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    Monday, December 12, 2011

    Kmart Tyre & Auto Service : Review & Giveaway

    I don't want to sound all dramatic or anything, but I crossed the threshold into Manland and returned to tell the tale.

    Such was my perception of that manly terrain that is an Auto Repairer / Vehicle Mechanic / grease encrusted day spa for cars.

    Not Manland hell as I'd expected

    Turns out, Kmart Tyre & Auto Service outlets are cleaner than as clean and grease-free as my house.  In fact, they even had a sofa sans suspicious toddler stains, and magazines that hadn’t been chewed around the edges and drawn on.  And I'm not talking dodgy old faded Auto Trader magazines circa 2003.

    Magazines? Comfy lounge? Time for a siesta!


    Add a coffee machine, mini bar and a Snuggie and I'll take up residence.

    The best part about KTAS outlets, aside from the catchy acronym?

    They are attached to a Kmart.  Hello shopping!

    Thanks to Edelman and Kmart Tyre & Auto Service, my wheels - AKA Not a Mini Van - and I were given the opportunity to covertly shop while #1Hubby assumed I was stuck in a vehicle service centre waiting room test drive their car servicing.

    What can I tell you?

    Not much.

    For the first time in my life, I uttered a sentence I never ever thought I’d say to a service provider of any sort, much less a vehicle repairer….

    No rush…take your time!

    as I hightailed it next door to the shopping centre (complete with Gospel choir singing Hallelujah in my head as the doors opened).


    I received a phone call within 30 minutes of exiting the building, advising me of their initial inspection and recommendations.

    Then I received another phone call around an hour later, to say the work was almost done.

    Seriously…that's not a typo…just under an hour and a half later, and Not a Mini Van’s brakes were as good as new.

    So it was with some disappointment that I bid adieu to the shopping centre that I hadn’t even made a dent in, and reluctantly dragged myself back next door to KTAS.  There, waiting for me, was Not a Mini Van, all re-braked (yep, I’m going with that terminology), refreshed and revitalised in all the ways you'd expect of the car equivalent of a Day Spa.

    Apprehension set in while I waited for the bill (which normally sees me totalling up exactly how long I'm going to be relegated to cask wine in order to afford it).  But I needed not fear.  While I was settling my oh so reasonable, non-heart-attack-inducing, anti-cask-wine-consumption-relegating invoice, Steve the Store Manager gave me the stats.  Around 50% of his customers are women.  Clearly I'm not the only one to cotton on to the shopping aspect of having your car serviced by KTAS.

    Then Steve impressed me with his powers of deduction, when another lady customer walked in and he knew who she was before she even spoke, and exactly what she wanted.  How cool is that?  He’s a total mind reader! 


    I could bang on and on about the lovely sofa, the shiny tiled floors, the minimalist interior in general – because that is the extent of my experience with KTAS.   It was quick, it was easy.
                                                
    What it wasn’t is stereotypical greasy, loud, dirty, delayed, or reminiscent of a man cave – no Miss December smiling seductively at me from a girly calendar on the wall.

    To be fair, I have run into some horror service centres in the past, so perhaps my expectations as a female walking into an auto repair centre AKA Manland were low.  All I can tell you is that I felt no dread.  It wasn’t difficult.  I didn’t have to suffer through crap jokes, technical car words that made my head hurty, or put on an Oscar worthy performance of nodding at the right time, and inserting correctly placed hmm…ahuh, yes, of course responses, in an attempt to make it sound like I had even the slightest clue what they were talking about.

    They were friendly, they were welcoming.  They had magazines I wouldn’t mind reading, if it wasn’t for the shopping centre next door calling my name.

    My only criticism?  Next time could you please take a bit longer, so I can make it around the shopping centre once, and fit in a flat white?

    They even gave Not A Mini Van something to aspire to...because I totally see myself as more of a cool SUV type than an ageing Station wagon type

    Now to the best part of all….

    Thanks to Kmart Tyre & Auto Service centres, I have vouchers so you too have a legitimate excuse to go shopping for you to test drive their vehicle servicing too!

    2 x $100 gift vouchers
    4 x $50 gift vouchers

    Valid for vehicle servicing at any Kmart Tyre & Auto Service store in Australia.

    For your chance to win, behold, the great and powerful Rafflecopter :
    a Rafflecopter giveaway



    Those of you not familiar with Rafflecopter, you sign in (with your email address or Facebook) and then the entry options come up.  The great and powerful Rafflecopter peeps chose today to change their formatting, so you won't see the entry options or be able to check them off until you've signed in.


