Funk A-Motive

Many moons ago, my 13-​year-​old trusty van had begun to smell (two transmission rebuilds later, not so trusty). My trusty North Carolina mechanic told me I had an oil leak — the seals around my engine gasket caps (right terminology? something like that) were disintegrating. He printed me a picture of my engine, said it would cost about $ 375 to fix, and then recommended that I not fix it, since it wasn’t worth it given the age and mileage of the car. Hence trusty mechanic (for those of you heading to Durham, that’s the Precision Tune on ¹⁵⁄₅₀₁ at Shannon).
Enter move to Austin. With the exception of only a quasi-​effective air conditioner in the August heat, the party van performed admirably well in hauling everything I own from Durham to Cincinnati, then Cincinnati to Austin. Shortly after my arrival in Austin, however, the van stopped starting reliably. Where was I to take it? I was lost without my trusty mechanic. Flamingo wouldn’t take my American-​made hunk of metal and Groovy had some really awful reviews. Based on something, I know not what, I decided to take her in to Funk-​a-​Motive.
It’s about the sketchiest-​looking auto repair place I’ve ever seen, but I didn’t let that stop me. The mechanic called me with the verdict: the oil leaked into the starter, and I’d need a new starter, plus I’d want to get those oil leaks fixed if I didn’t want to go through that again. He fixed the starter in one day for less than $ 200, and the, when I took it in about a month later (I was short on cash at the time), fixed the oil leaks for less than $ 200, far less than my NC trusty mechanic had predicted.
What I found especially charming was that when I called to see how late they were open, the mechanic said, «I’ll leave when my work is done, and I think I’ll be here late tonight.» Seriously, that’s pretty awesome. Both repairs, finished on time, and a mechanic willing to stay late to get his work done. Also very friendly. I think he also cleaned up the inside of the car a bit, so I believe it was cleaner when I got it back than when I left it.
So, I didn’t give it five stars for a couple of nit picky reasons. While I have no complaints about the time, price, or quality of the service, the mechanic smokes like a chimney and after going in the garage to pay, I came out smelling like a pre-​smoking ban bingo hall (seriously, my hair absorbs smells like sponge). Also, I had some latent fear that the place, being covered in oil, was going to explode at any minute. Those concerns aside, however, it was a happy experience.