I am thankful for the responses. I had my car taken in due to no heat overheating when it was extremely cold on Tuesday Wednesday - major problems on Wednesday. I took it to the shop - the radiator was bad at the bottom, a hose blew off the back of the motor. I had that replaced still no heat. That's when the mechanic told me I had to decide whether or not to keep the car or fix it (temporary) and get rid of it. Also, that mechanics do not want to do this type of work anymore, because it takes so much time and the cost of about $3000. So when I read $300 - I was in shock to see that this work can be done at this price.

sounds like your mechanic maybe in over his head and is trying to get out of fixing your car without looking bad or inept. go someplace else.