    46 comments:

    1. NatDecember 12, 2011 at 6:54 AM

      I have no nickname for my car i need too find a good

      ReplyDelete
    2. MichaelDecember 12, 2011 at 7:44 AM

      My car is simply Old Reliable. It gets me from A to B and that's all I need.

      My pet hate is extra work that gets done but isn't run past me, so when I go to pay for what I thought was a routine service, its a lot more pricey than I was expecting.

      Killer Tunes Are Sick - it's not a Kmart thing, but it's a car thing in my car

      ReplyDelete
    3. MelBDecember 12, 2011 at 8:14 AM

      My poor car just gets called boring old car (well its not actually that old), but I'm still holding against it the fact that it replaced my much more fun car to drive. I now have sensible family sedan with a BIG BOOT - lots of room to fit Kmart goodies in after a car service - that's a plus huh??

      ReplyDelete
    4. suzieblondeDecember 12, 2011 at 8:32 AM

      Its nicknamed FANG, because its fast lol:)

      ReplyDelete
    5. suzieblondeDecember 12, 2011 at 8:36 AM

      I hate how when my car is serviced, because I am a woman the price seems get dearer!!!

      ReplyDelete
    6. suzieblondeDecember 12, 2011 at 8:39 AM

      KTAS
      KICK ASS TYRES AND SMILING!

      ReplyDelete
    7. maggieRspapaDecember 12, 2011 at 8:49 AM

      I don't need to name my car because I ride a Harley...

      KTAS... Easy for an ex military hanger on knots true air speed but if you want a fun one then Kwinana Tarts Are Slappers

      ReplyDelete
    8. Rachel CallusDecember 12, 2011 at 9:12 AM

      Blue Belle (Awesome blue i30)

      ReplyDelete
    9. Rachel CallusDecember 12, 2011 at 9:14 AM

      I hate standing in Manland shops and not being served or acknowledged.

      ReplyDelete
    10. Karen rambling mumDecember 12, 2011 at 9:44 AM

      My current car doesn't have a name but my first one was called Olive because she was olive green in colour & was about the size of an olive! My current car is about 20,000kn overdue a service, so to win this prize would be fabulous!

      ReplyDelete
    11. Mrs Moose GooseDecember 12, 2011 at 1:20 PM

      I call our car Saffy but my husband calls her Suzi.  It's a Suzuki Swift, hence Suzi.

      ReplyDelete
    12. Mrs Moose GooseDecember 12, 2011 at 1:22 PM

      Pet hate is when the service manager talks to me as if I don't have a clue.  One tried telling me the car needed new plugs and points....until I told him that because my car had electronic ignition it didn't have points.  Put him back in his place.

      ReplyDelete
    13. Donna BattamsDecember 12, 2011 at 3:58 PM

      My cars pet name is Mafia Maria - don't mess with her! LOL

      ReplyDelete
    14. wendyhattonDecember 12, 2011 at 5:51 PM

      'The Taxi' because that seems to be it's lot in life.

      ReplyDelete
    15. Sarah BDecember 12, 2011 at 7:04 PM

      Mine is called Casper as its anything but a small white car - its a big black one. I jokingly nicknamed it Casper the Captiva and its stuck

      ReplyDelete
    16. Sarah BDecember 12, 2011 at 7:05 PM

      Bahahahahaha!

      ReplyDelete
    17. Kellie - Good Bad UnnecessaryDecember 12, 2011 at 7:08 PM

      Ours has sort of been nicknamed Not Again. She hasn't been kind to us lately!

      ReplyDelete
    18. TessDecember 12, 2011 at 7:14 PM

      Barry - he's a Barina...........not exceptionally original but it just kinda happened and then stuck

      ReplyDelete
    19. AlyceDecember 13, 2011 at 8:38 AM

      "Mummy Daddy Dar"... or so my son calls it.

      ReplyDelete
    20. AlyceDecember 13, 2011 at 8:39 AM

      Pooey nappies. Need I say more?

      ReplyDelete
    21. AlyceDecember 13, 2011 at 8:39 AM

      STAK??

      ReplyDelete
    22. AlyceDecember 13, 2011 at 8:40 AM

      BAHAHA! Multitask fail. Ironically it works great for your Pet Hate comment, although not related to cars.

      ReplyDelete
    23. AlyceDecember 13, 2011 at 8:41 AM

      Ooops, should read criteria properly... Kiss The Auto Spunks.

      ReplyDelete
    24. aletch01December 14, 2011 at 7:53 AM

      Our kids have names the cars, mine is Princess and Dad's is the King car - did I get ripped off?

