Online Service Advice for You and Your Car

Some people think of their car as a member of the family. They lavish it with the kind of tender loving care that could blush a newborn baby. Others see their car as an invincible utilitarian appliance on wheels and rarely get around to even dusting off the dashboard.

Either way, your car needs regular maintenance and servicing to ensure that it can continue to provide you with the kind of safe and effective motoring for which it's designed. Regular maintenance means changing the oil regularly, ensuring that tires have adequate air pressure, and replacing wiper blades when they dull. It means that you need to replace parts such as filters, brake pads, and spark plugs as they wear out. It also means that you need to follow a regular service schedule as much as possible - something that every manufacturer recommends.

Fortunately, the Internet can help you understand when, why, and where to undertake car care. It can advise you about how to care for your car on your own and when to get professional mechanics to do it for you.

In this chapter, you can find out how (and where) to tap into expert online service and maintenance advice. You can read about some of the more common service requirements for just about every car, and you can uncover some great Internet resources to help you keep your car in tip-top order.

You also gain a lot of peace of mind by understanding exactly why you need to keep your car in good working order and how simple the task can prove if you just take the necessary time to understand your car's service and repair needs and follow through with timely and quality car care.

Understanding the Importance of Regular Car Maintenance

During your ownership, your car or truck may require a variety of services to keep it in good working order. You may want to perform some of the maintenance yourself, although more complex service and repair activity often requires the help of licensed car-care specialists.

Regular warranty checkups that include oil changes and filter replacements keep your brand-new car in tip-top shape. More important servicing needs arising from breakdowns or accidents may require the repair services of expert automotive technicians and mechanics.

The Internet offers you immediate access to a number of national industry organizations, all eager to foster customer satisfaction and trust by providing members easy access and a promise of a basic, or standard, level of expertise and experience.

The Automotive Service Association (ASA) (at www.asashop.org on the Web) is one such group. It began in 1951 and today represents 13,000 members, advancing "the professionalism and excellence in the automotive-repair industry through education, representation, and member services." Use the ASA's Web site to search for a member in your area and to consult its Automotive Tips section, where you can find out about its Consumer Bill of Rights for Motorists and more. The ASA Web site also carries important links to a number of legislative resources, including State Laws and Regulations for Replacement Crash Parts, a Summary of State Aftermarket Parts Disclosure Laws, and the ASA's formal position on a number of legislative objectives.

ASE is the acronym for the Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (www.asecert.org). ASE has been around since 1972 and boasts more than 420,000 professionals with current ASE certification. According to information at its home page, the organization's professionals work "in every segment of the automotive service industry: car and truck dealerships, independent garages, fleets, service stations, franchises, and more." Its mission is "to improve the quality of vehicle repair and service in the United States through the testing and certification of automotive repair technicians."

The ASE offers Tips to Motorists at its Web site, including a number of car-care "brochures," such as "Choosing the Right Repair Shop," "Getting Your Vehicle Ready for Winter," "Choosing the Right Body Shop," and "How to Communicate for Better Automotive Service." The site also features a number of handy tips for female motorists.

Check out, too, the International Automotive Technicians Network (at www.iatn.net), which is a group of 26,810 professional automotive technicians from 110 countries, Notice especially the site's Shop Finder, which enables you to locate network members in your area.

We also enjoy I-CAR ONLINE (at www.i-car.com), the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair, which describes itself as a "not-for-profit international training organization dedicated to improving the equality, safety, and efficiency of auto collision repair." Check it out for peace of mind and details about the kind of training a collision repair expert must undergoprior to certification.

After you consult these and other industry groups, you gain a greater appreciation for the professionalism that permeates this sector of the car industry.

Locating Online Service and Repair information about Your Car

You can find service and repair information all across the Internet, although you do need to sort out the good from the bad. Much of the good, of course, comes from official sources such as the government, automobile agencies, and the car makers themselves. Much of the bad comes from uninformed sources who may have good intentions but not the training or experience to back it up. So make sure that you know your source thoroughly whenever you accept online service advice.

One great source for online car-maintenance information is the United States National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) Web site (at www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems),whichpubtishesautomotive safety notices by make and model. By consulting the NHTSA site, you stay abreast of recalls, technical-service bulletins, defect investigations, consumer complaints, safety studies, and more. It's a great site.

Both the American Automobile Association (at www.aaa.com) and the Canadian Automobile Association (at www.caa.com) offer great information covering automotive and consumer services (and we feature both sites else-where in this book). The CAA site, for example, includes a section that it calls Approved Auto Repair Service (AARS), where you can locate automotive repair shops that the CAA approves. It offers another section with the name Driving Costs, where you can calculate how much owning and operating your vehicle costs each year by applying national averages and approximate driving costs.

