saablog

The auto shop teacher at the local high school replied to my email, saying that for liability reasons their classes are not allowed to work on “outside projects.” Stupid liability lawsuits. I still would like to check out the two local community colleges. I do know that Shoreline Community College has an auto shop vocational program, so perhaps they actually work on cars there. I’ll let you know.

Today I had to run in to Ballard to get wipers for Ani’s car (the non-Saab ones sucked, and I had a coupon for Carter Saab) and on my way home I stopped by Moe’s Automotive SAAB Specialist on NW 85th & 17th, because I saw a bunch of jacked-up classic 900s sitting around the lot. Walking in to the lobby of his shop was like stepping back in time 30 years: cigarette smoke rose up in the air from an overfilled ashtray, and the lobby smelled like that ashtray had been overfilled since long before the new millennium was rung in. The yellowed lighted sign and the worn key-hook board played off worn linoleum and chipped Formica. When Moe walked in from the shop, his greasy coveralls with his embroidered nametag had the patina of time, oil, gas, and smoke. When I asked him for an estimate, he wrote down the year and motor of my car on a paper, turned it over in his hand, and told me (seemingly without referencing anything in particular) that it would be about $850. That’s about HALF the price that Scanwest told me. It’s still more than I actually paid for the car, but half price nonetheless. After a brief discussion of the car’s symptoms, and confirmation that it hadn’t overheated, I told him I’d save up some money and be in touch.

Depending on what I hear from the community colleges, I’m thinking Moe is my man. I’ve got almost that much money saved up from the car’s earnings, and can work on reclaiming the rest of the money by putting more miles on the car throughout the year.