Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Christiansburg, Virginia

Well, went to Shelor Motor Mile, Christiansburg, VA and left my 1998 Toyota Tacoma over night for the inspection. They found no rust perforation. They did the rust corrosion treatment and wanted to keep it 24 hours. After the vehicle was there for a few hours, I received another call that there was a crack in the manifold exhaust and it would cost me $518. Since this is not the place that services my vehicle (no longer under warranty), I declined the repair work. I will have it checked somewhere else and repaired by my service man. That way I will know if I truly have this problem and I already know I can save at least $150.

An update (very abridged version, believe it or not): The adjuster pointed out other inspected vehicles in the report, which I initially didn't pay enough attention to since there's no analysis as to the comparison to my car (options, condition, etc.). Of the total of nine comparables, only three were within 75 miles of my house. One was as far away as Christiansburg, Va. -- 214 miles from my house. Coincidentally, I was just there (taking my daughter to camp), and gas is $3.35 a gallon, compared to $4.09 in my neighborhood (yep, the D.C. suburbs aren't cheap) -- to give you an idea of the difference in cost of living. The average cost of those nine comps, flawed as they were (in my opinion), is around $11,400. In the process of these discussions, they upped their offer from $10,700 to $11,000 (plus taxes/tags/title) -- still less than the average of their adjusted-value comps. So I kept pushing back, focusing on -- in GEICO's own words (http://www.geico.com/claims/claimsprocess/total-loss-process/), "we compare sale prices of similar vehicles in your local area." So then it came down to what AutoTrader.com shows for a 2006 Scion xB with 53,000 miles or so, within 75 miles of the 22307 zip code. After some more back and forth, they upped their offer to $11,500 (plus taxes/tags/title), based on the fact that there's one car available for $9,899 from a dealer, one for $11,986 from a dealer, and one for $10,500 from a private seller, plus a $500 deduction for pre-existing damage to my car (which is fair). Well, the cheap car is cheap because it's a manual and AutoCheck reveals it's been in a collision. And I don't consider a car from a private seller to be a fair comp without significant adjustment. His analysis ignores two other cars with more miles than mine, selling for $13,299 and $13,599. I replied that I'd take the average of the four dealer cars, including the one that's been in a collision, subtract the amount for the pre-existing damage to my car, and add back $300 for the fact that the four cars, on average, have 6,000 more miles than my car, for a grand total of $11,946. But they said no. What do you think (if you're still reading)?

Not so much a question as a response. I just came from a Ford Dealer in Christiansburg, Va. I said I want a Base 6 cyl Mustang with A/T with the Shaker 1000. I like cloth seats and don't want color speedo. Fine, but we can't get the Shaker 1000 in a 6 cyl. No problem, it lists as a $1295 option. Get me one and install it and I'll pay for it plus labor. No dice. Dealer can't get or install. Before you think I'm too picky, I've had some nice stereos in my day. Levinson, Nakamechi, Hi end Bose, and none of them sound as good to my ear as a factory installed Ford hi end stereo. I had a Mach 460 in a Mustang and a JBL in an Explorer Limited. Both were excellent to my ears. Far above any other factory or aftermarket system. Mr Mullaly, are you listening? Most of your 6 cyl Mustangs are going to sell to the boomer crowd that have waited 45 years for a decent HP rating in a Mustang and we know "exactly" what we want and have the do-re-mi to back up our desires.

Rewired VSS - van seems to have recovered it's lost power and all gages now working although speedo still seems 'slow' by seat of pants guesstimate. In the interest of helping someone else who may stumble across this with a similar issue; here is a web link to a "how to" page with detailed instructions on rewiring the VSS module. http://www.tbichips.com/drac/ Paperclip jumper to OBD1 port returned VSS circuit code alone. Will try to read codes again tomorrow after driving it a while. Could not find any shorts etc but disconnected both cigarette lighter ports at the fuse box. (Van is former Verizon vehicle so it has multiple ports for chargers & equipment.) I'll post back with the final verdict or updates in hope the info will help someone else w/ similar issues.

Apparently my "red herring" may be a factor after all... Returned to vehicle & battery was almost dead. Disco'd battery & proceeded to pull lower dash panel for access to fuse box & rat's nest of wires. Troubleshooting found 15A gage fuse blown, replaced with another 15A. No discernable load (sparking) when touching disco'd terminal to battery. Voltage 12.35v. Reconnected battery & tried to start. Battery too weak to crank but it blew fuse again. Repeated w/ 10A fuse (all I had) with same result. Found VSS box (speedo converter box) that I need to rewire & pulled it. Replaced fuse with 5A fuse (all I had left) and tried to start again. This time it did NOT blow fuse AND gages all reset to rest positions. Hmmmm - jumped van with another vehicle and it started. Not spitting thru throttle body and power is improved but still very low on power. Reconnected the VSS box and there was no apparent affect - 5A fuse did NOT blow. At this point I'm hoping that the computer "learned" a new profile etc & that the VSS rewire will return things to normal. Any input is appreciated.