Thanks to all for great information
Thanks to all for great information
If it weren't for you guys, I'd be out of my mind right now. I repair/configure computers and networking equipment for a living - and it would never occur to me to charge someone for a repair that I was not able to complete, or to charge someone for a 'fix' that I didn't really do.
I offered this shop the same benefit of the doubt that I expected from my own clients. I was a professional mechanic from 1971 to 1980, before I went back to college and earned an electronics degree, so I can sympathize with auto repair shops. However, I must confess that I've found over the years that the auto repair industry has become inherently dishonest. Every time I venture to a private repair shop I detect an air of "misinformation". It's almost as if they require largely ignorant customers to be successful.
I bought my Mystique brand new, so I got ten years of warranty coverage for repairs which I didn't really have to pay for - and I always brought it to the dealer for repair. In retrospect I wished I paid more attention to the inner workings of this car over the years. Now, I'm trying to playing catch up and consequently got "hosed."
I've been PM'ed by a local CEG member who has been most helpful, and offered me a 2000 Cougar UIM/LIM. If this will work for my car, and the price is affordable, I'll probably purchase this setup. I;m not sure if my MAF sensor will be compatible with the UIM, but I'm assuming that the LIM is the same. I just hate to think that they got away with over $500.00 of my money when work is super slow for me right now.