How do you go about choosing an auto mechanic? Do you look for one that’s close to you? Do you just open the yellow pages and see who has the biggest ad? If that’s how you choose a mechanic, you may be in for a big surprise when you get your car or truck back. The most important thing to look for when you hire an auto mechanic is an ASE certification.

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Reader Question
I have a question to ask you about my 1994 Mazda B-3000. The engine intermittenly does not start. When you turn the key you never know what you’re going to get. The starter turns but sometimes the engine does not start. If I’m lucky enough to be parked on a hill (it’s a standard) in first gear or reverse, once you get it rolling and pop the clutch it starts without much trouble. It seems to have plenty of power from the battery, (lights, etc. all work). Someone told me it’s a flywheel problem but my mechanic said he didn’t think so, and is unable to diagnose the problem. He said he took the starter out and checked it and found nothing wrong. What do you think? Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Very Frusterated, Joe D.

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Reader Question: The heater in my car is not working. The mechanic told me my heater core is leaking and needs to be replaced. The price he quoted me is not in my budget right now, do I have another option? Bill

Bill I feel for you, the heater in your car (like the air conditioner) is a wonderful comfort item, and it can be very costly to repair if and when it fails. Before we get into repairing it, let me explain briefly what the heater core does.

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The Internet is a powerful tool to access information on any subject area, and one can find an incredible amount of car care information with a click of a button. Furthermore, with the help of a regular web search one can also find network links to information about automotive repair, vehicle maintenance, automotive diagnostic data and labor estimates. There are also a lot of good online auto repair web sites with individual articles that can answer your questions on all sorts of auto repair and car maintenance topics, such as how to change your oil, the best way to bleed brakes, why a car might stall or be hard to start, what color your radiator fluid should be, or even how to drive a stick shift.

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I drive a 2003 Volkswagen Passat. Yesterday I was making a long trip home and about 20 minutes into the trip the car said it was overheating. The coolant level was fine, and as soon as we would pull over the temperature would drop back to normal (before we even got to a complete stop.) Later in the trip it stopped cooling down when we would pull over and there was a sort of popping/gurgling noise that sounded like it was sort of behind the dash.Took it to the mechanic today and they have cleaned the radiator, checked the head gasket, etc. and they are baffled.

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Is a flood car coming to a town near you?

Hurricanes have done major devastation to the southern coastline, and the clean up project will likely take years to return things to some what normal. What I am concerned about is the potentially HUGE number of vehicles that will soon come on the market to be sold as used cars. The problem is not that the vehicle is used, but that it is potentially a casualty of the hurricanes and high water. These used cars are generally known in the business as ?flood cars.?

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Specialty auto repair refers to the repair and servicing of specialty autos and specific auto parts. Specialty auto repair centers take special care to provide you with genuine factory parts. Specialty auto repair technicians are highly skilled and experienced and they can pin point the problem of the automobile. Whatever model of luxury car or foreign car you are driving, there are repair centers specializing in those very models.

Specialty auto repair centers offer special dealer alternative maintenance and service packages. Some of them give extended warranties services for their clients. They even undertake heavy engine and transmission repair and replacement if needed. Some of these dealers have their own websites from which you can download special auto repair discount coupons.

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The problems with asking for the old parts back from your auto repair are many. Number one what you are really saying is I don’t trust you, right to your shops face. Another problem is if you ask for the old parts back from lets say a tune up you may get six old spark plugs and a smelly fuel soaked fuel filter. You do not want to carry around a wet fuel filter, and when it comes to the old spark plugs they could be out of anybody’s vehicle. Some times the part numbers on the old spark plugs is hard to read on very old plugs. If you can read the part number you can call a parts store to verify the spark plug part number belongs in your vehicle. When you are talking about getting the old parts back when the auto repair is brake job, trust me you do not want the old brake pads back. They are in most cases unidentifiable and very dirty and dusty. Plus there is no readable part Number to verify if they are off of your vehicle. So again they could be from someone else’s car repair.

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Think you’re getting quality auto repair service? What if I told you some of the biggest names in the business were out to get you on a daily basis? Since launching, we’ve been getting story after story after story about $5 oil change offers exploding into $750 - $3850 repair bills. We’ve heard about ‘new’ tires loosing tread and causing near fatal accidents. We’ve even heard of MASSIVE name shops charging people anywhere from $280 - $5200 again and again for the same botched auto repair service. How can this happen?

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The problems with asking for the old parts back from your auto repair are many. Number one what you are really saying is I don’t trust you, right to your shops face. Another problem is if you ask for the old parts back from lets say a tune up you may get six old spark plugs and a smelly fuel soaked fuel filter. You do not want to carry around a wet fuel filter, and when it comes to the old spark plugs they could be out of anybody’s vehicle. Some times the part numbers on the old spark plugs is hard to read on very old plugs. If you can read the part number you can call a parts store to verify the spark plug part number belongs in your vehicle. When you are talking about getting the old parts back when the auto repair is brake job, trust me you do not want the old brake pads back. They are in most cases unidentifiable and very dirty and dusty. Plus there is no readable part Number to verify if they are off of your vehicle. So again they could be from someone else’s car repair.

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