Finding someone you can trust.....

On top of everything else...I got the paperwork to renew the tags on my car this month....

Over the past few weeks, I had noticed the check-engine light had been coming on intermittently so I decided to get a mechanic look at it. Based on the experience with my truck (chronicalled here about a year ago) I knew that the emissions testing people don't mess around when it comes to the check-engine light.

I took the car to Superior Auto Repair in Lebanon. They have done a good job for me in the past, so I took it back. After a diagnostic test, they told me that it was the catalytic converter (ouch!) and when you replace it, you have to replace an AFR sensor at the same time (I don't know what an AFR sensor does, but it sounds expensive and it is) The total estimate was $873.

I told them that I really couldn't afford to spend that much right now and that I needed to do the minimum to pass the emissions test, they said the AFR sensor could wait for a little while, so it knocked the total down to a more manageable number.

They ordered the part and I took it back to have the repair done this morning. They worked on it longer than I had anticipated (which is always a bad sign) and came in to tell me that the check-engine light was still coming on and that I may need to replace that AFR sensor after all.

I was emotionally preparing myself to pay the additional $300 plus dollars when the mechanic came in and said "Nope, your good!" I was relieved. I'll need to get it replaced anyway, but now is not the time.

My point is this, I hear ladies talk all the time about being at the mercy of auto repairmen and feel like they are just opening up their wallets when they go inside. To be quite honest, on any car newer than around 1976 or so, I'm about as clueless as they come. I don't know an AFR sensor from anything. If they told me I needed to replace it, I would replace it, no questions asked.

At some point, there has to be a level of trust between you and anyone you deal with. I found these guys to be honest and friendly and straightforward in their business dealings. That's worth a lot in my book....