Remember that mechanic I wrote of earlier this week?

Earlier this week, I wrote of bringing my van into a new mechanic as I had moved recently too far from my old one. I had swapped my Sox hat for a Giants hat on my way out the door. I had purchased a pre-owned Nissan van about two weeks earlier. I took it in for a pre-purchase inspection at a shop that had received an endorsement on a local Internet bulletin board serving this area. I was told it would need a motor mount and a timing belt. (Yeah, I know- ouch.) The seller reduced the price of the van enough to cover the repairs.

I brought the van into Jason Miller owner of Miller Motors who had received several glowing references on that board. He replaced the motor mount at about $85 less than the shop that performed the pre-purchase inspection. He also told me that he didn’t know Nissans as well as a colleague of his about 2 miles away, to whom he had referred some of customers who owned Nissans. He took care of getting the van over to the other shop for me. Today I went into town to pick up the van from Bill Wallahan of Nisstech Automotive. I immediately recognized that accent. I asked him if he was from back east. He said no, but his family was from Massachusetts. “Are you a Red Sox fan?” We ended up talking about the Sox for a bit. The total of the timing belt replacement at Nisstech was about $80 less than the previous estimate, which also included an additional small Red Sox fan discount. It pays to be a Sox fan!

So if you’re anywhere near Santa Rosa, CA and own a Toyota or other Japanese vehicle, go see Jason Miller of Miller Motors. And if you own a Nissan, go see Bill Wallahan, owner of Nisstech Automotive. Tell him Dave from Fenway West sent you.