Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Mechanics

There were a few quirks with Amy's car when she bought it. Overall, the car was solid and had reasonable mileage at a good price. Mike worked on her car and thought that he had solved the problem. She got stranded at Walmart and had to walk home. Michael worked on her car and thought that the problem was solved. Amy got stranded 30 minutes from the house. Mike worked on the car and thought that the problem was fixed. Amy was stranded 20 miles from home. Amy refused to drive her car until it was completely fixed. I asked Mike to take it to a mechanic to fix the stalling issue.

Mike to the car to a local mechanic (right down the street from our church) and told them what he had done. The mechanic said that Mike had done the right things and offered to give Mike a few more suggestions. Mike told them to find out what was wrong and give an estimate. The mechanic called late the following day. They couldn't get the car to stall! I offered to send Amy down, but Mike went instead. He took the car out and the mechanic followed in their truck. After it stalled, the mechanic said that it was one of two electronic gizmo. He used the correct name, but I've forgotten what they were. Mike was quoted a price of $175 to fix the car. Mike gave them approval.

The following day, I took Amy to the shop to pick up her car. The final bill was $90. The mechanic had changed both electronic gizmos and discovered that one of them didn't need replacing. He put the original back into the car and charged Amy for the one that needed to be replaced.

Obviously, they have our future business. How refreshing to find a mechanic who isn't out to over charge or replace unnecessary parts. The mechanics in this shop look a little scary. Their language is foul. The signage on the building is poorly hand painted. That old expression of not judging a book by its cover is very applicable in this instance! It would have been easy to drop Amy's car off at the local Ford dealership, but we've never had good experiences with dealerships for car repairs. Instead, Mike took a chance and we found honest workman with an entrepreneurial spirit. Amy's car has been running perfectly and she's almost lost her fear of being stranded. I figure another week and she will feel reasonable secure in her cute little Ford.

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