anyone know a good mechanic?

Our little Ford Focus has been a pretty good car. It was well cared for in its former life. And it can't help that it's just a two-door. It seems pretty happy to serve, otherwise, as long as you don't want your air too chilled. But who has need for that in the summertime in the D.C. area, anyway? Seriously, if we're not out and about between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., we're okay. And we don't mind sweating a little on the weekends.

But FF seems to have reached that Certain Age where it needs more TLC than I'd care to give it, strictly financially speaking. Last winter, it really, really wanted to be kept inside overnight. Good thing we acquired a garage in January, though we didn't manage to carve even a Ford Focus-sized space out of our stored flotsam until, oh, late February.

It just had its 90,000 mile checkup, people. Shouldn't it be good to go for awhile?

Yesterday, while driving to work, the guts (and the remaining wisps of coolish air) just kind of ... died. We managed to work the gutless car into our parking garage, and coaxed it down Hwy. 66 to Tysons Ford, the folks who usually look after it. The same folks, incidentally, who told us about a month ago that (after the car had sat in their shop all day) they hadn't been able to find a problem with the a/c unit ... well, actually, it's been too hot for outside work, so they hadn't yet tried.

And yet, whenever there's a problem with the car, I run back to them. Despite the fact that they repeatedly make me feel like an idiot. Which, true, when it comes to cars, I am. But I think there are ways to retain a respectable attitude toward a customer.

Last night, when we dropped the car off at 6:45, as we were headed out to cross the street to the mall to drown our sorrows by purchasing frivolous goods and consuming 'food'-court products, I heard the mechanic call to an auto-repair underling: "Move that car as soon as you get a chance. It's parked in front of the showroom." The showroom! Dear heavens! You're KIDDING me. Are you telling me that someone left their 2000 Focus where those late-Thursday shoppers for shiny new Mustangs might SEE them?! Stop the presses. This is egregious.

For real. I hate being a car owner, I hate taking my car to Tysons Ford (yes, Google, if you missed the first two references, that's TYSONS FORD, of Vienna, Virginia -- enemy to those who want respect and/or competent service). And I hate the depths to which my expectations of customer service have sunk since moving to the East Coast. I guess I was spoiled in Seattle -- yes, I knew it at the time, too. I just didn't know quite HOW spoiled.

But don't get me started on that tip again. You've heard it plenty from this corner.

I just tried calling Tysons Ford (of Vienna, VA. That one), angling for a report on my car.
Keep in mind that, last time I took it in , they hadn't looked at it all day because 'the weather was too hot.'

me: How's that 2000 Ford Focus coming along?

them: The one with no power?

me: Uhhh, yeah. Probably.

them: We're looking at it right now. Actually, we've been looking at it for about an hour. The problem's turning out to be a lot harder to find than we expected.

me: Oh. Grrreat.

(Matt and me, playing the conversation along after I relayed the above to him via e-mail:)

(Matt, being me): That's what you said about my a/c.

(me, being them): Oh, no! A totally different situation. That time, we didn’t even look at it. This time, we actually ARE. You’ll be able to tell because you’ve already racked up $130 in charges from plugging it into our computer – which, incidentally, told us nothing useful.

I was extra annoyed at the car's timing -- though a Thursday-night breakdown gives Tysons TWO days (they don't work on Sundays) to figure it out, and only ONE commuter day to utterly inconvenience us -- because I was looking forward to another '64' meeting with some church friends. Now, '64' isn't really about regurgitating anything that one has found of interest in the past couple of weeks to see what others thought of same, but I had a few things that I wanted to ask about, should, you know, the conversation lag -- most notably the video we watched at church the previous Sunday (which seems to end by touting an offensive Web site -- I don't believe that part was included at church! Please disregard), as well as this news story, and this column.

Bummer.