I had a great experience today getting my car fixed

TLDR: just a great experience with a local shop

Most stuff I do on my own, but welding up a potentially rusty exhaust on my DD saab wagon is not one of them. So I went to my trusty ghetto muffler shop today while I was out sick.

This place is in a neighborhood that my dad refers to as "the old neighborhood" where he lived when his parents first immigrated. Most people who live where I do would not venture there, even in the morning. The windows of the shop's "storefront" have some bulletholes.

Anyhow, I pulled up and was greeted by two very nice young guys who directed me to a bay and onto one of their 4 post lifts. They identified the offending cracked flexpipe in less than a minute, gave me a quote and I told them to get to work.

Exactly 1 game of candy crush and $85 later, they were lowering the car and came to get me. They also told me that their work has a 3 year warranty. Sweet!

That is all. A great little muffler shop in the bad parts of Canton, OH. It is called Quality Muffler if anyone in the area needs "a guy". Their only limitation is that they cannot take super low cars. My dad's lowered 944 turbo couldn't clear the ramps to get onto the lift, but my spec miata did.

Bad looking naborhood does not mean bad people. About 70% of my work is in what most people would consider to be the bad part of Boston and while there are some not so nice people there for the most part the people there are just regular good folks trying to get by. Because I don't mind going down there I have more work than I know what to do with at the moment.

Yup. I frequent what is known as "the hood" in most cities and towns in a 100 mile radius for work. Some damn fine people in there, some that are a waste of skin. Just like everywhere else.

Usually lower prices on stuff there too! Had a dude plug a flat in a parking lot last week for 3 bucks. He was on foot, with tools and a bicycle pump in a backpack. Just walking around looking for a way to make it. Nice guy.

There are areas that i roll the windows down so they don't get shot out though.

I grew up in the hood, still visit there occasionally. Majority of the people were good folks just struggling to get by. They just arent the people that make the news.

There used to be a similar muffler shop in my neighborhood (gone now, replaced by a mattress store.) I think all the guys working there were bikers on meth but they were polite, fast, and good at what they did, and their prices were good. I watched them build a dual exhaust system from scratch for my old '61 Bonneville convertible, and it was impressive to see how they could eye the bottom of the car, go bend up a pipe and have it fit first time.

Lots of good craftsmen are to found in the rough neighborhoods. The two best radiator shops that I know of are imigrant owned, and in rough areas. One is run by an old German guy that is a one man band. He specializes in truck and heavy equipment radiators, and I don't know how he makes a profit on his prices. The other is run by some Latin guys that will fix stuff others refuse to fix. Thier prices are good too.

The best automotive glass shop I know of is run by some old Jamaican guys in the deepest darkest part of Wilmington Delaware.

Then there is the wierd middle aged white guy at the end of the dead end street in the dumpy little Borough just south of Philly that fixes the hoopties from all continents at prices poor folks can afford without sacrificing thier grocery money, and usually does a better job than the legit shops. Oh wait, that's me, when I'm not traveling all over SE PA fixing odd ball industrial vehicles.

From what I know, a lot of great shops are in "less desirable" areas . For one rents are generally cheaper, and you don't have neighbors that will bust your chops. A lot of these shop owners are also willing to help each other out. You know, we all pull on the same rope.

Yup, we farm out our exhaust to a tiny mom-and-pop shop in the back end of an industrial complex.

They do things properly and everything lines up and fits perfect the first time.

Tell them what you want it to sound like and they will do it.

They've even built custom mufflers for us.

I bought some used wheels and tires off Craigslist. They were out of balance. I went to Sears and they wanted $20 per wheel.

Then I went to the ghetto tire shop and they did all 4 (with stick on weights!) for $20!

I have a fantastic local shop, M&S, in Bridgewater MA that has worked on my Samurai, F150, Yukon and didn't even charge me hours of labor to diagnose another car I had and they convinced me it wasn't worth paying them.

Its in a great neighborhood however.

But I'd like to add I go to a local small town convenience store and when I am in the city, I go to the same place (Cumberland Farms).

Even though I look like a skinhead, the employees and customers, who are 90% minorities, in the city version of the store are MUCH more friendly and talkative to me than in my small town. Hell, the people in my local smal-town store barely make eye contact where the city location folks go out of their way to be friendly.

That's why I never judge a person by their skin color nor a business by its location.

Sorry, off topic but it was on my mind