Saturday, August 22, 1992 @ Shop around for a reliable mechanic The following is advice provided by the British Columbia Automobile Asso- ciation. _ Finding a good mechanic can be a very costly and frustrating experience for most of us. Unfortunately, in order to be able to recognize a good mechan- ic, we would have had several experi- ences with bad ones. Amost reliable way of finding a good mechanic requires a lot of work on the part of the consumer. Since the aver- age consumer seldom comes into di- rect contact with a mechanic, it is the re- pair facility itself which needs to be checked out. The following are some tips which should be considered when looking for a mechanic with whom to trust your vehicle and bankroll. 1. Location — The repair facility you choose should be conveniently located; 2. Housekeeping — The repair facil- ity should be reasonably clean and tidy, with good lighting; 3. Qualifications — The repair facil- ity should employ mechanics who have completed a formal apprenticeship and are licenced by the province; 4. Estimates — The repair facility should be willing to give you an esti- mate on the cost of repairs for parts plus labor prior to starting any repairs; 5. Return of Replaced Parts — The repair facility should be willing to show you and make available to you all parts which need to be replaced. Note: some components can be re-manufactured and may not be given to a customer to take away unless the consumer js will- ing to pay a core charge; 6. Hourly Rate — Most repair facili- ties use one of two available flat rate DOWNTOWN SHELL AIR & BCAA APPROVED 365-6133 975 Columbia Ave. Castlegar, B.C. 1050 Columbia Avenue Castlegar, B.C. GLASS & TRIM LTD, 365-6505 TILDEN "2 ¢ Rental Car Sales * Lease to Own ¢ Short Term Leasing * Daily Rentals ¢ Financing OAC 1761 COLUMBIA AVE 365-7555 NOW STRIPPING manuals, Chiltons or Mitchell for estab- lishing a charge-out time for each repair _ function. Therefore, the hourly rate is the one which will make a difference. This rate will fluctuate from a low of $40 per hour to a high of $70 per hour; 7. Guarantee — A good repair facili- ity will provide a guarantee for a mini- mum of 90 days or 6,500 km. whichev- er occurs first. Some guarantees ex- tend for longer periods depending on the part manufacturer's guarantee; 8. Advertising — Be careful of ads which offer service specials at a much reduced price frdm the nromal price. Remember, cheap is not always the best. Everyone in business operates on a profit margin and no one can operate at a loss for very long; 9. Reputation — Cheok a prospec- tive repair facility's reputation by getting 5 information from either the Better Busi- ness Bureau or the Automotive Retail- ers Association (ARA) or any other af- filliated source. BCAA has an Approved Auto Repair Service Program with over 350 repair facilites in the membership. All the fa- cilities which are approved by BCAA have been carfully checked out for the criteria mentioned above. BCAA goes even one step further to ensure that all the approved shops are reputable and provide a high level of service. A random sampling of each re- pair facility's customer file is taken for the purpose of surveying customer sat- isfaction. Repair shops with a poor cus- tomer reputation are not accepted into this program. Lm 374 Members, Support Your Association Pian your Autoplan with BCAA! BCAA 596 Baker St., Nelson * 352-3535 (BIG gp TIRE A pli” pase" mere ps ‘ simile Ave., , Castlegar ¢ 365-2955 COURTESY 1987 TOYOTA TERCEL two door 1984 TOYOTA COROLLA two door 1981 TOYOTA TERCEL four door 1980 TOYOTA TERCEL four door ; e@ LICENSED MECHANIC TUNE-UPS - BRAKES - FULL SERVICE RR #1, Raspberry, B.c. 365-3842 TRAIL AUTO BODY LTD. Complete Paint & Body Shop Glass Replacement Serving the Kootenays Since 1958 2316-6th Ave., Castlegar - 365-5114 "1992 MERCURY TOPAZ 4 dr., air, ony 125 km. $9,450 ABH CAR SALES 2913 Central Ave. Grand Forks, B.C. Ph. 442-2363 GORD'S SERVICE CENTRE THE MUFFLER PEOPLE + MUFFLER LIFETIME WARRANTY + - EXHAUST