      ReplyDelete
    25. Leimay CherryDecember 14, 2011 at 9:02 AM

      We have 2 cars.... The Beast/Rig/Truck is the family 4wd which fits all 6 of us in it and then we have the frog (a little green Hyundai) 

      ReplyDelete
    26. Leimay CherryDecember 14, 2011 at 9:08 AM

      I hate having to wait for the car to be finished, my current mechanic has his vehicles dropped off in the morning and works through the list, very rare to get a set time for pick up, although he always makes sure i have drop off around school start and pick up by school finish.

      ReplyDelete
    27. Leimay CherryDecember 14, 2011 at 9:09 AM

      Kickass Tyres And Servicing KTAS

      ReplyDelete
    28. SarahDecember 14, 2011 at 11:40 AM

      Keep The (fucking) Automibile Serviced. HB says this ALL the time. Great giveaway PP!

      ReplyDelete
    29. SarahDecember 14, 2011 at 11:42 AM

      Pet name is 'Edward' because it's a Volvo and I like to pretend Edward from Twilight is driving me places. Pet hate is that Edward doesn't exist.

      ReplyDelete
    30. Emily K KellerDecember 17, 2011 at 6:11 PM

      My cars pet name is Bluebell

      ReplyDelete
    31. Emily K KellerDecember 17, 2011 at 6:15 PM

      KTAS - Kind to all shielas!

      ReplyDelete
    32. Emily K KellerDecember 17, 2011 at 6:16 PM

      Pet hate is me asking my brother something about my car and have him laugh hysterically at me (ok.....so I grew up in a house with a dad mechanic.....I never paid attention!! hehe)

      ReplyDelete
    33. KobemenobeDecember 17, 2011 at 10:35 PM

      KTAS = Keeping Tyres Auto Safe

      ReplyDelete
    34. KobemenobeDecember 17, 2011 at 10:36 PM

      My cars pet name is Black Betty because she's black and cars have to be girls because girls have more drive than guys.

      ReplyDelete
    35. KristinaDecember 18, 2011 at 11:22 AM

      Cars pet name Ladybug

      ReplyDelete
    36. KristinaDecember 18, 2011 at 11:32 AM

      KTAS -  Keep True Australia Strong

      ReplyDelete
    37. Amanda ElizabethDecember 18, 2011 at 2:29 PM

      Harrison my Ford, we have also had Willam the Holden, Lola the Corolla and Cockney Accent (the Hyundai Accent!) Much love for an awesome prize- Amanda (Gorham) from Amanda's Mummy Jeans following you xoxoxo

      ReplyDelete
    38. Gem AlexandraDecember 18, 2011 at 4:45 PM

      Queen Latifah!

      ReplyDelete
    39. Proper_jobDecember 19, 2011 at 5:04 PM

      Car name - Veronica
      Pet hate - people using mobile phones while driving (especially with a "Baby on Board" sign)
      KTAS - Kinky Tyres Are Standard ;)

      ReplyDelete
    40. BoolindaDecember 19, 2011 at 9:42 PM

      My car's Pet Name is Soxy.
      My pet hate is littering.
      KTAS = Karma Turning Automobiles Safely

      ReplyDelete
    41. RaelenegrahamDecember 20, 2011 at 3:21 AM

      I refer to my car as 'come onnn'
      My pet hate is the kids moving my rear view mirror
      K- Kmart T- tune ups A-always S-superb

      ReplyDelete
    42. Emma PuszkarDecember 20, 2011 at 8:50 AM

      'The Rocket Car' it's got more power than i am used to, and I keep getting speeding fines! (3kms over limit ans 4kms over limit! It's not my fault it picks up speed downhill!) :)

      Pet hate, people who expect service station attendants to do everything for them, come on, it's not that difficult to refill your own car.

      KTAS - Kwick, truthful, assured, service!

      ReplyDelete
    43. Service My CarFebruary 8, 2012 at 6:01 PM

      I really agree with your blog.I hate how when my car is serviced, because I am a woman the price seems get dearer.Great services..Thanks!
      Service My Car

      ReplyDelete
    44. Alden jonesFebruary 21, 2012 at 6:31 PM

      Hi there, i want to hire personal auto mechanic but i am here looking for auto repair reviews about mechanics. Please update me.

      auto repair reviews 

      ReplyDelete
    45. AloshanDecember 22, 2012 at 10:27 PM

      id rather kill myself then take this to these monkeys. its a wonder you havnt died yet from them working on you're car...or have you?

      also , the above comments and the whole story itself was quite sickening.

      anyone that knows anything about cars knows to stay far far away from KTAS

      ReplyDelete
    46. maxtun johnSeptember 17, 2013 at 4:01 PM

      I am very happy to read out your blog information. This is very interesting blog for tour and travel.Quick book on online: All Points Airport Serviceand get large discount.
      thank you so much

      ReplyDelete