Ramon’s Automotive

When you own an old car, you’d better know a good mechanic.
Being the new owner of a Toyota Tercel, 1987 edition I needed a few things on a regular basis. Oil changes, brake jobs and the occasional major repair.
I discovered that my wheel bearing on the left side had gone wonky. Being that I had the car for a month and needed my job, I looked all over Toledo for a mechanic who was both competent and cheap. Sometimes the two go together, and sometimes the gulf between them is the distance between Earth and Pluto.
Not in this case.
I was in charge of the cab’s maintenance. I would find a good shop and the boss would cut me a check for the bill, or usually reimburse me for what I had spent. Kyles became the shop of choice simply because he did great work, got the cab back on the road in a timely manner, and didn’t overcharge simply because I had a cab. So I figured if he could do for the cab, he could do for my car.
I brought the Doodlebug in and was told that I would be better off junking it. I retorted it was a Toyota with only 118,000 miles on it. Hardly a used car since a similar version belonging to my friend Steve had attained 989,000 miles and the only reason he got rid of his was because the body fell off the chassis. I intended to eclipse that. I told them money was no object and to fix it.
Long story short, 3 days later it was running again like a new car and my wallet was lighter by only 600 dollars. Instead of replacing the bearing they had to replace the whole rear end, which was a bonus for me. My car ran great and I used it for many more years beyond that. The car has been retired because it threw a rod in a fit of piqué, but I will always take my cars to Kyles simply because he is one guy who is a decent mechanic, and will never overcharge you.