Strawberry Hill Auto in Surrey, BC

[jdmvip]

This is another long overdue review.
I first met the owner Rick ~1.5 years ago while trying to sort out my Impreza aircare issues. I called a lot of shops and he was the only one I felt comfortable dealing with. He had a good attitude, was experienced (over 20 years experience I believe), knowledgeable and not afraid of JDM cars. He test drove Impreza and looked at it but couldn't diagnose the issue for sure (but though it was the cat) and never charged me like he told me on the phone.

Rick was very straight forward and he also mentioned he would have passed my Impreza when the topic of inspection came up and since then I've recommended them and heard good things from our members. They're very familiar with JDM cars and inspecting them so this is another big plus.

Fast forward to July and I was looking for a good shop to inspect my BH5 Legacy GT-B and booked the inspection with Rick. The tech who did the initial inspection was great to deal with (I forgot his name) but he said even if the car fails they'll let me fix the issue and reinspect again later on.

They did a thorough inspection in and out, test drove it, checked the underbody for rust etc...., checked that all bulbs worked and then passed the car without any hassle. Their inspection rate is also very reasonable which is another plus. You can see below they took off my rims to inspect the brakes and one thing I appreciated is that they were very careful with the rims (I've gotten scratches from other shops before). They were also careful with the sideskirts (with Impreza another shop almost destroyed my kit by placing the lift arms against the skirts).

I really appreciate the guys at Strawberry Hill Auto and will definitely keep recommending them.

[CameronR]

I thought I'd bump this thread as well. I just had Rick inspect my 2001 Altezza RS200Z and all went well.

[jdmvip]

Hey Cameron glad to hear these guys are still doing a good job at inspecting. Rick in my experience is a very straight forward and honest guy.

[Nikita]

I thought I'd bump this thread as well. I just had Rick inspect my 2001 Altezza RS200Z and all went well.

Hi there,

Do you mind me asking you a couple of questions regarding the altezza oop inspection? =)

My altezza will be in Vancouver in a month or so, and I really worry about the inspection process (like things I will need to fix/add/install to pass it).

1. What things have you changed/installed to pass the inspection? (like DRL, DOT headlights, etc)
2. If you had to get DOT headlights, did you use Lexus IS300`s ones?
3. How much did you pay to get it inspected at Strawberry Hill Auto? I heard prices really vary between 150 to 300 CAD.

Thanks man,

Nik

[CameronR]

Strawb Hill charged me $145 for the inspection, and no real mechanical work was needed. I gave my car the once over before sending it to him, just to be sure it didn't need a lot of work, which I would have done myself.

I wired DRL's using a trigger wire from the relay box in the left front engine compartment, and then relay outputs back into the two headlight fuse slots. Littlefuse add-a-circuits make this easier. You can also bridge wires at the headlight switch, but then your taillights also go on... I added amber side reflectors on the front and red on the rear.

Taillights and CHMSL should be DOT, one of the tails was cracked so I got some DEPO OEM type for $40 off craigslist. The headlights were E-code, which is okay, but Rick had trouble aiming them. I tapped on the headlight housing with my hand and got them to aim - the adjusters were stiff! I do recommend getting NA spec headlights, even the crap E-Bay ones come with DOT on them. Altezza's come with 9005 headlight bulbs not HID, so you will need to do a HID conversion if you get aftermarket lenses, or just get IS300 assemblies whole. I do recommend NA spec headlights, as the cutoff pattern is correct - especially important if you do a lot of highway driving!

My car came with new snow tires and had load ratings on the sidewall, but no DOT, so all was good there.

[Nikita]

Thanks for a quick reply,

I`ve contacted Nickel bodyshop for the OOP inspection to find out their prices and got quoted for 300 CAD. Comparing to Straw Hill Auto, it is twice as much... Why would the price vary this much, since these two shops would do exactly the same job.
Btw, Nickel bodyshop says that I can bring the car over right after I pick it up from the port, they will inspect it and write down a list of what I need, and when next time I bring the car to pass the inspection, I won`t be charged.
Does Strawberry Hill Auto does the same thing ? Or they will charge as many time as I bring the car over?

Thanks,

Nik

[CameronR]

Nickel is charging you more. Plain and simple. The way OOP works is if you fail, you or the shop corrects the deficiencies, the shop checks to see that stated deficiencies are corrected and they issue a passed or amended OOP report. The shop is not to charge you a second fee for inspection! You will pay for any mechanical work however.