Vehicle Maintenance Software

Simple Solutions To Lower Your Auto Repair Costs...

With all the unique and numerous needs of today's cars, how do we keep track of tune-ups, vehicle maintenance, tire rotations, fuel injector cleaning auto maintenance and other automotive needs?

Is there a simple vehicle maintenance monitor system?

Is there some kind of window software for vehicle maintenance?

Yes...Full Article for Vehicle Maintenance Software

-Ted Olson
RepairTrust
Making Sense of Car Repair Prices

What’s My Vehicle Worth?

What's my vehicle worth? What a question! I wish that after 20 years in the automotive industry there was a simple answer. One would think that with all the information available it would make prices and values easier to obtain. In fact, in many ways, the numbers are more unclear than ever.

The following e-mail conversation regarding retail car prices and trade-in values highlights the confusion and misconceptions about automobile price and value.

This conversation occurred between me/Ted, the dealer, and Rich, the customer...

[Begin Email]

[Ted]

Hi Rich...

Donna loves the 2006 Volvo. It’s a perfect fit!

Again retail value is: $23,800

Here's what Medway Imports can do:
2006 Volvo S40 Price.............$18,995
2001 Chevy Impala Trade-In Value…........$4,000

Thanks Rich!

Note: the Volvo is still under its factory 4-Year 50,000-mile warranty, free road side assistance…etc.

[Rich]

Hi Ted,

Thanks for the information. The Volvo certainly is a great price, but isn’t my Impala worth $6,000-$7,000?....Click What's My Vehicle Worth for the full article...

-Ted Olson
RepairTrust
Take Control of Car Repair Prices and Used Car Prices

Car Repair Scams

Would would Jesus do...

Car repair scams are so blatant, yet little is being done to help the auto repair customer.

In the process of exposing car repair scams, I have received some hate mail. Most of these state that I’m crazy or paranoid, or that I have no idea what I’m talking about. Others involve more general ranting.

One, however, stated that I was a scammer. Essentially, this person thinks that I am using scam tactics to sell eBooks which expose scam tactics.

Here is a small sample of the facts that I have been stating...click the following link for the full car repair scams article.

-Ted Olson
RepairTrust
Take Charge of Your Car Repair Costs

Car Maintenance Costs

Car maintenance costs continue to rise despite new technologies. Repair customers have enough to worry about with car expenses and getting a square deal. Following is an interesting slant to lower car maintenance costs taking off in Asia...

You've heard of car pooling, why not car-sharing. Car-sharing will slice car maintenance costs down to a minimum--in Asia anyway. Could it catch on elsewhere?

Motorists turn to car-sharing...

SINGAPORE: With Certificate of Entitlement (COE) prices now back on an uptrend, many people may reconsider getting a car.

A growing number of Singaporeans are giving up their cars altogether, opting to car-share instead.

59-year-old retiree Thong Chee Hong and his wife do not travel as much as they used to.

So, a day after scrapping his car in August, they joined Honda's Diracc car sharing scheme.

The couple says they like the convenience of having a car whenever they need it, without having to deal with cost factors such as road tax, petrol, car maintenance and repair bills.

"I would generally spend $500 to S$600 on average per month in owning a car. However, when I came on this programme, I'm now spending on average only about $200 a month, taking into consideration six to eight times of driving per month," Mr Thong says.

Users of this system can receive and return the cars at 16 ports, the majority of which are located within the Central Business District.

But as the fleet grows, the plan is to have more of these ports at residential areas.

Mr Thong says he is also swayed by the use of Honda's environment friendly hybrid cars which run on an electric motor and a petrol engine.

Hisao Kobayashi, Managing Director, Honda ICVS, says: "Whenever the number of vehicles gets more, there are congestion problems and noise problems. We would like to provide other alternatives to our so-called users. If you use the car a little bit less, why don't you use car sharing?

This car-sharing scheme is complementing mass transportation like MRT, buses or taxis."

-Dominique Loh, http://www.channelnewsasia.com/index.htm

A fabulous idea to save money on car maintenance costs, gasoline, taxes...etc. Could it also solve traffic issues? Pollution?

In the mean time click the following link in order to take control of car repair prices!

-Ted Olson
RepairTrust
Empowering the Car Repair Customer

Car Maintenance Costs

Charging excessive car maintenace and repair costs has become an accepted practice across the auto service industry. Auto sales tricks, online and off, are just as outrageous.

The following RepairTrust Experiment sets out to change this...

The RepairTrust Experiment

We’re Going “Live” to Actively Promote Fair Auto Sales Pricing—Online and Off, and Fair Car Maintenance Costs.

RepairTrust has teamed up with Medway Imports, a European sales and service center. The experiment is to show that the rigorous “customer-friendly” pricing guidelines, discussed in-depth inside the RepairTrust eBook Trilogy, are truly workable in a “real-life” sales and service environment.

