Wausau
Outside of Wausau we noticed a distinct grinding sound coming from the front brakes. We debated -- drive straight home (and hope we don't have to actually brake for anything), or look for a mechanic on a Saturday afternoon in an unfamiliar town? We went with Plan B.The first shop we found, Horak's, was closed; but the owner was there, and he directed us downtown to Olson Tire with the caveat that they might not be able to fit us in. His directions were perfect; we found Olson Tire doing major remodeling/expansion, but still open for business. The owner, Kent Olson, said he'd take a look at the car ASAP and call our cell phone, and we wandered a block to the downtown mall, where we bought Emma a new pair of sneakers and windowshopped Waldenbooks.
40 minutes later, Kent called. As previously blogged, we were metal-to-metal on the front disks. He needed my okay to do the work, but he'd already requested parts from a supplier, and said he could rearrange his other work to have us done by 2:00, his Saturday afternoon closing time (it was about 12:45). We okayed the work, and kept on shopping.
We walked back over to the shop at about 1:50. The car wasn't yet done; seems the pins that hold the pads in place had rusted, and they were taking their time so that nothing broke. We ended up staying in the makeshift trailer/office for an hour while Kent's mechanics worked on the car. We were charged nothing for the extra hour of labor (or for keeping the poor guy and his staff hanging around on a Saturday afternoon), and got to talk to Kent about the future of automotive repair and life in general.
The car was done by 3:00. Kent also informed us that we had a slight transmission leak, some tires we might want to replace, and backup lights that don't work -- none of which were pointed out during our pre-trip "inspection" at Azteca M0tors in Saint Paul. Since he wasn't going to do the work, there was no motive for him telling us about this stuff other than good will.
If you ever find yourself in Wausau needing tires, brakes or any of the other sort of work typically done at a Goodyear dealership, find this place. It'll be worth your time.
posted by MeanMrMustard @ 8:20 AM
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