Hello,

I am relocating to Va this week and have alot of things to accomplish in a short amount of time. I was looking for some advice from folks in the area to help me out.

I will be moving to Roanoke and living just south of the city line in Roanoke County.

I was curious about things like:

Best bank to use, BB&T and Wachovia seem popular...

Best cell service, I currrently have Verizon

Best place to have my truck serviced/inspected

So, any help would certainly be appreciated....

Thanks in advance!

 

I can't help you personally, but I know that SHARPSHOOTER on www.black-rifles.com/forums lives in that exact area. He's a genuinely nice fella if you want to register and ask him the skinny.

 

I live here, so maybe I can help. Wachovia has ben great for me. Service.....there is Berglund in Salem, Magic City Ford on Orange avenue, and Vinton Motors in Vinton. Verizon is probably the best here. Hope this helps as I moved here 2 yrs ago and had to find out this stuff on mu own!

 

I would second the Wachovia by default. I have never heard anyone that uses them complain. On the other hand, I was defaulted to BB&T when they bought out First Virginia. First Virginia was great, but BB&T sucks. Delayed transaction postings (always to their advantage), shortened hours (closes at 6 P.M., vice 7 P.M. when it was First Virginia), and repeated errors on my monthly bank statements (checks cleared but not listed, wrong amounts paid on checks, or incorrectly listed amounts, etc.). I'm up in the Northeren part of the state, so can't help on the local merchants, but Verizon seems to have good coverage everywhere. Welcome to Virginia.

 

Can't help with the bank since I bank in Clifton Forge - BUT - above is right on with Verizon and Magic City Ford. I bought my truck there and dealing with them was OK at best but the service department seems to be first class. I was quoted $160 - $200 for the 30k transmission service by several dealers (including Magic City). I had Magic City do the work and when I picked it up the invoice was only $115. I check to make sure all was ok - both with the service and the invoice. They told me the required service had been done and it cost less than they thought. Hope my "ramblins" help.

Kenny

 

Yes it does!

My truck is due to be inspected August if this month, thats when my Pa sticker expires. And I was going to take my truck to Magic City to have it done. You seem to recommend their service department, and that works for me. I had a very close friend whom owned a garage in Pa and that was the only guy I let touch my truck. So, I am not looking at getting swindled by a local guy, so I guess a dealership is a good place to start, even if I have to pay a little more.

Thanks for recommending Magic City, I will be talking to them in the near future unless someone can recommend another local garage for reputable service and can do state inspections.

 

Don't know much about local shops in Roanoke for general work. I use a guy in Covington for inspections and such. For "real" work I use Magic City - treated me "OK" so far. For exhaust work I have used both Jiffy in Vinton and Roberts in Salem. I have owned 2 F150's thats why two different exhaust shops. For body and paint West Salem Auto Repair is excellent. For performance we have the best over here with Troyer Performance. I have the XCAL2 with 3 Troyer tunes. ZOOM ZOOM

See you sometime

Kenny

 

Where exactly is Troyer at? I went back and forth with him a long time ago regarding a tuner for my truck, but deiced against it in the long run. My truck has since been out of warranty for some time. Now, if I were close, I would feel better about him actually installing and customizing the tune with the truck there, if he were close.

So, where's he at? :-)

 

Troyer is located just off I-64 about 1/2 mile east of Covington. So close that I pass his shop on the way to work each day. That sure was tough while I was waiting on my "tunes". His shop is open Monday through Friday and everyone is always welcome and you may even get to meet Mike himself.

Kenny