I highly recommend this auto-repair shop!
I noticed an anti-freeze leak - coming from the back of the engine near a hose (uh oh - NOT GOOD). So, on the internet I went - to try to figure out what the problem could be. You NEVER EVER want to go into ANY repair shop BLIND. You HAVE to do some research & sound like you at least have HALF a CLUE. Plus, from my experience, it helps to try to develop a basic rapport & establish a personal connection w/anyone you choose to do business with - otherwise you might come off as just another name and number (if you will) - but I digress.
Meanwhile, my wife's sense of urgency kicked in & insisted that we find a place ASAP (in case a smaller problem turns into a bigger problem). Luckily, she remembered that one of her co-workers had been singing high praises about a trustworthy auto-repair shop in Chesapeake (B&W) that does good work.
I did call a couple other places first - but none of them seemed to KNOW what the problem could be.
So, then I called B&W & spoke to "Bobby" (I guess one of the owners). I described the problem - as best I could & he said (w/confidence) - that it sounded like the problem is a "cracked intake manifold" (common for our year's '98 Ford Mustang 4.6L GT). On a side note: it seems that Ford had to decided to use plastic - when they should've used metal. When they saw their intake manifolds began failing, they learned from the mistake & redesigned them w/METAL (instead of plastic) - to prevent CRACKING - & Bobby told us it comes w/a limited lifetime warranty - but he'd never had to go back in and re-replace one. Once the newer one is put in, you should be golden.
So, Bobby fixed us up with a new "intake manifold" at a price we thought was fair - especially considering the complexity of the job & all the time/labor involved. I have to say - the Mustang is now purring like a kitten & is running better than it has - in YEARS!
It did take them a few days to complete the job, but Bobby told me it was taking them longer than he'd anticipated. It's probably wishful thinking, but I'm wondering if it took them longer because they spent a little extra time in making sure the job was done right the first time - plus they may have made a few other minor adjustments to make sure she was "dialed in"... That's just my guess, but I could be wrong. It might just be that new antifreeze & a new intake manifold does wonders for an 18 year old car? Who knows!
I'm not kidding though - whatever they did - I'm impressed (knock on wood) - cuz she's running like a dream now. Finding a GOOD place to do a GOOD JOB w/any kind of work you need done can often certainly be a challenge - but if you put yourself in their shoes - how often do they see people who have NO CLUE about what they need done? You only get taken advantage of if you ALLOW yourself to be taken advantage of. It's YOUR responsibility to do SOME research & NOT go in BLIND. You have to at least pretend like you have HALF a clue of what's going on - otherwise, you risk sounding like a clueless idiot - and that's when people are taken advantage of - but I digress yet AGAIN.
B&W may have taken a bit longer than we expected - but as long as the job is done right the first time - I don't care if it takes a bit longer. I don't want them to throw it together if they feel rushed! I'd rather they take their time & do a good job & fix the problem ONCE - so we don't have to come BACK & play cat and mouse a few days later.
We've been driving the car for about a week & I still cannot believe the difference. It cost us some money, but I feel like B&W took care of us. When we picked it up, my wife & I went inside & chatted w/them for a few minutes. They all were very friendly & down to earth - good folks. They showed us our old intake manifold & where the crack was & we were happy it wasn't a blown engine - or some other problem not worth fixing.
Nobody wants to hear that their car needs a new intake manifold (it's not an inexpensive fix). However, we're counting our blessings that we didn't have to get rid of the car over a bigger problem. So, a big "thank you" to Bobby & his team. We won't hesitate to recommend B&W to others. read more