As good as it gets…
Herewhileback, as my Arkie father-in-law used to say, I was luxuriating in the waiting, uh, not really a room as it only has one wall, so, uh, spot, of my local preferred tire shop getting new shoes on the whip and it hit me, I needed to share this with you.
I know that this series of pics will inspire massive desire, lustful ruminations, and possibly a flurry of home-for-sale listings and frenzied U-Haul rentals as you try to relocate here because you were brought to tears by the beauty, joy, sophistication, and sheer technical automotive perfection that is a Madera, California tire shop waiting room. Let’s dive right in!
3rd class seating section. Plinkers only.
You’ll notice right away that I paid for the DeLux seating section, with my fancy-pants ex-barbershop chair. Notice the cushiness of the super #1 happy foam cushions! I always pay extra for the DeLux chair since the 3rd class section, around the corner, has cloth seating that, frankly, disturbs my dreams with visions of rare burrowing insects and unknown incurable diseases.
View from the captains chair, Scotty, beam me down more sanitizer!
See those darkish clouds scudding along the sky? That’s what we call “Old Man Winter” here. When you move here, soon I imagine after seeing this blissful photo-essay, I’ll let you drag one of the 3rd class chairs over by mine so we can enjoy the unparalleled, world-class, California scenic view and bask in the radiant seasons.
Wheels? Where we are going we don’t need no wheels!
The workmanship here is actually quite decent. And the low low prices will warm the cockles of your heart, which is one of the main draws for me, a known skinflint. Plus they are fast! Guys are jacking your car up before you even pop the door open! (though, admittedly, that can happen here in front of your house at 1am) You, my friend, are missing out.
One more reason I am a “leave the car and drop the keys into the slot after hours” kind of guy when it comes to auto service.
I have come to the conclusion that there is an inverse relationship to the price/quality of repair and the desirability of the waiting area. Dealers have lovely waiting areas (if you can stand the miserable tv program that always seems to be on) but will gouge you with unnecessary repairs or nonsensical explanations for what they did or did not do. Places like this do the job, do it right, do it cheap – and make zero accommodations for your comfort as you wait. If I ever need tire work done in Cali, I will join you.
I find it telling the the only VW dealer in the area (where I will never set foot again) has a super-upscale coffee / snack bar (and charges you for parts they didn’t install and don’t even belong on your car), vs. the Cadillac dealer where I’ve taken my Chev SS / Holden for service has a dumpy little room with old chairs, but has repeatedly delighted me with the overall service experience.
Any place that does the 3 jacks thing to remove all the tires, and leaves the vehicle sitting like that would quickly be off my list of places to go. Especially when they have the simple drive over lifts being unused. Yes they might have to use the blocks to reach the frame and get the tires off the ground but most of those types of lifts come with them for just that purpose.
Hmm, could be worth it to go, plus I don’t see any snow there (see my coming post on Tuesday)
I avoid dealing with businesses with excessively nice waiting areas both in my working and personal life. I went to a meeting at a steel fabricator once and the foyer looked like a bar. My cohort the purchasing manager was saying “Isn’t this nice?” but I was looking out at the row of Audis and Mercedes out front and thinking I’d much rather see a pickup truck and a guy in blue coveralls.
Doesn’t that vinyl get warm and sweaty in the summertime in Madera, where it can be blisteringly hot? And, next to that garbage can…
That is a bit of a flaw, it’s the sunny side for sure in the summer in the DeLux chair. (Summer being roughly March to early November)
Trash can is handy though, but can smell a tad ripe.
Heath-
Thanks for sharing your vehicle service experience. Since it’s an activity we all participate in, it’s a common touch point for the entire CC community.
I drove up to Madera from the LA area several years ago, when my daughter’s Marching Band participated in a local marching band competition. For those unfamiliar with California geography, Madera is located in California’s San Joaquin valley, also called the “Central Valley.” This is the heart of our agriculture industry, and often looks more like Iowa than LA or San Francisco.
Madera is located north of Fresno and has growing population, currently around 60,000 souls. While the zip code says “California,” the agricultural setting and small town feel gives it a very mid-west vibe. As Heath said in his closing, “You, my friend, are missing out.”
California climate with a Midwest feel? I could get on board with that.
California nee Iowa, not a bad description. In politics, culture, religious views, and general demeanor the agricultural Central Valley shares little with coastal California and is more of a hybrid of Mid-Western America and small town rural Mexico. Sophisticated we ain’t, but we got local color galore.