SYSTEMS - eee + TUNE-UPS + BRAKES » reonto | RUST ARRESTER wer LICENCED MECHANIC 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Monday-Friday 425 Columbia Ave., Castlegar - 365-6555 centre |} MISTER TIRE SALES ’* Brakes + Shocks « Alignment + Complete Mechanical 480 Columbia Ave. Castlegar - 365-7145 USED AUTO PARTS ae 24 Hour Towing New & Used Parts ie 693-2224 Between Castlegar and Trail Box 175, Genelle VOG 1GO0 Sign Design GRAPHICS * Pinstriping * Vehicle Letteri 365-0366 CASTLEGAR IMP©)RT CENTER EXPERT SERVICE FOR DOMESTIC & IMPORT VEHICLES 365-5111 LC.G. PROPANE SERVICE CENTER GOVERNMENT INSPECTION ‘ACKITY Wednesday August 26, 1992 NewsFLASH @ WEATHER ‘c Increasing cloud with a risk of showers tomorrow and Friday. @ OUR PEOPLE Aman who has seen his fair share of British Columbia, Bob Coutts is the man running the ship at Pope & Talbot’s Castle- gar sawmill. page 9 @ LOCAL SPORTS Castlegar teacher John Ritchie will put his passport to good use as he is off to Barcelona to coach some medal hopefuls at the Par- alimpics. @ ARTS & LEISURE Getting older doesn't neces- sarily mean becoming less ac- tive, and the Kootenay Co- coons are living proof that atti- tudes toward fitness are be- coming younger and younger. preview 3 Far Side Harrison Letters Our People Local Sports 15 Action Ads 17 Arts & Lejsure preview 3 Home Plan preview. 5 DiningGuide _ preview 16 2 6 7 9 ART CHARBONNEAU COMES TO" enough putting their little red wagon to good use. The place for fun looked to be right next door to the Lorne Zinio tennis courts Sunday, as these little ladies had more than News photo by Neil Rachynsk: Lawyers comb Neil Rachynski NEWS REPORTER The city is in no hurry to show off a two-year-old study of its internal operating efficiency. Council agreed three weeks ago to have lawyer Murray Rankin piek through a 1990 Price Waterhouse study and de- cide what should be made public. When they appointed Rankin, city council said they would also be bound by his recommendations. Rankin’s report is complete, but now the city has decided to turn his findings over to their own solicitors. ’ g And city officials aren’t saying much until they talk to their wyer, “’d like to see what legal counsel has to say,” Mayor Audrey Moore said. “I have no comment at all.” Moore would only say the city has not handed the report over to the public b council wants to be protected from legal action. “We wanted (the report) checked by our solicitors for lia- bility,” Moore said. “We wanted to know what our exposure might be. I’m not going to prejudge what our lawyer might say. That’s the only way council can be responsible.” Councillor Lawrence Chernoff says although the city agreed to be bound by Rankin’s recommendations, there must still be some leeway because the study deals with city staff. Rankin report “You need to have somé compassion,” Chernoff said. “It’s OK to be hardnosed, but as a councillor I want to be careful. “Tf it’s public information you want, then we know what to release and what isn’t releasable.” The president of the Coalition Unaccepting Rash Bureau- cracy isn’t buying the liability excuse. Mike O’Connor says, “Somebody over there apparently doesn't like the report and must want something deleted. “They should just say ‘here’s the report, this is it’ — un- touched and unabridged. We'll never know what, if anything, was taken out. “That report should have gone from Murray (Rankin’s) desk to yours,” O’Connor said. “Methinks something is not right in Denmark.” The executive director of the Freedom of Information and Privacy Association doesn’t imagine it would be unusual for the city to take the report to its own lawyers. “The test will be over the next couple of days,” Darrell Evans said. “If they decide they’re not going to follow (Rankin’s) recommendations then they’re not doing what they said they would. “If they don’t release it this week then you know they’re not happy.” Chernoff expects the final report to be ready by the end of this week. TOWN FOR PRESS CONFERENCE, PAGE 3