Help!: Good mechanic in San Jose?

[Brian]

No. As far as I can figure, tearing the engine apart just for an in depth diagnosis must be too labor intensive and therefore too expensive. Since they'll have to tear it apart to replace the short block, it's likely that they'll find what broke in the process. So far, it seems like the only thing they did to my car was remove the oil pan, then eventually reattach it so they could move the car and free up the bay. They've done some stuff to the new engine, but I'm not sure if they've gotten it stripped down to short block yet.

I got a high recommendation of them from another customer this week. I've practically been a tenant at their office and have met a lot of the regulars in addition to meeting the owners' family. They sure seem like good people. Larry Sr., the owner, said he'll even call the junk yard that lied to me (and him) about the mileage. I doubt he'll have any luck in getting me a partial refund, but it's a nice gesture. Still, I've got admit that I don't like those high estimates they've given me, or the fact that they haven't given me a reason for what happened, or that it seems like they're delegating very little of their mechanics' time to work on my car.