So, after coming to the shocking realization that my car was too old to be taken to a dealership, I went looking for a mechanic. This process is painstaking and living downtown doesn't help. It seems everyone who "knows a guy" has their guy about an hour and a half out of town. Which is great unless you have to tow it there. Bah.
I had just received what I believed to be an outrageous quote for work from a dealership and figured I had to be able to do better. The sad part was that my car was already at the dealership. A quick call to my buddy and he suggested going to a Midas Muffler place, so a quick Google found the one closest to me. One phone call later and I was talking to Ilan the manager. When I told him what was quoted at the dealership, he let me know that if he was going to charge that much, there'd be way more work he'd be able to do. So, I called the dealership, stopped work on the car, and yanked it out of there to take it to Midas.
The work was done the next day (as promised) and true to his word, the work was not only cheaper than the dealership, but he replaced a cracked belt and burnt out headlight as well. A perfect introduction to a great member of the Midas franchise. I believe I've found my mechanic now.