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If your driving costs are out of sync with national averages for your particular car, you probably have a mechanical or electronic problem with your car, and you need to have your service provider check it out as soon as you can.

Checking out service support from car makers

Many of the big car makers offer car-service resources right on their Web sites. Whether big or small, these manufacturers understand the value of appropriate car care, and their online resources point you to valuable service advice.

Visit the General Motors Web site (at www.gm.com) and click the GM Goodwrench button to access an excellent array of owner's service resources. GM promises to take the guesswork out of caring for your vehicle with auto advice that covers everything from cleaning fabric stains to engine overheating. It even provides an online driver's log and maintenance scheduler. Sign up for the driver's log and you receive regular e-mails that remind you when your car needs routine maintenance.

Over at the Subaru Web site (at www.subaru.com), click the Subaru Care button to access warranty information, car-care tips, and maintenance schedules. You can easily find similar information at most of the other big automakers' Web sites, too. Check the Directory section in this book to find the URL for your car's manufacturer.

Car dealers are increasingly using the Net to offer advice and details about the services they're keen to sell you. Most manufacturers' Web sites offer a Dealer Search feature to help you locate the most convenient dealer in your area.

Finding neighborhood repair shops on the Internet

Many car-repair businesses operate on a local basis. They may keep just one or two service bays and mechanics on duty. Their individual reputations rest on their capability to meet the needs of a community rather than on a nation-wide multi-million-dollar advertising campaign.

These shops often hang a shingle out on the Internet, and a good search engine can prove valuable if you're trying to track down a repair shop near where you live or work.

Ask Jeeves (at www.ask.com on the Web) is perfect for this search. Type in its search text box something such as "Find me car repair on the Internet" to retrieve dozens of options worth following. One option that we retrieved from this query helps you locate yellow-page listings for automotive repair shops in practically every major city in America.

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Another query to Ask Jeeves — "What are the legal issues regarding car repair?" - retrieves a Web site from Court TV about car repair. Here you find a primer regarding your obligation to pay for unauthorized car repairs, a customer's responsibility for paying the difference between a quoted price and the bill, and so on. In fact, Court TV offers on its Web site an entire section of legal resources dealing with automobiles that you may want to check out (at http://consumer.courttv.tindlaw.com/topic5/autos/ifldeX.html).

Sometimes locating online auto service info is all about, well, location. On the Internet, that means dot-com location, and for one business in La Mesa, California, its dot-com location reigns supreme. You see, the domain name CarRepair.com (at www.carrepair.com) belongs to an outfit with the name of Bob Bowen's Auto Service. I can't vouch for Bob Bowen's work, but his location online is dead-on. Another community-based automotive repair business is a Scottsdale, Arizona, shop with the name Car Repair Co., which bills itself as "Your Dealership Alternative." It, too, has a great Web address (at www.carrepairco.com).

Seeking friendly neighborhood advice online

If you think of the Internet as your neighborhood (as we do), you may be happy to find out that you can find a lot of neighborly advice online.

Check out the Web site at www.askme.com for the Auto Maintenance & Repair link. The neat thing about this site is that it links you up to real people who can answer your questions. Not only can you view questions and answers, but you can also rate the answers already given and even add your own thoughts if you think that you can offer something useful. But the main thing here is to ask the question for which you need an answer. And you can do so here with as much detail as you think that you require.

PepBoys, the giant chain of automotive parts supplies, offers visitors to its Web site a useful list of car care tips (at www.pepboys.com/cartips/list.shtm). Here you can check out such topics as how to know whether you need A/C maintenance, how to wash and wax, the difference between conventional and synthetic motor oils, battery service tips, and even how to prepare for roadside emergencies.

Global4autoparts.com sells car parts worldwide, but its Web site (at www.global4autoparts.com/Car%2OCare%2OTips.htm) also offers detailed car-care tips. During a recent visit, we found out more than we needed to know about shock and strut installation and removal. Impressive, indeed.

Check out AutoShop Online, too, which considers itself the United States' largest independent car and truck repair help line. Its Automotive 101 (at www.autoshop-online.com/auto101.html) is a free tutorial about the "inner workings of the major subsystems of the modern automobile." It's a great archive covering the engine, drive train, suspension, and even heating and air conditioning.

AutoShop Online also features a pay-as-you-go Service Department Inquiry Form (at www.medilinks.net/secure/autoshop/secinquiry.html), promising you direct access to experts and information that can solve your automotive problem. The site bases this feature on a massive database of frequent repair problems and their solutions for more than 10,000 different makes, models, and years of vehicles. You can examine a list of sample questions and answers to determine whether this kind of online service suits you before you ante up with money.

