Travis Jones says what should have been a routine oil change at Canadian Tire turned into a terrifying highway emergency after staff used plastic zip ties to secure a critical part of his car — marking the start of a two-year fight for answers.
He says as soon as he left his local Canadian Tire in Clarenville, N.L., in May 2023, he knew there was a problem with his 2017 Honda Civic. Jones says his car began shaking violently, making a roaring noise and struggling to reach highway speeds.
“It was like the car was being dragged backward,” he told Go Public. “I was frightened to my near death. I was losing control of my vehicle and I was on the highway with other motorists and there was a transport truck right behind me.”
Jones brought the car right back to Canadian Tire.
It turns out, several bolts were missing from the engine splash shield — a plate that protects fragile parts under the car and is often removed during oil changes. Some shields are plastic, but Jones’s was metal and he believed it had likely been dragging under the car.
But instead of replacing the bolts, the staff used plastic zip ties to hold the shield in place. Jones says they didn’t mention this until he asked — initially saying only that the problem had been fixed.
“I was gobsmacked. I really had no words,” said Jones. “I would’ve went home not knowing that my underbody was being left on with zip ties unless I had asked.”
Canadian Tire used plastic zip ties instead of bolts in car repair, driver says | Go Public
Canadian Tire’s head office says that its locations are independently owned and operated, and its response is based only on information provided by that local dealer, which referred any questions to headquarters.
Asked why the bolts were missing, Canadian Tire told Go Public the metal shield came off after the bolts “failed” — something the company says can happen when they are repeatedly removed and replaced during regular maintenance.
The retailer also said that location didn’t have the proper replacement bolts, so it used a “short-term temporary solution.”
That was news to Jones. He says no one told him the fix was temporary, or that it might be unsafe. Instead, he found out the hard way a few months later, when some zip ties snapped at high speeds, he says.
Auto safety experts say the case shows how repairs done wrong can put everyone on the road at risk.
“That was an improper repair from the get-go,” said longtime certified mechanic and automotive safety expert Mark Whinton.
“There’s no two ways about this. You do not repair a car like they did.”
The case also raises questions about service standards, and what Canadians should be asking when they hand their vehicles over to repair shops, says George Iny, the head of the Automobile Protection Association (APA).
“The broader concern here is how repairs are done in a shop, who’s supervising them, who gets to do what repairs, what level of learning is involved, if it was an apprentice or somebody who’s not licensed,” he said.
Jones says after months of calls and emails, Canadian Tire finally agreed, in July 2023, to cover the cost of replacing the missing bolts at a Honda dealership.
But there was a catch: He would have to pay more than $400 upfront for the work with promises of potential reimbursement.
Jones says he didn’t accept the offer because he didn’t have the money, and no longer trusted Canadian Tire to follow through, adding he was never offered reimbursement for the oil change that started it all.
“They should have been paying Honda directly,” said Jones. “They shouldn’t have expected me, a customer, who had already paid them for my [oil] service to pay for the repairs that were needed because of their mistakes.”
That was the first of two offers from the company. It later offered about $400 more after a second incident.
That second incident happened in November 2023, when Jones says some of those zip ties snapped — dragging part of the metal plate under his car at highway speeds, causing him to slam into a ditch.
“I lost full control,” Jones said. “I did have minor injuries, the seatbelt down around my stomach, I was bloodied and scarred for quite a while, minor headaches and pain across the shoulder, but luckily, I survived a potentially fatal incident.”
He complained to Transport Canada. An investigation found the responsibility likely lay with Canadian Tire, and was not a manufacturing flaw.
Jones says, after all this time, he still doesn’t understand why the company would use plastic zip ties in the first place.
The company says it made multiple good-faith efforts to resolve the situation, and added it’s open to resolving the issues.
Iny, with the APA, says though zip ties are commonly used in shops they should never be used for critical components like in Jones’s case.
They should be used, for example, “to fasten hoses or wires to make sure that they don’t flop loose in the engine compartment,” he said.
Go Public repeatedly asked Canadian Tire how often it uses zip ties, for what kind of repairs, if it notifies customers they have been used, and if the company plans to stop using zip ties for these kinds of repairs given what happened to Jones. It didn’t answer.
So what should have happened? Whinton, the safety expert, says it’s simple: Staff should have told Jones from the get-go they had used the zip ties, instead of waiting for him to ask what work was done.
“They then should have informed the customer they would have to source the proper bolts and that there would be additional charges and time required to repair it,” Whinton said.
What may also surprise drivers, say both Iny and Whinton, is who is allowed to work on vehicles in professional garages.
While the rules vary by province, in most jurisdictions, companies may cut costs by putting unlicensed or unskilled workers in charge of certain maintenance and repairs — instead of licensed mechanics.
“When you bring your car in, you think you’re going to get a tune up, you think the mechanics work on it. They don’t have to,” said Whinton.
He says some companies will hire “unskilled people, [with] no compulsory trade experience,” to keep costs down.
Go Public found several active job postings on the Canadian Tire website, looking to hire for locations across the country including B.C., Ontario, Alberta and Nova Scotia, showing how few qualifications are needed for some employees who work on customers’ vehicles.
The postings for “automotive service installers” list duties such as oil changes, tire installations, inspections and emissions testing — all tasks that affect critical safety systems, say safety experts.
But the qualifications are minimal, including: a valid driver’s licence, the ability to stand and lift for long periods and availability for shift work. Previous experience is considered an asset, not a requirement.
Canadian Tire would not say what qualifications the employees who used zip ties on Jones’s car had and CBC News was unable to confirm what training the staff there received.
In most provinces, there are no regulations prohibiting garages from hiring unskilled workers for these kinds of jobs.
Jones says he spent months exchanging emails and calling the company to try to get answers but, more than two years after what should have been a routine oil change, he says the experience has left him physically shaken, emotionally exhausted and still lacking answers.
He says he ended up removing the protective shield for now, until he can save the money to repair it properly or Canadian Tire decided to pay the cost upfront.
“Canadian Tire is a brand that I used to trust. I will not trust them again to service my vehicle. I was very disappointed.”
Go Public is an investigative news segment on CBC-TV, radio and the web.
We tell your stories, shed light on wrongdoing and hold the powers that be accountable.
If you have a story in the public interest, or if you’re an insider with information, contact [email protected] with your name, contact information and a brief summary. All emails are confidential until you decide to Go Public.
Read more stories by Go Public.
