Anyone have any suggestions for a good independent p-car service shop in eastern Tennessee?

I'm definitely going to have the car tuned and after reading through all recent threads I'm figuring there is a list of things I should do:
1. Replace the plugs & coils
2. Replace the main drive belt (I'd hate to think that was original to the car!)
3. Fluids and filters

Feel free to chime in if you think I'm being too cautious and could skip these steps and go straight to tuning! Obviously if there's any recommendations I'd love to hear those too. The car's an '02 with 24k miles on the clock.

I'm also considering the 2nd gear pop-out avoidance options, the ball bearing solution is top of the list there so far, but more research to do. And maybe RSS mounts too.

For the tune I'm considering two options – Protomotive and UMW. Protomotive is attractive as they're about 8 hours drive away and it would be neat to have one shop do it all. I think I'd drive out feeling pretty confident that everything that needed to be addressed was. UMW –Kevin has lots of great feedback – is a little more convenient so long as I can find a good independent to do that work above that really knows TT's. Plus his spring sale is hard to pass up (although I don't know Protomotive's price yet

Any and all thoughts appreciated!

 

If you like the drive go to Todd Knighton

 

Todd also very commonly does remote flashing (that's how he did mine). He knows these cars very well, so not much to worry about.

As far as shops, I don't know any in eastern TN, but in Nashville there are several. In truth though, the maintenance you listed is very basic and any decent shop shouldn't have a problem.

Where your money would be well spent is with a thorough boost leak test, not a simply 5psi smoke test, but a 15-20psi constant pressure boost leat test that should hold constant pressure and not leak. You'll probably find after 10+ years theres a check valve or dv's that need to be replaced as well. Nothing major, just need some dedicated eyes on it.