About the shop
A three bay garage on Marchand Street, run by Salim, where the car gets diagnosed before anything is sold and you see what came off it.
The short version
2 and 1/2 Mechanics is an independent garage at 1345 Marchand Street in Cyrville, Ottawa, Ontario. It is the white building with three roll up doors and the red and silver sign above them, on a short street east of St. Laurent Boulevard and north of the 417. The owner is Salim. Regulars call him Sal.
The name is the first thing people ask about. The logo on the sign says "2 & half Mechanics" and the website has always been 2hm.ca.
How the work is done
The rules have not changed since the shop’s first website, and they are the reason most people come back.
- The car is diagnosed before anything is quoted. A warning light gets read and then tested. A noise gets found on the lift, not guessed from the counter.
- You get a phone call with what failed, what it costs and what can wait. Prices for the everyday jobs are posted, the rest is quoted once the cause is known.
- No work is done without your approval.
- The old parts are kept for you to see. Worn pads, a split boot, a cracked belt: it is easier to agree to a repair when you have held the part.
Cars of every kind
The shop works on all makes and models. On any given day the lifts might hold a commuter Civic, a family minivan, a work pickup and, now and then, something European with a long parts list. The photos on this site are the shop’s own: a Corvette on a two post lift with the wheel off, a scan tool plugged into a Bentley, a Mercedes S 550 raised for a look underneath.
What matters more than the badge is the approach. Customers have written in about faults other garages missed, like a minivan that suddenly burned twice its usual fuel and went home three hours later with worn injectors found and replaced, and about parts other people spent weeks hunting for that arrived in half an hour.
Who is in the bays
Salim runs the shop and is the person most customers deal with.
Open six days, near the train
The shop keeps Monday to Friday hours of 8am to 5pm and stays open Saturday from 8am to 3pm, which matters if you work weekdays. Cyrville station on the O-Train Line 1 is about 300 metres from the door, so you can drop the car off by 9am and be downtown by train. Booking online works at any hour of the day, and the booking page shows the same prices as this website.
Have a look at the services, read what customers have said, or find directions and hours.
Inside the three bays
The shop's own photos: red lifts, a scan tool in the cabin, and whatever happens to be in that week.
Book it whenever suits you
Pick a time on the booking page, tell us what the car is doing and add a few photos. Bring it to Marchand Street by 9am on the day you chose, and we call you before any work starts.
