My new mechanic, that is.

I've been getting my car serviced at Stevens Creek Acura. No real complaints about their service, but they're a pain to get ahold of on the phone, and they're located a bit too far from where I work for their shuttle service to conveniently drop me off and pick me up.

So, when I finally decided to deal with my car being a bit overdue for regular service, I decided to see if I could do better. I went over to Yelp, and discovered AH Connection. They had six reviews, all overwhelmingly positive. I phoned and arranged an appointment.

Cool thing #1: When I took the car in, Jonas (one of the co-owners) popped the hood, had a quick poke around, and pointed out to me some of the places where older Acura Integras tend to start to have trouble.

Cool thing #2: They gave me a loaner car. No messing around with a shuttle.

Cool thing #3: Jonas called me less than an hour after I dropped the car off and explained in detail what needed to be done to the car. (In addition the regular 60,000 mile service we'd agreed on when I dropped the car off, the brake lines needed flushing and the distributor cap needed replacing.)

Cool thing #4: When I came back to pick up my car, Jonas showed me all the parts that they'd replaced and explained why they needed replacing. It is one thing to be told that your distributor cap needs replacing. It's another thing to be shown the corroded contact on the cap. Car parts are so...mechanical. And so cool.

The car is shiny and clean and running beautifully. (It had been idling a bit more roughly than usual - now it's much smoother. Which is exactly what you'd expect, I believe, after you replace the distributor cap. Duh. I'm actually really good at telling by feel when something is up with my car, but about half the time I talk myself into thinking that I'm imagining it or something.)

Anyway, AH Connection has my future business, and if you live in the SF Bay Area and drive a Honda or Acura, they should have yours.