A random mechanic tale...
 

A few days ago, my Blazer (yes, full- sized!) started having some problems... I could not shift it in/ out of park/ drive smoothly (I had to sort of slam it/ muscle it, which I did not enjoy, but it had to be done). Then the key would not turn off... the key and cylinder tabs would NOT turn to the "off" position. I spent five minutes monkeying with it, before finally succeeding.

But, over the next couple of days, it got worse. At one point, I spent an hour trying everything imaginable to turn the key off... no luck. I finally had to admit defeat, and power it off with my kill switch and a disconnected battery (with the ignition in the "on" position, I did not want to drain the battery).

Restarting wasn't a problem... reconnect the battery, fire it up, put it into gear (well, slam it into gear!)... but the key wasn't going to turn the vehicle off, fo' shizzle.

It was 4PM on a Friday afternoon, and I knew that this needed to be fixed by somebody other than me. I decided to see if my regular mechanic had a few minutes to look at it, give me an estimate, and maybe set up an appointment for a time when I could drop the car off for repairs, hopefully within the next week or two.

I asked Nate (the mechanic) if he could look at it. He stopped the job he was on, and came to look at my car. He worked the key for a while, then started pulling and removing parts, trying to determine the problem. Then he grabbed some tools, and pulled more parts off. Soon the steering wheel was off, then he was surgically removing clips and fasteners and doodads and whirligigs from deep within the steering column. What he did in ten minutes would have taken me four hours, and would have involved a LOT of cursing and OTHER broken parts. But, he's a mechanical genius... really.

Finally he got to the ignition module (that was the offending part). He called the local parts store, and a courier brought it to the shop less than five minutes later. And, ten minutes after that, Nate had the whole thing put back together.

Hot smokin' damn! I was HOPING to get an estimate... instead, late on a Friday afternoon, I got the entire repair completed in under an hour.

Total cost was $120 (plus my tip... I do always tip nicely). I never signed any work order authorization, or got a written estimate, or anything. Nate never even asked if I had money (Betcha fifty bucks that if I'd told him that I had no money, he would have just told me pay him sometime, when I get around to it...).

This dude--- and his whole shop--- are great. They are honest, decent, and are totally willing to help out. They've done small jobs for free, and they have no problem giving me advice regarding repairs I want to do myself. I feel lucky enough to just have an honest mechanic... I feel VERY fortunate to have one who goes above and beyond!

(All hail Nate, Bobby, and Teddy at Jim's Automotive, in Crestline, CA!)

that is impressive...

Not many out there these day like that. You're blessed to live near that shop.

Cool story!

Take care of an honest man. Hard to find in this business! Great story.