OT: Just a little....Car repair place actually did well for me!!
 

Brought the Honda in for new belts 10 days ago. Got it back today. Finnally!! Turns out the adjustment bolt was cross threaded and broke when they put a wrench on it (showed it to me, not lying). And the alternator bracket was rusted thru and was broken. So.....they ordered me a new bracket from the dealer. They in course ordered it from their service parts wharehouse. They ordered it WITH two airbags. Now, we all know air bags can't be shipped common ground (UPS). They have to go HAZMAT and take forever to get. So, when the part finally arrives at the dealer, it's a tail light assembly!!! Now, my repair shop owner is pissed!!! The dealer next days him the bracket.....for free!!!!! The repair shop give me the same discount!!! Free!! So instead of all this costing me over $270, I got out for $210. All things considered, that's not too bad. I'll make that up in about 6 weeks in gas saved not driving the truck to work every day (56 miles round trip)

Some times people make you realize that not everyone is out to get your last dollar.

Honda?! You drive a honda? Just picking before I go to bed, I'm no better, been driving the pick-up truck waiting for new tires for my porsche. Nothing like a 6 cyl. with no 4wd in the snow, what a truck!!

Hey if you drove a diesel truck like mine you could save a lot of money. 21 mpg with reg. gears 17 with towing gears. And thats city.

glad that worked out for you foul. Good to have the car back on the road I am sure. I just downsized in my number of cars but I upsized in the size of them :D :D

Hey Steve....hate to ask...but do you happen to have a place I could do some wrenching...that's heated??? Just need a place to turn wrenches. No mess (I hope). Top end only. I hope.

Mike, I have a heated garage but it would be a long drive for you....I have to move closer to the west shoreline one of these days....Fred

Waterfoul;
You might want to save some money to pick up Chris's bar bill. I told him not to let you off so easy!! :D :D :D

Every once in a while, you here about a good repair shop with automobiles...

When I first went in the Air Force in 1992, I took my Monte Carlo with me to San Antonio. At 18, and away from home, I had virtually no know how, no money, no tools of my own, and the Auto Hobby Shops on base sucked. I accidentally snapped off one of the valve cover bolts into the block on the Monte Carlo. I looked around for two days to find someone to tap this out for me. As I was looking for this fancy engine shop, I stopped to ask this guy for directions, a HUGE Mexican guy, working in his yard, on about 3 vehicles at the same time. He told me where the engine shop was, but also said that they would probably not do work on my engine while it was in the car. He told me to come back when they confirmed, and he would help me out. Well, I went back to see the big guy, agreed that I would go pick him up at lunch the next day, drive me back to base, and he would drive my car back to his place and work on it. You remember the scene in Ferris Buelers Day Off when the parking attendants took the convertible for the joy ride? Well, that is all I could think of for the rest of the day. All of my friends told me car was coming back with hydraulics, fuzzy dice, and little curtains hanging from the windows. That afternoon after I got off, I got a ride to his place to pick up my car. This guy was the greatest!!! He drilled out the snapped bolt, and inserted a stud, replaced BOTH valve cover gaskets, replace top and bottom carb gaskets, and a few other small things, and he adjusted both of my doors, which were sagging a bit. On top of that, he would only take $40 BUCKS! Can you believe that? Just goes to show that some people are truly golden at heart.

When I moved to DC, I bought a 5.7 Trans Am, and all of the guys in my dorm had muscle cars. We found a shop that was located on a busy road in Alexandria, VA, that would give us a great break on labor, as long as we let them keep our car all day, or for two days. They would park them locked inside overnight, but would leave them out near the street all day to attract more muscle car business.

Brian

[ 01-16-2002: Message edited by: Sydwayz23 ]

Hey Mike. I have found a great shop in Holland. It is Quality Brake. They do all forms of work not just brakes. They call to tell you things are going over and you can walk under the truck to see exactly what is wrong. I would take a car under warrenty to them first to get the true story and maybe even pay them to do it if it was small. Real good mechanics are hard to find and these guys are great. Once they let me help with a repair. Now thats service.

sounds like you are set now! :D Less fuel in truck means more go fast parts for the boat :D :D