Wiley Automotive

I have been looking for an HONEST, COMPETENT mechanic for routine, minor stuff (oil changes and the like; I take my car to Toyotech in Montclair for major stuff; it's worth the 89-mi., one-way drive)since I moved to Palm Desert 4 years ago. I've finally found him in Chris Wiley. EVERY other place I've been has tried to hustle me (somehow intuiting my automotive ignorance) into other work that, on consultation with Toyotech, turns out to be unnecessary. Someone posted Wiley's card in the laundry room of my apartment, and I took it to him to check out whether yet another hustle operation was right about extra work that my car needed (they were things that Rick, at Toyotech said he couldn't really evaluate over the phone; but he gave me relevant questions to ask). Wiley looked my car over (refusing, incidentally, my offer to pay for an inspection, saying he doesn't charge for that, and concluded that the latest hustle operation was simply hustling -- with one possible exception. No, I didn't need the transmission flushed; no, I didn't need that brake work, etc.(he added that this particular hustle operation "are crooks"); but he said that the radiator hoses might, indeed, be wise to replace. I have an '02 Carolla, and the hoses were the originals. He said that they felt all right, but that 175,000 was a lot of miles for them, and it might be a good preventive move to replace them. I said to go ahead, he did and charged me what a more knowledgeable friend (confirmed by Toyotech) says was VERY reasonable. He is an old-line, marvelously experienced, grizzled mechanic who will work on anything he feels competent to handle and will tell you if the car or the job is not one of his specialties -- and will recommend where to take it (as he just did for some wheel alignment; they turned out to be as competent and honest as he is!). There's no waiting room; he's a one-man shop, and it's a little hard to find: between Grace and Jackson, but you must approach either going west on 111 or take Grace, south, and turn right, because a barrier prevents a left turn. Look for his sign at the bottom of a sign board listing a number of businesses at the far end of the very wide drive into his place. He is a FIND!