Tapping Into Online Discussions, Lists, and E-Zines

In today's dot-com age, you may need to keep in mind that, not so long ago, the Internet was principally a service teeming with a high level of discussion and debate areas rather than Web-based content and endless sales pitches.

In those innocent days, before the Web existed as we know it today and graphical Web browsers were developed, Usenet and e-mail discussion lists drew people online. Back then, people exchanged ideas and experiences willingly in a general environment where commercial interests were considered inappropriate.

Today, both Usenet discussion forums (or Usenet newsgroups) and e-mail lists continue to grow in numbers and in popularity as they always have, and they continue to do so without the kind of fancy design and high-energy promotion that define the Web. If you're seeking car-service advice, both Usenet and e-mail lists, therefore, may prove well worth your time exploring.

Usenet newsgroups

You can access Usenet newsgroups in a number of ways. If you use AOL, simply type the keywords Usenet or Newsgroups to access AOL's Internet Newsgroups area. From there, you can search the newsgroups to find one that matches your needs. Other Internet surfers can access Usenet through their Web browsers or e-mail programs.

One simple way for every Internet surfer to access all Usenet newsgroup archives is through Deja.com (at www.deja.com on the Web). Although it's recently become a catch-all for e-commerce opportunities, Deja.com was once DejaNews.com, the ultimate repository for Usenet messages both current and historical.

Today, access to Usenet through Deja.com is through a new independent site (at www.deja.com/usenet). From that site, you can use the search function to find specific Usenet groups by typing keywords relevant to your needs and specifying recent or past messages. You're certain to find a wide variety of possible matches, such as nec.autos.makers.chrysleruk.rec.carsmaintenance,nec. autos.tech,alt.autos.porsche,andalt.autos. antique, to name but a few. A bit of patience links you up to a host of worth-while discussions perfect for posting your specific car-repair queries.

E-mail lists and e-zines

E-mail lists and e-zines are other possible avenues for you to check out for answers to your questions on car repair and maintenance.

E-mail is, arguably, the backbone of the Internet in terms of use by average people such as you and me. It's the most popular part of the Net, and it keeps each of us in contact with our network of friends online. In fact, more e-mail now goes out online than all the mail that uses the regular postal services around the world.

That's a lot of e-mail — and a lot of people shuttling their messages back and forth across the Net. Numerous e-mail lists have also grown along with the explosive growth in the Net's online population.

People who share a particular interest often share the same e-mail messages. These messages are known as e-mail lists, and literally thousands of them exist covering just about every topic imaginable. Some are private and others are by invitation only, but many are open for you to join as both a recipient and participant. E-zines are an extension of e-mail lists, and many are also open to join.

ListUniverse.com (at http://List-Universe.com on theWeb) is the mother list of lists on the Net. It can put you in touch with most e-mail lists and e-zines through a simple keyword search. Type Chevrolet, for example, and the search retrieves a listing for the Atlanta F-Body Organization, a group for owners of Pontiac Firebird/Trans Ams and Chevrolet Camaros.

Topica.com (at www.topica.com) boasts a huge collection of discussion lists and can help you find people, discussions, and information on virtually any topic. Type car repair to access a wide variety of related lists and newsletters. Topica recently acquired TipWorld (a collection of more than 20,000 tips and 140 newsletters) from our publisher IDG and, as a result, boasts that it now has nearly 10 million subscriptions and delivers more than 200 million e-mail messages per month.

Asking Your Online Friends for Advice

Last, but certainly not least, keep in mind that the Internet is a great tool to use if you just want to ask your friends for advice about car repair. If they have e-mail, you can shoot off an e-mail message to them asking for advice about their favorite online sites, no matter where they live — locally or across the world. Tap into their knowledge and use it as best you can. That's part of the fun about being online — sharing what you know.

You need, of course, to weigh all the advice that you get from this chapter, from your friends, and from your own wanderings on the Internet with common sense and practicality. Many aspects of car repair you want to leave to the experts, regardless of how much information, testimonials, and how to advice you can find elsewhere. These aspects involve the difficult tasks that require special tools and diagnostic components that you mostly find only at professional service businesses, such as car dealers, authorized repair shops, and sometimes even the local gas station. They require a special expertise that comes only from much learning and practice to ensure that the work is done correctly so as to not harm the rest of the car.

But car service and maintenance isn't always about repair. It often means simply keeping your car in routine working order. Much of what you read here can help you achieve that goal.

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Most important, as an informed car owner, you need to know how to use the data that you find on the Internet to ensure that you maintain your car sufficiently through the duration of your ownership. What you find through the resources and recommendations in this chapter can help inform you so that you can make the right decisions to enjoy your car to the fullest and then, later, to resell or trade it in at the highest value possible.