mark + ange guinn

I’ve never really enjoyed getting my car fixed.  Even in America, there’s that awful feeling that the mechanic could so easily take advantage of my lack of knowledge – “That’s right, sir, your second carburetor needs a new truss rod and parts alone will cost $300…”  So this week I got to have the super-fun experience of trying that in another culture.

Fortunately, things are not too different here, but it does add to the insecurity quite a bit when you have no grid at all for what things should cost, things are called by different names, and laws are different.  It seems like there’s more of a propensity for people to use a mechanic they know, who often just works out of his house, rather than a big business like Midas or something.  There are tire (spelled tyre, of course) shops and body shops, etc., but they’re mostly specialized shops.  As with most things here, it’s who you know that counts.

That’s what friends are for, though.  I think I found a pretty good mechanic on the recommendation of one of the Night Light guys.  Fortunately, once you find someone you trust you can just stick with him.  So there’s one more problem sorted.