My car broke down earlier this week. My roommate and I tried to jumpstart it. That didn’t work. My friend took me to an auto parts store to buy a new battery. We took it back, installed it, and my car still wouldn’t start. I accepted the inevitable and made an appointment with a nearby mechanic. I don’t know a lot about cars, but I knew that it was going to cost me a lot of money. I would have to pay to get it towed to the mechanic, I would have to pay for a stupid part, and I would have to pay a bullshit amount for the labor. Needless to say, I was stressing out.
The next day was street cleaning and my car was parked directly in the line of fire. My roommate helped me push my car across the street to avoid getting a ticket, and we spent the next hour and a half hunkered down in my car waiting for the street sweeper and the meter maids to go by so I could reclaim my parking spot. While we were waiting we noticed one of our neighbors working on a car and my roommate commented that he always sees that guy working on different cars all day long. My roommate went over to the guy and struck up a conversation. Before I knew it they were walking towards me and the guy told me to spark the ignition. I did and he instantly said that I have a faulty distributor. He told me to pop the hood and he took a look. He pointed out the problem, told me how much the part would be, and offered to order it off eBay and install it for me.
He gave me his number, I gave him a spare key, and he told me he would let me know when my car was fixed. He kept me updated all throughout the week. He told me when he ordered the part. He told me when it arrived. He told me when he was starting to work on it. And he told me when he was done. He even saved a parking spot for me to move back into. All told, I spent about $220 for parts and he charged me $70 for labor. I gave him a tip on top of it because how could I not?
It sucks that my car broke down, but it broke down in the best possible place at the best possible time because I got to meet the neighborhood mechanic. He saved me at least five hundred bucks. He’s now my official mechanic. It’s hard to find someone that you can trust and rely on, but good mechanics are out there. You just have to hope your car breaks down in front of them.
Critically Rated at 16/17
Written, Rated, and Reviewed by Brendan H. Young
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