Troutmaster

Zoom Zoom Clunk

Late last week Timber was seeing some problems with her Mazda Tribute. The overdrive light would flash on and off and the check engine light went on. In addition to these anomolies she noticed that the engine sounded different. Shortly after noticing these things she made an appointment at the dealership to get it checked out. On the day of her appointment she and I left the house at the same time. By the time I got to work there was a message for me and while I was checking the message (from her), I got a phone call on my office phone. It was her and her car was having problems. The problem was that the transmission wouldn't shift out of first gear. So she had to get off the highway and park it somewhere. I got some information from her and then coordinated a tow truck to go pick up her Tribby and take it to the dealer. Then I left work to go pick her up. Once the tow truck (big flat bed) got there, the driver picked up her Tribby and we led him to the dealership. We went inside, told them what was wrong and then went on our way while they checked it out. She got a phone call from them later telling her that she needed a refurbished transmission and it was going to cost A LOT. Being a Ford owner, I know a little bit about transmission repairs and the fact that they can be expensive. And you have to assume that the dealership is going to charge you an arm and a leg for the work. So we decided to call around, 17 places to be exact, to find out what other shops charged for the same sort of work. We basically had two options, either have them rebuild the transmission themselves or get a factory refurbished transmission and have them put it in. And that's where we are now. The decision is ultimately up to Timber, and we have whittled it down to three places, and while it won't cost as much as the dealership it will still cost a lot. And you also have to factor in the guarantee on their work and whether or not they sound like a bunch of clowns when you talk to them about the car problems. But it got me wondering how difficult it is to be a mechanic or run a mechanic shop in the Bay Area. Obviously there is a lot of competition. At any rate we will see how things work out.