Who Do You Trust?

Due to the nature of my livelihood, the vehicle I drive is a gas guzzling Ford Explorer. I have been through two Toyotas and a Hyundai in the thirty years I've been driving; the explorer is only my fourth vehicle. You might say I drove the other cars to death, literally.... or it might be that I finally needed transportation that had air conditioning. I held off as long as I could, but the summers here are too hot, and when you are transporting food, they get hotter on the inside. So after years of trying to stuff chafing pans, dishes and all the ecrudiments to set up a proper catering, I decided that I needed a vehicle that was worthy of my business, so as to at least look more professional and believable to my clients.... never mind having the room to drive without equipment bopping me in the head on every corner I take.

Well in the last four years of owning said vehicle, I find that it's not only the gas that's expensive, it's all the repairs that get costly as well. New tires (and I need them often), brakes (ditto), and oil changes (ditto again), can really add up. Yeah, I could change my own oil (and I really could), but who needs the greasy hands and trouble? Remember, I need to look professional, and not like a car mechanic.

So... who do I trust to do all that work without being taken for every dime I have? Well today, I found a wonderful mechanic... actually two. For the past few weeks my poor guzzler has been making a pinging noise mixed intermittently with audible screeches coming from the engine. Well, the "check engine" light never came on, so although I was a little concerned, I wasn't worried. After all, isn't that what the engine light was for?

I took it to the closest Jiffy Lube for an oil change... thinking that at least I won't pop a rod in the engine, but the noise persisted. I had them check the noise, but they were as perplexed as I. Perhaps it was the water pump.... and oh yeah, they only run $400.00. Maybe the distributor? Well they started with the idler pully and replaced it. Still there was the noise.... maybe I needed a second opinion. While driving to the second opinion, the engine light came on. Now I am in the first stage of fright... what if I over heat the engine? No problem.... I know to turn the heat all the way up, roll down the windows and let the car take the heat, not the engine. But will I make it to my destination? Armed with many silent prayers and a keen eye on the engine cold/ heat gauge, I arrive safely. But by this time, the noises have stopped and the mechanic has a hard time believing anything I'm telling him. He didn't hear any noises. Well of course not, I explain, the last place I had brought it to had WD 40'd the complete engine... enough to cause a minor EPA alert. So... he let it run for 15 minutes, still no noises, but he did hook it up to their latest diagnostic machine that should pinpoint the cause of the distress.

I receive a call this afternoon; they will find the cause, although they want to do more tests. Yeah, it could be the water pump, but nothing is leaking, and no it's not the distributor as explorers do not have the traditional distributors. It's called something else, but with all the car talk today, I have a hard time recalling what it is.... after all, I'm a caterer, not a mechanic.
I know food, and very little about cars.... except when I hear a pinging/ screeching noises.
Then I know that something is wrong.

Total cost so far? $60.00 for the oil change, idler pully replacement, 2 sets of opinions, diagnostic testing and good conversation for the wait. All in all, not too bad. Besides, the mechanic is a customer of ours, so he will give our company a nice break.