Norm’s Auto Repair

On a stopover in Seattle to visit my sister during a long roadtrip from Sacramento, CA to Evans, WA, my boyfriend and I noticed a weird smell start at a stoplight during a serious rainstorm. It smelled like burning candlewax to me, like burning plastic to my sister, and burning oil to my boyfriend.
I really didn’t want to be stuck in Seattle in case there was something seriously wrong with the car so after I dropped my boyfriend off at the airport and said goodbye to my sister, I cautiously made my way across the state. I made it home, avoided the problem for a couple days by not driving the car then finally decided I needed to do something about it before it was too close to when I needed to head back to Sacramento.
My cousin had used Norm’s for something and gave a glowing review of his experience to my dad, so I eventually ended up there. When I walked in I explained what it smelled like to me, when it started, ect. The mechanics happened to out to lunch so Norm’s older daughter gave me option to come back or hang out until they returned. I chose to stay, grabbed the paper, and got to work on the crossword puzzle. I was super anxious about the whole ordeal because I didn’t want it to turn in to a huge, expensive thing that needed to be fixed. Obviously, my knowledge of my car goes as far as putting fuel in, replacing windshield fluid, replacing various lights, and using the clutch. Other than those things, I know nothing about cars.
Norm’s daughters treated me with respect and graciousness and completely calmed my nerves. It turned out that Subarus are unique in that there is a crush ring that must be replaced when you replace the oil filter. My boyfriend didn’t know that and had done the most recent 3 oil changes, reusing the old ring so the seal wasn’t getting completed each time. This last time it happened to get oil everywhere which is why the smell was so strong. The mechanic brought the wiped down crush ring out to show me what it looks like and let me keep it to remind myself to show my boyfriend. They completely cleaned the underside of the car, preformed an oil change, and gave me tons of advice on how to find a great mechanic in the Sacramento area (after I had lamented about not liking the Subaru dealerships I’ve recently had to deal with) complete with websites and descriptions of different mechanic ethic organizations to look for. They were also about to vacuum out the car but I stopped them lastminute because I was pretty sure I had dropped a ring somewhere around the drivers seat (in the summer they wash your car too).
They also did a big inspection on my car to give me an idea of how long I had until I would need other services taken care of. The only thing I can say I dislike about Norm’s is that it is 900 miles away from where I live.