Hmmm… great food for thought! I’m planning to have my own CC re-shoed in the near future. 🙂
The shop I’m most likely to use is just down the street from work, so I’ll probably drop it off in the morning and pick it up after work.
The place that does 95% of my auto repair work has a nice waiting area, complete with large screen TV. However, it is small so there is one, unisex, restroom and no vending machines of any type, not is there a free coffee pot.
As far as the cheapest places having the worst customer waiting areas: I took my car to Walmart for new tires as they were the cheapest and I have been ripped off by 2 different chain tire stores in the area….including one recommended by AAA. WalMart had two “benches” in their waiting area that looked like metal patio benches.
I have been to a few places over the years where there was no waiting area, much less a rugged looking chair.
On one of our trips in the Chinook to Baja, the exhaust pipe got a bit tore up from a steep curb or something like that. I wired it up temporarily, but when we drove through Bakersfield on the way back north, I pulled off and found a muffler shop even more down-home than this one. He fixed me right up, and the cost was peanuts. And I don’t remember any “waiting room chairs” at all. But we had those inside the Chinook. It’s one of the advantages of a motorhome/camper: you bring your waiting room with you.
I love that part of California, and its down-hominess. We used to stop at lots of the central valley towns on our various trips to the Sierras. But it does get a wee bit toasty in the summer time.
I just got a hilarious image of you and your wife sitting in the living room of the Chinook, high on the lift, while the mechanic stands under it, wrenching and cursing like a sailor.
For those of us from the humidity belt the dry heat of California’s Central Valley can be downright dangerous. It is so dry that any sweat evaporates almost immediately, causing one not to realize how hot it actually is. You really, really, really have to make sure that you stay hydrated or you can turn yourself into jerky before you notice it. And then, because there is seldom any cloud cover, once the sun goes down it can be chilly, even in August. Quite a contrast with the Ohio River valley where I grew up, and live today.
Ayup, you can get desiccated here PDQ if you aren’t careful. And skin cancers are a huge problem, it’s particularly brutal on redheads and fair skinned blonds. We really are more of a desert climate to be honest.
That’s an interesting perspective to hear about our climate from someone from the “humidity belt”. Us who grew up here tend to consider the humidity back East unlivable, almost the first thing people will say when they start to consider moving to ___ state back East is, “But the humidity!!”
Next thing we’ll say is, “And the tornadoes!!”
Of course the amazingly beautiful greenery of the East we are all jealous of.
One of my favorite shops to take my Marquis in Vancouver had a wooden bench outside and that was it. But their prices and the quality of their work was worth it, They were close to 4th Plain, so I could walk to the nearest fast food and have lunch.
On somewhat of a tangent, I’m always amused by this tire shop near me – where “Alinement” is mis-spelled in big painted letters on the side of the building. Maybe they do a good job at car repairs, but not proofreading? I’ve never used them, but somehow I envision their waiting room having similar furniture to your Madera tire shop.
What’s funny is that I’m pretty sure the lettering has been repainted over the years, and “Alinement” is never corrected.
This is a picture of the same shop (different side of the building) – taken about 30 years ago. Notice they offered Alinements then, too:
And, who does retreading for passenger car tires these days?
I think that shop does a lot of commercial business, but I’m not sure, and oddly, I rarely see heavy trucks there.
“I have no respect for a man who can spell a word only one way.” Mark Twain
Les Schwab used to be like that, back in the ’70s. But they have gotten too big for their britches, and are all run by late 20 somethings that come out of the same mold. Last time I was there, a kid supposedly had a “problem” with one of my front wheel studs on my 4×4 Ranger. Instead of consulting me first, He took a cutoff wheel to shorten the stud. In the process, he also damn near cut thru my locking hub. They did buy me a pair of new Warn hubs. I would not let them install them. And there was no “problem” with with any of my studs, as I had the wheels off just a month or so earlier myself to replace the brake pads. He simply cross-threaded it with his impact tool and tried to cover his tracks…will never go back.
That spelling was used for Bear wheel alignment equipment. I think it was an intentional misspelling for trademark purposes, like Krispy Kreme.
Interesting — I never knew that.
This website has some good pictures of Bear signs, and it seems many of their signs (particularly the earlier ones) were spelled “Alinement”:
http://www.roadarch.com/signs/bear.html
The local garage that I’ve dealt with since 1992 had a massive fire a year or so back, and the insurance paid for a really nice upgrade to the garage facilities, as well as much nicer front office/waiting area. It’s not high-end fancy, but it’s clean and well-finished and the waiting chairs/restroom are quite acceptable. Having said that, I still usually just drop off my car and pick it up later.