In other words, RepairTrust is putting its fair pricing claims to the test. Since the automotive industry is so money focused to the point of poor customer service, and unethical practices, RepairTrust and Medway Imports will...Get Full Article @ Car Maintenance Costs

-Ted Olson
RepairTrust
Empowering the Auto Consumer!

Car Repair Scams

5 tip-offs to mechanic rip-offs...

Unless you’re a car mechanic yourself, dealing with a repair shop may require a leap of faith. But if you pay attention to what your mechanic says (and does), you’ll find clues that could tell you whether you’re being bamboozled.

Here are some things mechanics may say when they’re planning to take you for a ride--and we don’t mean in your car.

1. “Get that engine flushed right away or it’s toast.”
Beware if your mechanic’s idea of “scheduled maintenance” bears little resemblance to the recommendations in your owner’s manual. Some shops “build the ticket” (translation: pad the bill) by recommending extra and often unnecessary procedures, such as engine and transmission flushes, or by scheduling some tasks prematurely. Some hawk high-priced “generic” maintenance schedules that may omit procedures your car needs.

2. “That rebuilt Camry alternator will run you $899.”
If you happen to know that your cousin paid only $399 for similar work, you’d better call around to check. Although good shops may charge higher prices to cover the cost of top-flight technicians and equipment, bills that are always 20 to 30 percent more than the going rate should put you on guard, warns John Nielsen, director of AAA’s Automotive Repair Network.

You can poll other shops to find out how much mechanics in your area are charging for common repairs and maintenance. For complex problems, try comparing the price of the parts alone by calling parts stores or dealer parts departments, advises Deanna Sclar, an auto repair expert and author of “Auto Repair for Dummies.”

3. “We thought the new fuel injectors would fix it, but it looks like you need a new fuel pump.”
Uh-oh. You may be dealing with a so-called parts replacer, that is, a mechanic who’s literally rebuilding your car because he can’t diagnose the problem, says Chuck Roberts, executive director for industry relations at the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence, an organization that certifies auto technicians.

Make the mechanic justify the initial repair. Even if it was an honest misdiagnosis, the shop should refund the amount of the first repair or discount the next one.

If the mechanic gets the diagnosis wrong again, stop replacing parts and replace the shop.

4. “With some cars, it’s not unusual to go through a starter every year.”
Yeah, right. This may be a tip-off that the shop did the work incorrectly or used poor-quality or makeshift parts instead of proper ones. Call some other shops to find out what they think or check the Web to see if there’s a discussion group devoted to your model and its problems. You might also want to take the car to another repair shop for a second opinion. If the original job was lacking, ask the shop that did the work to repeat the repair either without charge or at a substantial discount.

5. “You have to bring your car back to the dealership for service.”
Sure, the dealer wants all the lucrative repair and maintenance jobs. But generally, you need to use a dealer only for work covered under the warranty, recalls, post-warranty fixes you’re hoping the manufacturer will pay for under its “good will” program, or high-tech systems that require a dealership’s specialists.

These 5 tips come from Consumer Reports, and are a good start. Click the following link if you want the ability to STOP Car Repair Scams

Sincerely,

-Ted Olson
RepairTrust
Making Sense of Auto Maintenance Costs

The Only Fuel Savings Procedure That Actually Works is the

"BG" Fuel Injector Cleaning Auto Maintenance System

If it doesn't say BG--AVOID IT! In the mean time, here are some "tricks" that you'll want to avoid as well...

Fuel-saving gizmos are gimmicks...

Today’s reader-replies column is a follow-up to a previous one about fuel-saving gizmos and the likelihood that any of them work.

Though “hope springs eternal in the human breast,” when hope is used to sell a quick fix for the high price of gasoline, the Federal Trade Commission scrutinizes the practice.

For the past several years – until recently – the International Research & Development Corp. of Nevada, through its Web site and broadcast e-mails, claimed its magnetically based FuelMax and Super FuelMax devices reduced vehicle emissions and increased fuel economy by 27 percent.

In August of this year, the FTC settled a suit against the company. Lydia Parnes, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, explains:

“Consumers are looking for ways to increase fuel efficiency and save money at the pump. There are some practical ways to do that, like following the maintenance schedule in your owner’s manual, combining errands and avoiding jackrabbit starts. The fact is that many products that claim to save fuel don’t work, and worse yet, may damage your car and end up costing you more.”

The FTC settlement imposes a “lifetime ban on the manufacture, advertising or sale of FuelMax, Super FuelMax, or any similar fuel saving or emissions decreasing product.”

It bars the defendants from making “false or unsubstantiated claims and misrepresentations that products increase gas mileage or reduce emissions” and from “assisting others or providing others with the means and instrumentalities to commit deception.”

