About Tinline Automotive
A small shop, on purpose.
Mark could have hired two more techs by now. He hasn't, because the thing people drive out here for is knowing exactly who worked on their vehicle and being able to ask that person a question.
The shop is two bays and a tire rack on Railway Avenue in McLean, half an hour east of Regina on the No. 1. It's open Monday to Friday and Saturday mornings, and there is a key drop by the office door for early drop-offs.
Meet the owner
Mark Tinline, Red Seal journeyman
Mark grew up on a grain farm north of Qu'Appelle fixing whatever broke, apprenticed at a Regina dealership in 2000 and wrote his Red Seal in 2004. Nine years of dealership work taught him two things: how to diagnose properly, and how much customers hate being sold work they didn't need.
In 2009 he bought the old welding shop on Railway Avenue, put in two lifts and opened Tinline Automotive. He still does every diagnosis and every repair himself. His wife Carla keeps the books and the coffee going on Saturdays.
Outside the shop he coaches minor hockey in Balgonie and keeps a 1986 Chevy square-body running because he says it's cheaper than therapy.
Who you'll meet
The whole team.
-
Mark Tinline
Owner, Red Seal Automotive Service Technician
Journeyman since 2004, shop owner since 2009. Does every diagnosis and every repair himself.
Why people drive out
What you can count on.
-
You talk to the mechanic
There is no service desk. The person who answers the phone, looks at your vehicle and calls you with the quote is the same person who fixes it.
-
A quote before we wrench
Diagnose first, explain it in plain language, then a written price. Nothing gets replaced because it “might as well” be done.
-
Parts chosen for prairie driving
Gravel, salt and minus forty are hard on vehicles. We pick parts that hold up to it and tell you when the cheap option is fine.
-
12 month / 20,000 km warranty
Parts and labour on every repair we do, and if a check-engine light we fixed comes back, the re-check is on us.