2,000 and $2,500.

So when we got the bill, we were in for a pleasant surprise.

Grand total, $949...!

Huh???

It turns out that Kal Tire does the complete mechanical inspection for FREE. Yes, I knew they did this on personal automobiles, but I didn't think that applied to a motorhome. Apparently it does, or at least that's the way they billed it out for us. Very impressed.

Then, I was correct about the parts... upper and lower rad hoses were a little expensive at $42 and $49 and 3 gallons of antifreeze at $18 each, and the u-joints were $33 each.

And then there was the labor. It turned out that they billed out the labor at $100 an hour, which I think is pretty reasonable nowadays, especially for working on a motorhome. But they only charged me for 6.5 hours of labor.

Now I know that if I was doing all that work, it would have taken me two days. But, these guys do this for a living, and they have all the right tools and equipment. So obviously that speeds things up. But I still can't figure that was all it took. I think they made a mistake somewhere, but I wasn't about to stand there questioning them on it!

Anyhow, we are very pleased with the bill at $949, tax included.

This is the second time we have used Kal Tire, and the second time that we've been very happy with them. Last year, we had bought new tires for Sherman at the Kal Tire in Swift Current, and we were pleased with the bill that time as well.

So, Sherman is back with us, and we can continue puttering on the small things that we want to do to get him ready to leave when we get back from Barbados.

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18 comments:

  1. Very cool. Even better when you were expecting a huge bill. We like Kal Tire here too, they will fix a flat for you even if you didn't buy your tires there - for free! They did that for me (I was fully ok with paying) and then we liked their policy so much bought tires there afterwards. Great customer service

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    1. I pays to estimate high because then when the bill comes in at a lesser amount you are happy and relieved. In this case it was a lot less so we are happy campers!

      We have certainly been happy with the work and customer service at Kal Tire, we wouldn't hesitate to recommend them and now even more so hearing that you have also had great service with them.

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  2. Thanks for the heads up on Kal Tire. The last time we had any shop work done on the motorhome we took it into a local Ford Truck dealer and paid a fortune for what they did. I will check out Kal Tire to see if they do motorhomes.

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    1. Dealers are known for overcharging on just about everything. Kevin normally avoids dealers like the plague!

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  3. Well you know where you have some horseshoes :)

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    1. Yep, we really feel pretty lucky but maybe it is just that we over estimated a little too much. It has been a long time since we have had to have mechanical work done so we are a little out of touch with the prices.

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  4. Just want to get Kevin going! Almost as good as CTC. *smile*

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  5. That is an awesome bill for what they did
    I have dropped as much as 2800 for not much more on an older class C.

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    1. Yep, we were so pleased with the bill that Kevin didn't even question it!

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  6. You find a good place for service a stick with it. Thats why use our Garage in Plattsville, very reasonable and they doe good work. Also someone you can trust is a big deal as well. Nice that you have Sherman back again,

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    1. Yep, it helps when you have a good experience and then you want to stick with them.

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  7. Nice price on all the work, but $18/gallon for antifreeze? Must have been loaded with gold flakes! :cD

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    1. Don't forget we live in Canada so prices are generally more than the States for many products plus this price is in Canadian dollars, it would be about $14.45USD.

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  8. We will have to use Kal Tire next time for repairs they seem so reasonable. Thanks for the heads up! Enjoy your trip to Barbados looking forward to your posts!

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    1. So far we have been happy with the service and the pricing. Can't say they are like this but after having good results with two different shops, we would like to think that most of them are like that.

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