As an aside, if I dine out and the restroom facilities are less than acceptable, I’m less likely to dine there again. I don’t expect the facilities to look like something you’d find at Sak’s Fifth Avenue, but I figure if they can’t be bothered to keep their restrooms clean, well-lit and well-stocked with toilet tisue/soap etc. then what’s the kitchen like?
That might make for a good QOTD. What kind of experiences have you had, good or bad, with tire/muffler/tune-up shops? Can be chain stores or mom and pop stores.
Ours is an area of extremes regarding “amenities” when you bring your car in for service.
If you’re in the string quartet and caviar crowd, there’s Lexus and Acura dealers in the greater Baltimore area that have a Starbucks inside, with fancy snacks and such, as well as free WiFi and Cable TV (High Definition, of course), as well as free car washes and even play areas for the kiddies!
Of course us more common folk are not left out. You can drive up to Harford County (about 20 klicks to the northeast) to a Hyundai dealer who shall not be named, but let’s just say people like to keep up with them ;o) if you know what I mean, that offers, “Free car washes, oil changes, hot dogs, and even a free manicure while you wait! And an engine guaranteed for life and….” The list that they shout into their radio commercials goes on and on and on…..
Then there’s the Honda dealer where I bought my Civic. It has an average waiting room, with uncomfortable chairs, a vending machine or three, and a Low Definition TV with the aforementioned (by JP) “miserable TV programs that always seem to be on”. And Like JP, I choose to use the night drop box with a pre-reserved appointment, be it online, or by phone when I need to speak to a service writer.
My wife’s Mitsubishi dealer goes one step further down. They have no waiting room, however they provide a comfy couch in the middle of their showroom. I suppose they think, ‘While we are putting tires on your Lancer, enjoy being surrounded by all of those Outlanders and Outlander Sports you can buy!’ – You know, because Mitsubishi doesn’t believe in making cars anymore.
But THIS one takes the cake, and why I love them so much… my neighborhood “Honest Mechanic” with the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mantra… They have a counter inside that is 36 inches wide, and only enough room for one person to stand inside the door (but they have a night drop box!). No seats, NOTHING. But this is the place I take the Mustang and Lancer, since they are well out of warranty, and where the Honda will go once its time is up (maybe… I actually LIKE my Honda dealer service so far).
But in a way, my trusty neighborhood mechanic with no amenities in a non-waiting room is the best! Why? Well, when he’s only 4/10 of a mile away, the free shuttle service is your own two feet, and the waiting room has the best amenities ever… your own home. ;o)
Ha, every time I visit my personal mechanic for my older cars, I am reminded of how . . . how awful most things would look without women and how badly women are needed. I personally do not have much need for women, if you catch my drift. 🙂 I wonder a little do some of these shops do that on purpose to discourage customers from waiting round there, or is it just a benign neglect/functionality thing.
The newest car still goes to Chrysler and I cannot agree with JP Cavanaugh enough on the stupidity of daytime television. I don’t know where they get these people to talk about these things, but The programmes were so stupid they were killing the plants. If it’s good weather I walk around the lot or across the street to Lowe’s. If it’s bad weather, I contemplate the decline of our civilisation.
Espress and cookies, too!
Most such places I’ve frequented the last few years have a token waiting room as one is welcome to stay out in the bays.
The tire shop I used most recently had a decent waiting room but I had a good conversation with the technician as he installed the tires.
Another place I’ve used, a great place for safety inspections, has a waiting room full of miscellaneous parts. If I didn’t drop the vehicle off, I waited around and played with his dog while he worked.
On the other extreme, the VW dealer where I had the oil changed last week offers free coffee, hot chocolate, and fountain sodas.
That’s not too much different than the (used) tire shop I use back in Davenport. What they lack in amenities they more than make up for in efficiency. My latest visit was all set up on FB. As soon as I pulled up to the place they had the jacks and wrenches flying like a NASCAR pit crew. I ,joking, complained that there wasn’t any coffee in the waiting room. The owner belly laughed and pointed me to the gas station across the street.
The tires I’m planning to buy this spring will Be our first set since about 2013. That set came from Sears, so our waiting room was the whole shopping mall!
