Car Craziness

About a month ago, we took our car in to have it looked at. They told us that our air compressor was wearing out and that we would need to get it fixed soon. So we tried to ignore the sound it was making and decided to leave it for a few months. Then two days ago, Martin received a bonus from work because he got his appraisal certification and we were so excited to put it right into our savings account. But of course the next day, the noise with the car became quite a bit louder. So we figured we would take it to another place and get a second opinion. Ryan and I waited while the mechanics looked at it. After about an hour, they handed me five pages of things that they said needed to be done and it all totalled $2,000! I burst out laughing in the service guys face. Martin and I decided it wasn't worth it and I drove the car home. Now we were thinking maybe it was time to trade the car in and that we'd have to cancel our trip to Nashville for Thanksgiving. I called my brother who is a car mechanic and he gave the actual truth on the thing that needed to be done and found the part we needed for half the price of the dealership. He suggested that we try one more place and get their opinion. We're so grateful for his knowledge about cars. So we tried one more place in the afternoon and they quoted us to fix it for only $300! We couldn't believe it. They had it done by 5:00pm and it's running great. We were amazed to go from $2,000 to $300 in one day. What a blessing. Now we can go to Nashville and have a nice vacation with Martin's sister and her family. We sure are learning a lot about our car!