Harry's Automotive Located At Adelaide & Huron (1103 Adelaide St. N.)
Closed its Doors This Week after Decades of Excellent
Automotive Service to North Londoners.
After decades of providing excellent automotive repair and oil change service to North London, Harry's Automotive Centre abruptly closed its doors this week. A sign went up last week announcing the property is up for lease. The future of the automotive garage and the property is up in the air.
We became instant and loyal customers of Harry's Automotive when we moved to Kipps Lane in 1999. We used the oil change centre and relied on excellent technicians who took care of many small problems with our cars. We will miss the staff of Harry's. They were great.
It's becoming very difficult for independent garages to survive as cars become more computerized and electronic.
Investments in new, expensive. computerized equipment makes competition with dealership service shops difficult. We will miss the personal touch that the staff at Harry's gave us. They were always willing to answer questions and give advice.
Harry's Automotive Centre was a part of our North London Community. It will be missed. It should be noted that Harry's Automotive Centre took in many apprentices and budding mechanics during its decades in business.
I discussed this one day with a retired auto teacher who had sent young mechanics to Harry's to begin their apprenticeships and learn if this was the career for them. There are likely dozens if not many more mechanics who got their start at Harry's.
I met many motorists at the Tim Hortons across from Harry's who were waiting for their cars to be repaired at Harry's. Many broke down nearby.
It is unclear whether another garage will open up in the existing space or the building will be demolished for future development. The site sits at the northwest corner of Adelaide and Huron. Any development would require significant clean-up of the site since oil and other chemicals were used in the automotive garage and oil change centre. Time will tell.
