When I got back to my hometown of Austin for a visit in April 2006, temps hit the 100's and when I arrived, my A/C was not working. Sweltering through the weekend, I called around to some trusted RV techs I had used before, and they said the guy to call to work on basement model A/Cs was Joseph Ruiz - he was one of very few who would tackle that kind of job.

I was happy to hear he could do the work on my site so I wouldn't have to pack up and take my house to the shop. He came out for a reasonable $45 trip charge, and the first thing we saw when he opened the panel were several burnt wires. He said he hoped it wasn't the PC Board, because that would be over $400 just for the part. He performed the diagnostics and determined that the two relay switches and start capacitors would need to be replaced for sure. Within a couple of days he was back with those parts and after installing them, relieved my mind and my wallet by telling me the PC Board was fine and did not need replacement. The total charge for both trips and the repair was under $300 - very reasonable according to my contact at the Winnebago factory service center.

The next few days were much cooler in my house, but I still noticed during the hottest part of the day the unit couldn't get to the set temperature. Joe came back out and after testing, determined the thermostat was the culprit. My Winnebago contact agreed, but he couldn't sell me one from the factory and told me that the suggested retail price was $140. Joe called around to get me the best price, even calling the Coleman manufacturer to see if he could get it wholesale from them. He wound up finding one locally for $95.00. His only other labor charge to me was for one service call, even though it was necessary for him to come out twice for that problem.

Joe shared a bit of his background with me and his long-time love of being a mechanic. He said even as a small child he had a natural gift for tearing stuff down and putting them back together, starting with model cars. When he was 5 years old on an outing with his parents, the car broke down. His father opened the hood and Joe eagerly asked if he could look, too. As they looked, Joe said, "Look, dad, that bolt there doesn't look right - it needs to be tightened." His dad said there was nothing they could do because they had no tools with them and he certainly was no mechanic. But Joe insisted they try to tighten the bolt using a dime. It worked! As his father told the story later to his Uncle John, Joe was asked if he wanted to be a mechanic. He enthusiastically screamed, "YES!" Uncle John said he could begin helping him in his shop. The next day when Joe showed up to work, he was handed a broom. Joe innocently asked, "What's wrong with the broom - is it broke?"

Uncle John told him he had a lot to learn about being a mechanic and he was literally going to start from the ground floor. He would learn what he could and could not touch, where to put his feet and hands, and not to leave the car dirty when he was through so the customer always received a well working and clean car when it left their shop.