About a year ago I took a friend’s car to the local big chain tire store to have the tires installed that he had selected previously. Their waiting room was just some chairs around the perimeter of their display area. From halfway listening to the other customer transactions it seemed like they were treating folks OK. My friend got a pretty good deal and theere weren’t any problems wi the installation.
Our Honda dealer is in a better part of town and recently remodeled their dealership. It’s quite nice, but not overly extravagant. They have a large, clean waiting area with complimentary hot beverages, a vending machine or two, and a few free computer kiosks. We’ve always had good sales and service experiences there. They advertise themselves as “employee owned” so maybe that’s a factor?
The local independent tire shop here gives awesome prices and service but definitely no frills.
The “waiting room” is a large three seater couch backed against one wall of the shop with rags stuffed on one side so you don’t get a spring where springs are not meant to go. The other end has a metal tractor seat for the same reason. The lucky person who ends up in the middle is doing acrobatics as the center is considerably higher than the two worn ends.
I don’t care. Monday, 9am I will be there for a new tire to replace one that has tossed a belt. Total cost…$60 installed and balanced. Any of the chain shops you are at three figures just for the tires.
For that kind of savings I can deal with a lack of “atmosphere”!
The local places I’ve frequented over the last few years:
Mercedes – Dealer, huge couches in large open area with drinks, food, and a 60″ TV, all open to the show room on one end and the gift shop and windows to the service bay on the other. Quite pricey, which is probably why I only go there for the free car washes…
Toyota – Dealer, chairs in a waiting area that looks like a 1980’s time warp with slightly newer magazines, but a tray of fresh cookies. They offer drop off and pickup service, usually we just both drive over there and drop the car off and then come back.
Chrysler – Dealer, dingy tiny room without any windows but a big flourescent light overhead and Fox News as well as the kid playpen in the corner. It certainly gets you walking the lot which is probably the idea.
Honda – Dealer, upgraded the whole area to raise it from Toyota level to Mercedes-Lite a few years ago. Very comfortable, the fireplace was a nice touch on a cold day…It was surprising to see for a Honda dealer.
All Things Automotive – Independent, my go-to guy for anything I don’t want to do myself that isn’t perhaps a warranty item and will work on anything. Mike’ll let you sit at his desk if you want while he walks around the shop checking on his employees. No other seating available. They’d probably happily give you a cigarette if you ask nicely too. Prices reflect the amenities. No BS, fast service, and happy to lend me a tool if I need one (such as an oil-filter wrench attachment in the correct size). I love these guys and refer others to them all the time. Mike, the owner, drives a total beater VW Golf to work that we’d probably hesitate to feature here, which is saying something. Very down to earth.
State Emissions Station – Padded chairs in a cinder block corridor that looks like a holding area at County (Well, how I imagine a holding area at County looks, anyway), but with huge windows on either side so you can watch the tech try to line up the car on the rolling road. State run, so no nibbles or anything, but quick and efficient service. One of the better run state agencies.
CostCo for tires – No waiting area per se, but the store is your oyster…
Why does it not surprise me that a Mercedes dealership would feature a gift shop.
Of chairs and wheels, I cannot help but be reminded of the soul whose chair is a wheelchair and who travels to Lourdes in France to take the healing holy waters in search of a miraculous cure, but on arrival is left to sit folorn at the side of the pool. Ecstatic pilgrims, emerging cured from the waters, are filled with blessings and seeing his plight, gently lower him wholly into the waters, and when they pull him back out, lo and behold, he can…….see he has a brand new set of tyres.
The poor side of town is where I go when in search of inexpensive tire mounting or exhaust work. Needed tires mounted and a little dumpy place on Foster in SE Portland was half the price of the chains, the waiting area consisted of your legs and feet standing under an overhang as you watch the floor jacks in operation in the rain.
When I asked if they knew a good reasonable priced muffler shop, they directed me down the street on 82nd, the waiting area consisted of a folding chair in a little grimy office. Half and hour and $65.00 later I drove out with my new muffler. Poverty areas are great for low cost auto repairs, learned that long ago,
My buddy George’s tire / repair shop on Orange Grove has no chairs, I don’t care ` he’s honest and affordable, has been doing all my tire mounts & dismounts since he was on Fair Oaks a decade ago .
Similar deal with Kirk’s Advance Muffler over on Walnut, he’s crazy as a loon but honest and a very good man .
No matter how stupid the exhaust work I want done, he does it to my specifications quickly and well .
Some Ghetto shops are crappy, others are to die for .
-Nate