Camry Sationwagon Oil Leak

[aws1993]

Hey guys, I looked for a forum for some advice and thought a toyota specific one would be a good place to start. Basically I know next to nothing about cars. I can drive mine pretty decently without crashing it, I can fill it with fuel, I can check the oil and VERY baisc stuff like that. I could probably change a tire if it was a life or death situation. I am not really an entuhisiast or DIY guy when it comes to cars. I mean I like to drive it and I'm very thankful that it gets me from A to B but with anything technical please speak to me as if you were speaking to a child or a dog. Haha.

Anyway, my mother and I share a car. We bought it a about 5 or so years ago. It's a 2003 (I think, maybe 2002) Camry Wagon. I think it's a CSi v6, and I think either 3.2 or 2.6L engine? We bought the car in Brisbane, it has been amazingly reliable and has done a good amount of driving. I learnt to drive in the car etc. We moved to Melbourne last year and drove it down, and at the end of the last year we were going to the snow from Melbourne and got it booked in for a routine service to make sure everything would be okay. We were told the timing belt and cam seals would NEED to be changed. We had that done at a local garage and since then ( a few months after the snow trip) the car started leaking oil (at least I think it's oil).

From what I can tell it's leaking from the front end of the car. There's a very noticable patch where we park the car and it seems to be right in the middle, a little bit back from between the wheels maybe. I'm pretty sure it's an oil leak, I parked at the supermarket and checked if it was leaking and I dabbed a tissue in the leak and it was a dark brown colour, from what I have googled this suggests oil but MAYBE transmission/brake fluid. The oil has gone down a few times and we have maybe put 2 bottles (1L each) through the car since September. This was to be on the very safe side though, and probably excessive.

We are very suspicious of the mechanic. We had a car that has never had a problem and we had a very good mechanic in Brisbane. We got a routine service and all of a sudden needed work, then after that work was done there have been more problenms; but the car has never had ongoing problems like this before. We are also looking at selling the car and getting something smaller now that we live closer to the city etc. Parking and economy are more of a concern. We are looking at getting maybe a slightly newer, but not much newer, 4 door Corolla. We want to sell our car to buy, so is it even worth getting it fixed first?d

So I guess I want to know what my options are. And am I wrong for being suspicious of the mechanic?

Thanks in advance for the help!