Desperately need an honest, skilled mechanic

[Anonymous]

Hello everyone, my spouse has been loyal to a car mechanic shop that are very nice people but I've been saying we need a new shop. When we take our 10 yr old Toyota Corolla to them over the last 1.5 yrs, often the problem we have when we go in, pops up again within days/weeks or a couple of months of the last visit. Some things get fixed; others seem to require repeat visits.

Our "Check Engine" light has been on for more than a month. We've taken it in 3 times, each time they told us something and yet the light never went off. This last time we were told it was fuel injectors needed replacing but not immediately. We drove it away. 5 days later the car almost shut down mid-driving and we took it back, today they're saying it's THE WHOLE ENGINE that needs replacing and maybe years of putting low octane gas in it are the problem.

We 1) want a 2nd opinion, but 2) just need to find a reliable, fair, skilled (and affordable is always appreciated) DC-area mechanic.

If you love your mechanic but don't want to put their name on DCUM for all to see, feel free to email us their contact info: babarocks at yahoo dot com

THANK YOU TO ANY OF YOU WILLING TO SHARE INFO ON RELIABLE FAIR MECHANICS! We REALLY need to find one!

[Anonymous]

Where are you?

I go to Rosslyn Automotive in Merrifield.

[Anonymous]

Distad's BP at 9th and Penn. Ave. SE

They've permanently solved every issue I've had over the past 15 years. Straight shooters, won't do anything to your car without explaining and getting your permission to move forward.

[Anonymous]

Auto Centro in ROckville.

But your bigger issue is a 10 year old Corolla. Lots of stuff will start breaking at that age. Time to upgrade.

[Anonymous]

Central car repair in dtss. Used them for over 10 years.

[Anonymous]

You guys are seriously THE BEST! We'll check out all of these to see who's closest and maybe even check more than one.

THANK YOU!!!

[Anonymous]

I'm a tech. Work on Toyota Corollas weekly.

87 octane is the design-spec'd octane rating for *most* of the Toyota Corolla 1.8L motors.

If you have an "S" model, with the VVTiL engine, then 93 octane is required. Years of using regular 87 octane in that engine can destroy the piston surface, valves and lifters.