They gave the rest of my car a thorough inspection (tires, brakes, engine, etc) and handed me notes. They said there was a minor oil leak but something they’d keep an eye on whenever I came in for an oil change. They noticed some slight warping in my brake rotors but not enough to make driving unsafe not cause more damage elsewhere, and said it would be wisest and cheaper to replace those when I have to replace the brake pads (which is routine car work anyways, I realize I’m gunna have to put some money into this baby every once in a while). Definitely keeping my service here exclusively.
Totally shocked, I walked into City View Import and got to talk with Charlie for about 20 minutes. He looked up the national averages for work like this since I didn’t have my car with me (heater core replacement runs 800-1150 and “Shop 1” quoted me 1300..., radiator replacement runs 450-800 and “Shop A” quoted 850) and told me he’d guarantee City View Import could do the work for less. He was super friendly and wasn’t trying to push anything on me. He explained why replacing the heater core was crucial (turns out I had basically been inhaling coolant for a month..) and that they could give me a breakdown of the rest of the work that was needed so I could fix things as my budget allowed.
My friend in Eugene said there was only one auto repair shop that he trusted in town, and to give Erik a call at City View Import. They had no room on their schedule for a Monday morning drop-in fix, but took me in anyway.