The settlement also recovers $4.2 million for “consumer redress.” If you have bought FuelMax or Super FuelMax, you could be entitled to a refund. The FTC hotline for the settlement is 1-877-382-2020, option 1.

Reader Lynn Lunquist weighs in with his opinion on another putative fuel-saving device:

“Of course the Vortex Valve works! I get concerned enough about gas prices to send them my $69.95, I have now shifted from frustration-about-gas-prices mode to do-something-about-it mode. I put the Vortex Valve in and start driving like I expect it to work. And it does! I save 10 percent to 15 percent on my gas bill because I am driving better ... Unfortunately, when the motivation to save gasoline wanes, then the Vortex Valve tends to develop space strings which clog the engine aspiration and mileage again drops off. But that’s OK! There are magnets for the fuel line, or oil additives, or ...”

Reader Edward O’Neal of Norfolk, Va., offers a more sensible suggestion for dramatically increasing fuel economy – a device with neither installation requirements nor upfront costs:

“What your readers need to understand is that they can drastically improve fuel efficiency by simply slowing down. Wind resistance, which is a major factor at highway speeds, increases with the square of the speed. Reducing speed by 10 mph can reduce fuel consumption by up to 30 percent.

“In my 1996 Volvo 960 with a 6-cylinder engine, my mileage goes up from 24 to 27 mpg when I reduce speed from 70 mph to 60 mph. The reduction is much less at in-town speeds, but at highway speeds, the improvement is dramatic.”

-Chip Keen

Chip's article reflects the garbage that is out there in the market place that repeatedly is used to scam the auto repair consumer.

Yes...slowing down "does" actually work. However, I personally like passionate, spirited driving...so...I want something that will work regardless of the MPH...

The good news is that there is a product that works--I mean it REALLY works. It's called BG Fuel Injection/Induction Cleaner. For videos, news clips, and all the proof you'll need, visit Fuel Injector Auto Maintenance for a full discussion.

-Ted Olson
RepairTrust
Making Sense of Auto Repair Costs

How Car Dealers Treat Women

The following article illustrates the dispectful treatment of women that is so common in the auto sales and service industry...

The first time I went on a big car lot to buy a car, was with my girlfriend. The salesperson met us outside of our car as if he was going to valet it. I asked him if I could park there, and he responded jokingly “only if I wanted to buy a car”. He immediately asked what kind of car I was looking for. My response was, “the car is for her, she is making the decision”. I mistakenly thought that was direct and sufficient enough, but apparently I was wrong.

The next few questions were directed at me, as if he hadn’t heard my response to the first question. To which I answered “the car is for her, she is making the decision”, about six times I think. I thought maybe he was hard of hearing, but after hanging out for a few minutes with him, I found that wasn’t the case. She finally settled on a car in the price range she was looking for and he ran to get the keys, which of course he handed to me. I got in to drive, the salesman sat in the passenger seat and my girlfriend sat in the back. He was asking me about the power, the torque, and the handling.

About a ½ mile down the road, I pulled over to let her drive. The salesman nearly had a heart attack when I got out. “I told you a number of times that the car was for her, I am letting the decision maker drive, so she can make her decision,” I told him. I was expecting the same question about the power and torque directed to her, but they never came, just questions about the fabric interior and the color of the car.

It was as if he took a sales course about generalizing what each gender wants in a car.

When we got back to the car lot, we followed him inside to work out the numbers and financing. Then the games started. We were young, but not stupid. He was writing numbers all over the place on a sheet of paper that he folded in fours. He wanted to know a payment I was comfortable with. I just pointed at my girlfriend. She answered $200, to which he responded “$200 up to what”. “$201” I remember her saying, I knew there was a reason I liked her.

For the next 20 minutes, we were being manipulated into thinking that the car we drove may not be there tomorrow, and her payment of $223/mo. with what I thought was a sizable down payment, would get her the car tonight. Unlike most car buyers, she was not an emotional buyer. She decided the monthly payment was too high for her budget, and said “no thank you."

We got up to leave and the look on his face was as if we just punched him in the stomach. He had one last ditched effort to keep us as clients. When that was rebuked, he blocked the door and said, “When you come back to buy this car, ask for me, because I don’t do this for fun, I do this to feed my family”. I hope his family knows how to garden.

The whole experience made us want to go home and shower and not deal with people like that anymore.

If you ask any woman who has gone on a lot herself, you will be amazed at the comments they get. This one took the cake: “Did your husband give you his wallet to shop for a car tonight?” The reason I am now a used car salesman, is because there is nobody else stepping up and treating people like they should be treated when buying a car. There are way too many games and manipulations going on and people are buying cars for way too much with financing that is burying them, because some unscrupulous car dealer tricked them into it.

This article by Tom Carey speaks to the outrageous sales tactics so common in the automotive industry. When will it ever learn!

-Ted Olson
RepairTrust
Honest Car Maintenance Costs