Jean, it's important to establish a kind of "baseline" here
in order to troubleshoot this most effectively. So basic,
not too expensive parts may need to be replaced.
Unfortunately you're going to hear from this group one thing
(or several opinions) and from your mechanics, possibly
other things. It can be frustrating, but try to organize
your approach into a sequence of steps.

Pulling the spark plugs and seeing what brand they are is
not difficult, if you or your boyfriend have a few tools. I,
with others, strongly urge only using the plugs recommended
for your car in its owner's manual. Most likely NGK plugs
are one brand Honda/Acura recommends in the manual. Other
than NGK plugs (and one other brand, IIRC) can cause serious
running problems.

It's possible the car's fuel injectors are leaking. The
injectors, as you can imagine, spray fuel into the cylinders
for combustion and ultimately your car's power. They are not
supposed to be open when the car is "off." But sometimes,
especially with older ones, gunk builds up on them and they
stick open. A bottle of Chevron Techron ($7 at WalMart,
Autozone, etc.) fuel system cleaner, poured into a near
empty gas tank, which is then filled, might make a huge
difference.

Yours is an old car. Depending on how it's been maintained
(and regular oil changes are not quite enough), it may be on
its last legs. But maybe not. Read on.

AFAIC, you are right to dump the Toyota shop. My impression
is they are giving you the single woman treatment: Walk all
over you, because they figure you won't complain, since you
can't discuss the car's needs all that intelligently.

My 1991 Honda Civic sat in a dealership lot for five days,
with the service people repeatedly saying they would get to
its no start condition. The problem was in fact easy to
diagnose and ultimately was repaired within ten minutes. I
have no doubt they dumped on me because I was a single woman
not screaming bloody hell.

They charged me a fortune for the tow and repair, as well.

The repair did not hold up. I dealt with it intermittently
for another year. This newsgroup was key to my understanding
the problem and getting it fixed right. We do not all always
agree, but often something good for the OP does come out of
the discussions, as far as getting the OP's car back to good
running condition.

About the valve cover gasket:

The $100 price you mention must be for labor and parts.

I still don't like the Kevlar idea. I have changed the valve
cover gasket a few times on my 91 Civic, and, as I
mentioned, it comes up here as a maintenance item often.
Just never heard of it.

Many people purchase the parts they need for a repair, from
online, genuine Acura ( = OEM here) parts dealers. You can
do so for this valve cover (a.k.a. "cylinder head cover")
gasket. See item #3 at
http://www.acuraautomotiveparts.org/...prddisplay.jsp .
This gasket will last a good long time--at least 50k miles
and several years.

Cost will be under $20 w/shipping.

You can also buy an OEM PCV valve $14 not counting shipping
and have it installed. Backtrack from the link above, and
see the section under "Breather Chamber."

> and the Kevlar one about
> $15.00 more. That's why I said the service was around
> $100.00.
>
> Lastly the mechanic I met at Advance Auto two weeks ago
> called me back *just
> now* as I'm typing this (I called him last week, he just
> called back because
> his cell phone was being repaired, and he was just now
> returning his calls).
> I might have him look at my car Saturday afternoon as a
> side job. This guy
> told me ten days ago at Advance Auto that my car should
> last me another 250K
> if I take care of it.

If he saw it and said this, he is speaking the truth, for
the most part.

Without seeing it, and assuming it has been well-maintained,
I would think you can take it to 300k miles easily.

> In closing, I just don't think its normal for a car, even
> with 250K miles,
> to use 3/4 quart of oil in five weeks,

Yes, that's maybe high, but not necessarily alarmingly so
for an older car, for around 1000 miles in five weeks.

The heat may be lowering oil viscosity and increasing
consumption this time of year. As I mentioned, the PCV valve
certainly may be overdue for replacement. If it's not
working optimally, and on a car this old that's a good
chance, it will tend to push oil out at various seals
(including the valve cover gasket, esp. with an older
gasket).

My best luck (with my 91 Civic, 180k miles) has been with
independent shops, insofar as the quality of the repair and
cost was concerned. So I think the shop you found at the Car
Talk site is worth a try, at least, especially if it
specializes in Acuras or Imports.

Still, even independent shops can rip people off.

Automotive A/C is not something where I have specific
expertise, but I do know the fundamentals of A/C.
Compressors do break with age, and it is something I would
expect to fail majorly before other components in your car.

Studies bear out that women are walked all over at garages
and dealerships. (Or they let themselves be walked over!)

You're getting savvier every year on this. Keep asking
questions.

Others will post here. You're right to keep checking back.