Right tool (specialist mechanic) for the job is a must

When I graduated from grad school and took up the job in Austin, I transitioned to Austin with my used Toyota Camry. It was a fairly old but reliable car and I had expectations of it lasting a couple more years with me. I guess it didn’t like the weather in Texas and started having a unique problem, whenever I stopped the car the probability of it taking off again was very low. This problem I had noticed while in grad school but was occurring very rarely and the local mechanic in Rolla, MO couldn’t figure out what was wrong. With the driving pattern in Austin, the problem became real bad and it reached a point that I was scared to drive the car. I took it to run of the mill mechanic shops like Firestone, Break Specialists plus and even a Transmission repair shop. None could figure out what was wrong and eventually I donated the car to an Animal Shelter.

Fast forward to present, my present car VW Passat started experiencing similar problem as my old Camry. It was not really noticeable to me (I think it occurred once or twice that I had trouble taking off after I stopped) but the diagnostics built into the car cried foul and turned the CEL (check engine light) on. This time around I did my homework and took it to Austin Veedub a specialist in VW. The diagnosis came to that the RPM sensor on the car was broken, consulting Dr. Google with the symptoms I agreed with the diagnosis. The repairman replaced the part and the car is running like a champ. I wonder if the Camry also needed this part replaced and would have been fine.

The lesson I learnt from this experience is, when the car is in trouble either take it to a reliable and good dealer (which is usually a myth) or find a mechanic who specializes in my brand of car rather than taking it to the Midas or Break Specialist and so on. I could have taken the Camry to the dealer in town but considering I had only spent a couple thousand to buy the car I didn’t intend to spend another thousand to fix the car (at least that's what I thought at that time).