A mechanic story

Our van broke. More accurately, while taking our daughter to college, our van, loaded with her stuff, began overheating 90 minutes into the two hour drive. After stops for cooling, much fretting, some praying, and smoke coming out of the tailpipe, we got to the college, got her stuff unloaded, and parked it.

After catching a ride home with some friends, I sent an email to a friend who lives in the college town.

"Do you know of a mechanic like Jim's?"

Jim's Auto Care is a place that we both know. It's a place we both trust. It serves as a standard of comparison for family-owned, local, reliable auto repair. And David was able to tell me about a place that was just like Jim's.

The van is gone. Somehow, we weren't interested in putting a new engine in a 1997 van with 184,000 miles and a lot of rust. But Gary and Sheila gave us great service, even helping us sell the van for parts.

I have a feeling that there are a lot of places like Jim's in the word-of-mouth chain. Are you one?

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