About On The Run Auto Care
On The Run Auto Care is an independent repair shop on Blackwell Street in east end Ottawa. We service all makes and models, domestic and import, using OEM or OEM equivalent parts. Nothing gets touched on your car until you have seen the estimate and said yes.
Why this shop exists
Most people come to us because a dealership quoted them something they did not understand, or because a previous shop did work they never agreed to. The fix for both of those is the same. Explain the actual fault in plain language, show the price before the wrench moves, and let the customer decide.
We are an independent shop, which means we are not selling you a manufacturer service package. We look at what your car actually needs right now, tell you what can wait, and tell you what cannot.
The people who work on your car
Every vehicle here is handled by a licensed technician. We work on domestic and import vehicles, older mechanical systems and newer computer controlled ones, using Snap-on, Mac and OTC scan tools.
The owner
The technicians
What happens when you bring a car in
You arrive, we take down what you are noticing in your own words, and we ask how you use the car. That last part matters more than people expect. A noise that only happens at highway speed points somewhere different than a noise that only happens in a parking lot.
From there:
- We road test the car when the complaint is something you can hear or feel while driving
- We put it on the hoist and inspect the system the symptom points at
- We connect a scan tool when the fault is electrical or when a warning light is on, and read the actual stored codes instead of guessing
- We write up what we found, what it will take to fix, and what it will cost
- We call you before we do anything beyond the diagnosis
If we find something unrelated to why you came in, we tell you about it and we tell you honestly whether it needs doing now or whether it can wait until your next visit.
How estimates and approval work
You get the estimate before the repair starts, not after. It covers the parts, the labour, and what the work involves.
If we open something up and find the job is bigger than what we quoted, we stop and call you. You approve the revised number or you tell us to put it back together. We do not carry on and hand you a larger invoice at the counter.
If the diagnosis turns up several things at once, we sort them for you into what affects safety, what affects reliability, and what is cosmetic or can be scheduled later. You choose what gets done on this visit.
What we will not do
We will not do work you have not approved. If your authorisation covers a brake job, that is what you are paying for, and anything else waits for a phone call.
We will not sell you a service because the interval sticker says so. If your fluid is clean and your pads have life left, we will tell you that and you can keep driving.
We will not describe a repair in language you cannot follow. If we cannot explain why a part needs replacing in a way that makes sense to you, we have not done our job.
We will not put a cheap part on a critical system to make a quote look better. We use OEM or OEM equivalent parts, and if you want a different option we will discuss it openly rather than quietly substituting one.
Where to find us
We are at 2535 Blackwell Street, Suite 12, Ottawa, ON K1B 4E4, in the Sheffield Glen industrial area off Innes Road. That puts us close to Gloucester, Blackburn Hamlet, Orleans and the 417. We are open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 6:00pm, and closed Saturday and Sunday.
Call (613) 321-7342, book online at fluxfront.ca/book/on-the-run-auto-care, or read more about how we work and what we service.
Book it, or just call and ask
If you are not sure which service you need, describe what the car is doing and we will tell you what it needs looking at.