Date:  1 February 1982 1121-EST (Monday)
From: David.McKeown at CMU-10A
To: Lyle.McGeoch at CMU-10A
Subject:  Mervis motors and Fiats
CC: Harry.Bovik at CMU-10A
Message-Id: <01Feb82 112138 DM22@CMU-10A>
Origin:  A640DM22 at CMU-10A; 1 Feb 1982 1208-EST

Lyle
	When I had my Fiat 124 Coupe '71 in Pittsburgh between '75 and '79
I had nothing but trouble and aggrevation with Mervis servis dept.  Especially
towards the end when Pittsburgh winters had taken their toll (originally the
car wintered in D.C.) they really seemed to perform bogus repairs including
replacing rear brake pads backwards and snapping off the hand brake cable.
I think they are basically ripoff artists, to be avoided at all costs.  Now
for your problem, you might try Auto Palace on Morewood and Baum.  They are
Alfa Romeo dealers but I believe they work on other foreign cars.  They at
least could do a reliable compression test for your head gasket.  
	I don't agree with everything in the Reid "Guide to Pittsburgh" but
his advice on avoiding Fiats and selling one if you happen to bring one to
town is not bad advice.  The only dealer I have heard reliable things about is
Yenko Audi-Fiat in Canonsburg, about an hour drive out of the city.
	Wish I had some good news for you.
	Dave