After days of being unable to reach Paul I drove by and found the shop out of business with some official looking paper up talking about non compliance... Whats the story here? Basically according to most people they walk on water so I was so exited to take my car in. Now I need a second recommendation. I have a 2006 xc90 100k, I need some regular maintenance and a diagnosis for this fairly loud knocking/cracking noise that happens irregularly but doesn't sound good. Also the suspension seems to feel the bumps and cracks on the road these days. So it may need some extensive work, I don't know. But I'm pretty used to just driving by the dealership and my credit card burns. I don't mind paying if I trust it actually needs to be done and its a fair price, but I feel gouged most of the time.

Oh no...first I've heard of it. The Calgary folk will be able to chime in on other independents that are able to provide service (I hope) - I wonder if Paul is checking in the forum anymore?

ugh, bad news indeed. Hopefully it's something temporary, as Craig noted the Calgary types will be more help with your needs. Oh, and welcome to CVC

ETA: He hasn't logged in since Nov. 29, 2013.

Well I wait for the calgary types to chime in with baited breath, and Paul if your out there, give us some hope!

Sad face for Paul:(

If you're in a pinch, uzzi over at magnum auto on Manchester road is a straight up guy. He works on all makes but has driven a Volvo for years.

Oh right! Uzzi! Yeah, he seemed like a good dude. He did a lot of work on Houston's 244 rally car, and I remember he did right by you too, Athal. That's worth a shot, I figure.

Hey, Dale - who was that guy who worked on the Elite Fleet fleet, the Subaru guy who moved to 32 ave NE? Was that place called All Makes?

Edit - and someone with Paul's number please give him a call and make sure everything's alright?

His name is Din and his place is All Makes. They're not on 32 Ave anymore...they're on 40th ave between Edmonton Tr and Centre St. Good guy...

I've also dropped out of contact. I'll see what's up - a coworker of mine is a neighbor of his.

That's no good though. The b&j guys were as awesome as awesome comes.

I'll add my concern for Paul and Bert & Jack's as well - hopefully it's a minor set back and not the final outcome...

As for All Makes: While I live in Regina SK - I'll also add my highest regard for Din at All Makes - I was the crew chief on Dave Koszegi's Subaru rally car (late 90's) and Din was our go to guy in Calgary, and we used his shop as home base for the Rocky Mountain rally - he even crewed on the car. Absolutely awesome guy - and if it wasn't for the rep of Bert & Jack's with Volvo's I would have had no issue sending my 06' V70R to Din to do the pre-purchase on.

If you do see Din - tell him Rabin (Ra-bean) from Regina says hi. (I really have to visit him properly next time I'm in Calgary...)

Rabin

I have one more for you, Jennifer: Mike at Northmount Auto. Supposedly he's an ex-Valentine mechanic, and quite reasonable.

Sounds like he is trying to re-locate.
http://forums.beyond.ca/st/380572/looki ... location-/

I had a feeling it was flood related. Sort of glad to hear? At least he's looking to re-open somewhere, and hopefully he has some insurance help!

ok Din at all makes no longer works on volvos "we don't touch them". This is trickier then I thought, please don't tell me I have to go back to Valentines. Yesterday my needs regular service light came on!

made an appointment with Mikes at Northmount, I hope to have a glowing review next week. He sounds nice and did in fact work at the dealership

I'm not sure if Jennifer will be back, but I PM'd her for a review of Mike. Here's what she had to say:

"Hi Mike was very accommodating. He kept my car while I was out of town and was flexible about when I would pick it up. He found and fixed my complaint (loud clunking) something about my exhaust was broken and randomly banging against things. Did a tune up and pronounced my car in good shape. My bill was just over $800 I don't have any idea if this was a good price as I don't know anything about cars and I didn't get another opinion. I will use him again. I actually didn't meet him as he wasnt feeling well when I was due to pick up and he had made arrangements for someone to give me my key and my husband dropped it off. He did get back to me quickly and had the work done quickly.
On a side note, I've had this complaint about the noise for a long time and had it in to the dealership when the car was under warranty and was told it was just snow build up... so compared to Valentine he's a dream"

So there's a resource we can use as an alternative to Paul, until he comes back online or whatever.

Matt