🚀 go-pugleaf

Hi,

I'm totally exhasperated with the auto shops I've taken my car to
in the Greenbelt area.

First, I tried the place closest to my house, Greenbelt Auto Truck 
Repair. They quoted me $700 for a valve job on my car (cleaning up
the cylinder head) which shouldn't cost more than $400 in anycase.
It turned out I really needed a REBUILD head, and had it done at a
machine shop and put it on myself for about $170, but I had to glean
the need for a rebuild MYSELF, they didn't even know that themselves.
They left the window open on my car and it rained inside. I took my
car back from them without having any work done. My housemate also had
bad experiences with them.

Second, I went to the Co-Op service station on Southway, and being a
member of the co-op, thought they might give me good work. They did
small work for me in the past and I thought they were fairly decent,
until two things happened. First, I asked them to adjust my brakes,
which they did, but they also failed to notice the brakes were on
BACKWARDS in the back (that is, the shoes were not 'small in front,
big towards rear'). Next, I asked them for a tune up, and they took NINE
days with the car (fortunately, I ride my bike to work, and don't
absolutely NEED my car at all times), and did NOTHING to it. NINE
days for a tune-up? I specifically called them and asked if they
were busy and they said it was FINE to bring the car in, then every
time i called to ask if it was ready, they whined that they were 
busy and having trouble getting to it. After 7 days I said, 'look, if
you guys are busy, let me just take the car elsewhere, 7 days is too
long for me'. They replied, 'oh, sorry, we'll get to it today', then
kept the car two MORE days and did nothing. 

So, I moved it to the Citgo near Beltway Plaza, after tuning it myself
and fixing the brakes. All I wanted then was an inspection. They took
five days to inspect the car. I had 4 simple things wrong with the car,
one I had them fix, and 3 I fixed myself within 2 days and brought back.
It took them six MORE days to do a 20 minute re-inspect.

Basically, I'm getting sick of this. My car has been in garages for
21 days in the last two months waiting for jobs that should take about
an hour or two. I understand these places are busy, but they should
maybe not take on so much business if they can't get to cars within
a reasonable amount of time. Nine days for an inspection is ridiculous,
and it's a good thing I can do without a car.

What I really need is an honest, good mechanic in the Greenbelt area
that can deal with a simple, old (mid '60's) car. Any suggestions? I
restored this car myself, so I know that it's not in the shop for long
periods because there is something catastrophically wrong with it, it's
just slow, shoddy service at three places in a row.

thanks,

Brendan