awesomeshow

Hey all, I'm here in Bellingham, Wa with my 1999 Legacy Outback. She only has 125,000 miles on it but it means that it is about that time to have the head gaskets replaced. I noticed my car was losing 15-20% efficiency in fuel burned so I brought it to the shop that my father brings his (non-soob) car to. The mechanic there diagnosed the problem as being a head gasket issue and quoted the job at $3,000. He also advised against moving forward with the work because it might reveal that something more serious could have resulted in my head gaskets being bad. After digging around though I have become unsure of his advice as my car has not had any overheating issues, which I've been told is a tell-tale sign of bad heads. I've also been told that $3,000 for a h/g replacement is ridiculous. So what I'm looking from you is some advice on how I should move forward and if any of you know of a trustworthy, honest mechanic/shop here in my neck of the woods?