VW duo receives high tech honours
By Mo Cranker on April 20, 2018.
Volkswagen technician Stephen Cadwallader works on a car Thursday afternoon at Southland VW. He was recently welcomed into the Master Guild of technicians, something only 100 or so technicians in Canada can say. His coworker, Chris Stremel, was named a master technician.--NEWS PHOTO MO CRANKERmcranker@medicinehatnews.com @MHNmocranker A pair of local Volkswagen technicians received some high honours recently, with Chris Stremel becoming a master technician and Stephen Cadwallader welcomed into the master guild. There are only a handful of Volkswagen master technicians in Canada, and achieving master status is considered an elite category of technicians — but you wouldn’t know it by talking to the men. “It’s something that we just do,” said Cadwallader. “It’s obviously important for us to know our stuff, but it comes down to what the dealership wants. “If our dealership wants us to get certified in something, they send us out to B.C to take a course or two. Each course is usually a couple days.” Cadwallader has been with VW for more than 25 years, while Stremel has spent 10 years with the company. Both say the courses can be tough. “They’ll put you in different situations,” said Cadwallader. “They’ll have cars there and you need to tell them what’s wrong under the hood.” “They also have electrical work you need to work on and tell them what’s wrong with it,” said Stremel. “There’s also a 100-question test you need to get a certain grade on. It’s actually pretty tough, but it does keep you sharp and it makes sure you know your stuff.” Both men say they are happy to have achieved their status, but know it doesn’t change the fact that they need to do a good job every day at their dealership. 10
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