Client Review on Budget Brake & Muffler Auto Centers

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On August 15th 2017 I took my 1981 Camaro Z28 into your Abbotsford Location for my pre-arranged appointment to have dual exhaust put on my 1981 Camaro Z28. Ralph impressed me as a car guy that appeared to know his stuff and had been around the old car hobby for some time, I felt comfortable with leaving him my vehicle to perform this work. When I returned later that day my vehicle was done and I paid my bill. First thing I noticed was my emergency brake cable was stretched tight against the pipes and hanging low. I questioned Robert about this and was concerned my brakes maybe dragging? He assured me Ralph had checked this as he had noticed the same. After leaving the shop I could hear my exhaust was leaking and returned to the shop, Ralph was not there but one of the other technicians had a look and found multiple leaks and informed me I would need to return when Ralph was in to have this corrected. I returned the following day and had noticed other issues since driving it home, exhaust was not only leaking but was hitting on the lower edge of my ¼ panels and rear leaf springs, mufflers hung at different heights as did the front pipes coming off of the exhaust manifolds. Ralph added 2 additional hangers at the rear of the mufflers and attempted to seal up the multitude of leaks. Exhaust was leaking at both manifold collectors, both muffler inlets and the outlets and tail pipes were made in 2 sections and both of these were also leaking. On closer examination welds were poor at best, splatter / bubble gum burn through welds and something you would not expect from a professional shop. After 3 return trips to the Abbotsford location and no satisfaction I was very frustrated and could see they were simply not equipped to correct or take care of the issues and only offered up excuses why it was the way it was. I saw Ralph in attempting to correct my tailpipe hanger issue set the rubber insert on fire while attempting to correct the bubble gum weld and then proceeded to run around looking for he squirt bottle to dowse the flames, I also saw him use a stand under the exhaust pipe to bend it upward in and attempted to realign an incorrectly bent pipe (he lowered my vehicle down onto this stand).I meet up with a group of fellow car enthusiasts at the local Tim Horton’s in south Surrey on Friday nights during the summer and a couple of them suggested I take it to the Aldergrove Budget Muffler location as a couple of them had work done there and raved about the technician (Larry). I went there and was greeted by Jackson, I explained my situation and asked if he could possibly help me? I explained that my friend’s suggested I bring it to them and told me he had a great exhaust guy (Larry). Jackson explained Larry was off and booked me in the following day for inspection. Larry could hear right away it was leaking and upon closer examination found that the work was poorly done and the only fix was to completely redo what the other shop had done. Jackson informed he would need to go through his head office for approval and I left the vehicle with them. It took 3 days for them to get this authorization and Jackson was very good about keeping me informed about what was going on. I must say how very satisfied I am with the work Larry did and how great is sounds and looks. I have owned my 1981 Camaro Z28 a very long time, it has only 92,000 kms on it and the system that was on it when it went into the Abbotsford location was it’s factory original system with the exception of the catalytic delete pipe. I must first off reiterate my absolute displeasure with your Abbotsford location and express my thanks to Jackson and Larry at your Aldergrove location for making a very terrible experience better. Larry’s exhaust work is amazing, a true craftsman and you can see pride in workmanship in every bend and weld. This post is a result of no response to my many emails to Budget's head office that have gone unanswered and while my exhaust is fixed I am still left with damage to my 1/4 panels and floor from the first shop.