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| - An honest mechanic? Pshh! Right. As real as Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the moon landing. [Just kidding; we all know Santa is real.] However, I found one! Yes, the holy grail of all of modern man's greatest desires: a genuinely honest mechanic.
Here's the scoop. My brakes start to get a tiny bit squeaky, so like most of us, I put off doing anything about it for a few more weeks. Finally, I hear one squeak too many. Time to suck it up and shell out some of my hard-earned dough to whatever shister with a wrench I should haplessly fall victim to. However, my sis recommends this Meineke place down the street; she swears by it even. "Okay," I say, "I'll give it a shot."
So, the mechanic (I wish I remembered his name--but I think it was one syllable, like Bob or Mike or Jack or Bud) puts my car up on the lifts, comes back a few minutes later and says, "You don't need new brake pads. You've got at least 40% life left in them--probably 50%. The squeaks are probably just brake dust. Save yourself the $100 and wait to replace them." Excuse me!? Did that guy wearing the coveralls just offer a way for me to save money? I was so taken aback that I was speechless for a minute while my brain wrapped itself around this brand new reality.
Well, long story short, they topped off my brake fluid and sent me on my way for the grand total of $0. Yes, you read that correctly. Zero. Dollars. When's the last time that happened to you? You know as well as I do that any of these other brake repair places (read: scam artists) peppered around the Valley would have not only charged you for replacing the pads, but also would have told you that your rotors are shot too. So, I'm not going to tell you to go this place. If after reading my story, you're not already driving over to this Meineke, well then you deserve whatever happens to you at any other mechanic.
Bottom line: their integrity earned my business. I'm a loyal customer now...and I haven't even been charged for anything yet.
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