How The Internet Can HELP You Fix Your Car

So, yesterday I wrote a post about how The Internet Can NOT Fix Your Car. After writing that post, the internet was totally screwing with my. I figured I needed to get some karma points back and tell you guys how you can use the internet to HELP get your car fixed.

I want to break this up into 3 parts, Price, DYI, and information. Everything you can find online will fall into one of these 3 categories. Or, you can just come to Humble Mechanic and end your search. 😉 Seriously, lets take a look at some good ways to use the internet for help getting your car fixed or maintained.

Price
The way I see it, more people do things for there car based on price. How can you use the internet to get a better deal? Lots of ways really.

• Go to your dealers web site and check for coupons. Mine usually has some good savings on their site. Some customers can save as much as $150
• Also be sure to check manufacturer sites for coupons. This will mean you have to go to the dealer, but I think you should anyway.
• Try the app/site Repair Pal It is a pretty cool app. You can input your repair and the will give you a quote. I have found that it only covers really common stuff, and the prices are not exact, but it can get you close

DIY
Using the internet to find instructions to do it yourself is one of the best things ever! I am always using sites to learn how to do things, no matter the topic, you can find a”How To”.

• YouTube~So many great videos out there. As I have said before, my friend Katie used a YouTube video to learn how to change the pollen filter in her Toyota. She will never have to pay anyone to replace that filter again
• How To sites~Places link instructables can teach you how to do almost anything. Its a pretty cool site, and I am sure there are more out there.
• Forums~ This can fall into both DIY and INFORMATION. Search for a forum about your brand. Odds are someone has done a really awesome write up about how to fix or replace just about anything that will break.

Information

There is also the purely informative side of getting your car fixed. Lets not even call it fixed, lets say knowing your car. This will go far beyond what you see in an owners manual. While the owners manual is a great great GREAT tool, it is only current when the car is built. Updates come pretty fast in this industry. Believe me when I say that we get so many notices that come down the VW pipeline, its damn near impossible to keep up. The cool thing is there are a lot of people that will put this information online.

• Forums~Same as above, just remember, just because it is in a forum, doesn’t make it true. There are a lot of people that think they know what they are talking about, and don’t know anything.
• AAA~ AAA and other car sites can be a good place to find general information. I find most of these type of sites hard to navigate, but the information is there. The other thing is, they are written by people that are inside the auto industry, but not IN the industry. I find most things to be very well written, but lack any passion or care about the topic.
• Blogs~ I hope there are other people like me doing this. If you know of any, please post a link in the comments, and let me know. I would love to get up with them..

I hope that I have given you guys some good resources and ideas. One other thing, remember that this is your community too. Be sure to ring in with your thoughts and comments.. Oh, and tune in tomorrow for Shop Shots, I got a few good ones. 😉