How to Beat the All-Day-Repair-Job Blues

I was slowing down for a red light the other day on Pacific Coast Highway when I heard this weird screeching noise, only slightly less irritating than the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard.

My first inclination was to turn up the radio to blot out the offending sound. Instead, I turned the volume down and looked around to see if I could figure out which nearby car might be the source.

But the noise had stopped--until I pressed the brake again. I realized that I was the one past due for a brake job.

I’ve owned the car for four years now and had not heard a peep from the brakes, so I guess I can hardly complain. And yes, I should have taken it for one of those free brake inspections a year or two ago.

Now, with my brake pads obviously worn completely through, I had no choice but dedicate a day of my life to giving those squeaky wheels the attention for which they so plaintively cried out.

I could take the car to the shop and spend most of the day sitting in a grungy waiting room, reading People magazines from 1978 and snacking on candy bars and pop--$1.75 each, exact change only--from the vending machine while they fixed it.

Or I could take the car to the shop and spend most of the day trying to get around in Orange County with no wheels. I could rent a car, bum rides from friends or load my pockets with quarters, dimes and nickels and take the bus.

It was bound to be a logistical nightmare. So what if I can still remember the days when shops offered loaner cars, or at least gave you a ride to and from work while the repair took place? I remember when gas cost 25 cents a gallon too.

When the screeching started it was late Friday afternoon, so I knew that whatever I decided, the car and I would have to limp home and sit tight until Monday morning, at least, because few auto repair shops are open Saturdays.

I had been planning a Saturday trip to San Diego County, but the car sat in the driveway all weekend, except for a couple of urgent errands to points close by.

Early Monday morning--well, it seemed early to me--I started calling repair shops. I decided against the dealership I had gone to for other repairs. I was satisfied with the work, but it is three bus transfers from my house, and this time that was my only transportation choice, short of renting a car, because there was no one nearby who could give me a ride.

So I started calling shops on or near the bus line that comes within five blocks of my house.

“Can I bring it in today?” I asked the nice man who answered the phone at the first place I called.

“Today?” He didn’t quite laugh out loud. “I’m afraid you’re a little late for today.”

It was 8:47 a.m.

“You have to have your car here by 7:30,” the man said.

“How long does it take for a brake job?” I asked.

“About an hour and a half, ma’am.”

“Then why can’t I bring in the car later? If it only takes an hour and a half, you should be finished with at least some of the cars that were there early by the middle of the day.”

“Well, you could bring it later, but then we still wouldn’t be able to look at it until the next morning.”

“Can I make an appointment for tomorrow, then?”

“We don’t do that, ma’am.”

“Why not?”

“We just don’t.”

After several similar conversations, I settled on a place offering a long-term guarantee just six miles from my house, two blocks off the bus line.

I arranged my schedule for the next day so I would not have to drive. And before I went to bed that night, I gathered exact change for the bus ride, got out my walking shoes and set the alarm for 6 a.m. I did not want to risk being late.

I made it to the shop on time, went in and told the man behind the counter I needed a brake job.

“Fill this out, and we’ll do a complete inspection,” he said, pushing a clipboard across the counter. “Then we’ll call to get your authorization for whatever repairs may be necessary.”

“I know it needs new brake pads,” I said. “Can’t I just authorize that now?”

“No, ma’am. We’ll have to call you for that.”

“But I can authorize it over the phone?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Then why can’t I just authorize it now, in person?”

“We have to do the inspection first, ma’am.”

After signing by all the Xs, I walked down to the corner, got on the bus and rode it to the stop nearest my house, then walked the rest of the way and got to work on my computer.

Three hours later, the phone rang. “Ms. Hofmann, you need new brake pads.”

“I know. Now do I get to authorize the repair?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Go ahead,” I said. “Fix my brakes.” If the repair guy recognized my feeble Clint Eastwood imitation, he did not compliment me on it.

Finally, just after 3:30, another call: “Your car is ready.”

After getting the car back and driving home, I said to myself, “There ought to be a better way to do this.”

I’ve since discovered that there is. Mobile Mechanix, for example, based in Santa Ana, sends independent mechanics to your home, office, parking lot--”wherever your car is, as long as we can get our vehicle in,” said Amo Rogers, the firm’s vice president. “We handle everything except engine and transmission overhauls in the field.”

About half the calls Mobile Mechanix makes are to homes, the rest to cars parked at businesses. “The idea is that they can be in there making the money to pay for the repairs,” Rogers said.

Mobile Mechanix’s charges are about average, Rogers said, kept lower despite the extra service because the company does not maintain a big garage.

There are even a few old-fashioned shops here and there that offer customers rides to work or home while repairs take place.

“Sometimes that’s what makes the difference for people,” said Joni Devereaux, secretary at Fox Transmission & Automotive in Fullerton. “We get a lot of people who live alone, and they don’t want to sit around here with me while their cars are getting fixed. So I take them where they need to go, as long as it’s within about five miles.”

Still, I’m going back to the same shop this week. One of my new brakes is making this faint clump-clump-clump sound, so I’d better check out that guarantee.

Looking Like New

Do you wash your car often? Or do you wait until the kids can write graffiti in the dust? We’d like to know about your car-cleaning habits, inside and out. Do you wash it yourself? What kind of cleaner works best? Do you insist on a chamois or will paper towels and rags do just as well? Maybe you go to a car wash. Or do you prefer having your car detailed?

A Little Road Music

What’s the sound track for your daily commute? Do you prefer rock to get you going, or easy-listening to calm your nerves? Maybe you keep it on the all-news channel. Tell us what you like to listen to when you drive and why.

Life on (2) Wheels

Hey, you out there, zipping between lanes. Are you crazy, brave or what? If you travel the freeways and surface streets of Orange County on a motorcycle, we’d like to hear from you. Why do you prefer that mode of transportation? How often are your brushes with death? And how do you feel about helmets?

Send your comments to Life on Wheels, Orange County Life, The Times, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, Calif. 92626. Please include your phone number so that we can contact you. To protect your privacy, Life on Wheels does not publish correspondents’ last names when the subject is sensitive.