Tibbitts Auto Repair & Towing

It was a dumb oversight. My car wouldn't start one day. To add to the aggravation, the ignition slot wouldn't give me my key! (Anything I did, anything the tow truck guy did, it wouldn't free the key from the ignition slot.) Well, I was NOT going to go to work with the key sitting in my car's ignition, despite it not starting. I just don't tempt fate that way.

In hindsight, my mistake was that I didn't think to look under the little boots of the battery connections for signs of corrosion. The tow guy shows up, but only after the Tibbitts woman suggested a list of things over the phone. I told her the battery looked fine -- hey, I am used to there being LOTS of white stuff showing on a corroded battery, and it was not obvious.

The tow truck guy was Tibbitts' as well (same folks, two separately operating companies). Maybe he could have tried to charge the battery, but we both saw that the car was totally dead, and there was an odd blinking and beeping. So, he towed me in good conscience. He never saw a car that wouldn't give up the key, either, he said.

So the tow guy (forgot his name, but he was a good guy) gets the car up, and he waits for me to put my bike on the tow truck -- since I could ride that to work if I had to -- and we cruised the short distance to Tibbitts. After a 20-min wait, I learned it was corroded battery contacts. I didn't see corrosion, I said, and I was told it was less obvious than on an "upright" battery, or some such comment. In less than an hour, I was on my way.

Towing was a standard price, the shop charged me a measly $22.50 (don't shops seem to always want to charge $40-50 minimum if they have to actually figure out a problem and it's not just a flat tire). And they were sure to give me a copy of the tow bill to submit to my insurance company for reimbursement (don't know the verdict on that yet).

I will be going back to them for other work, and if my opinion changes, I will comment. But I think they are right on.

Notes: Tibbitts has been in business for more than 30 years. It's a clean interior at the shop, the waiting room has tons of magazines of a wide variety and a TV, too. A guy named Randy Bryce talked to me at the counter, and he's a decent guy, didn't talk down to my fairly non-mechanical mind. They have a second shop in Oviedo, FL.

A few years back I had problems with a couple of cars that always needed something done to them. The guys at Tibbitts new me very well I was there once every two weeks. They worked with me they would allow me to get my own parts and bring them in to repair the car. They would do whatever it took to save me money. My engine was on its final miles and they were honest and told me you are better off getting a new car because your transmission will be next they didn't just try to take my money. Also they give student discounts which I definitely used then it was 10% which helps when your bill is $700.00. They tow and repair cars. You can get the simplest oil change up to transmission work done there.