Yeah, the days of the shadetree mechanic are numbered, my dad always had his friend work on the stuff he couldn't do, I used him for a little while and stopped .. it was never pleasent talking to somebody who was drunk at 3pm and working on your car.

There market 10 years ago used to be quite different, I attribute it to Western Auto locally. A place that did most routine work for a fairly reasonable price. The tech'* usually moved on something better paying after a couple of years, but for basic swap work like alternators, water pumps, brakes and shocks and the like it was a good deal.

When they went to a parts only model there wasn't anything at the lower end like that .. the mom and pop shops were struggling or gone because their gas brand forced them to become a convienence store. Now there are a few more service stations around, but my luck has always been mixed . the one I found that was reasonable and did good work retired.

Sometimes it'* hard to get rid of a car even when you want to .. That 84 chevy celebrity for example .. (goes into story mode).

When I got rid of it, it needed an engine rebuild, transmission TLC (replacement really) power steering problems, no AC and leaking radiator + 198,000 miles .. all in all a heap.

Anyway, none of the local yards wanted it (well, give me $20 .. I wasn't that desperate) .. So I took it to several of the dealers on the strip, asking if they could wholesale it and take a % (we didn't get into how much) .. no bites (I don't blame them). Anyway, a guy overheard me talking to the manager and confronted me in the parking lot. He offered me $100 for the car. We drove back to my house, signed the title on the hood and than he was gone.

The weird part was that apparently he owned one of those "buy here, pay here" places in the rougher parts of town (you know, selling junk cars at grossly inflated prices and charging excessive interest on those prices to those who can least afford to go this route).

He apparently turned around and sold it right away to someone who went out and committed a felony. I got a notice a few weeks later (before the title transferred) that the car had been impounded and that if I was out of jail I could pick it up from the impound lot after paying storage and towing fees ..

I ran the VIN years ago and it had a salvage only title ..

anyway .. hell of a way to get rid of a car

.... Right?? That'* Insanity. Could do it in my sleep..

....and that was 2005.

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