Hello, guys and dolls. I'm Rachel, sometimes call Ink, and I co-own a 2002 2dr Honda Civic with a salvage title. So far we've have pretty minimal issues but I'm afraid, like so many Civics, we're coming up on head gasket replacement time.

For relevant personal information, all I can really say is this: I'm a young skinny chick who, until a few months ago, knew nothing about cars. Now that I own one, I feel like it's my job to know how the thing works, and how to fix it when possible. I figure if I've learned to do plumbing, carpentry, and basic electrical work, learning the basics here shouldn't be that much harder. The only thing standing in my way so far is that when I try to talk to a mechanic about my car, they want to talk to me as though I'm about five years old. If I say, "I'm losing radiator fluid like a bastard and it's been hesitating when the engine tries to turn over," they give me the 'leave it to the professionals' act instead of actually discussing it and won't be specific about why they think I need $4000+ worth of work done. Which I suppose just means I need a new mechanic. Anyone know a good shop in Phoenix?

In the meantime, I'm learning from forums, books, and doing more minor projects on my own car.

Thanks in advance, to everyone I might learn something from in these forums.

 

Welcome to the forum!