How to Dispute Car Repair Charge

There are times that you need to dispute a charge from your mechanic. Sadly, not all (many?) mechanics are trustworthy. But hoe do you do it? Hoe do you walk away with the bill you feel is accurate and honest?

There are sine great resources online, where increasingly, new startups are trying to shed some light on the traditionally opaque car repair industry. Repairpal.com and autoMD.com are the leaders in giving you an online quote on what a should cost. Both have limited programs which try and connect you with a reliable mechanic. Or, there is the new startup www.carfixd.com which negotiates for you.

So, how do you negotiate?

1. Always ask the mechanic to show you the parts

2. Make sure you look up the prices of posts online

3. Try and get a second opinion on the repair by calling another shop

CarFixd.com - Beta Launch

A new website www.CarFixd.com just launched and is looking for FREE beta testers!

Basically, the site lets you hire a mechanic to negotiate car repair for you. You are having trouble with car repair, you hate dealing with mechanics, so hire a mechanic to deal with mechanics. They are entirely on your side, and they call up your shop, make sure you are not paying for things you don't need and you are getting a fair price for what you do need, and then you settle your (negotiated) bill with the repair shop.

If you want to try out the service for free - shoot them an email at info@carfixd.com

Why Snow Tires Make a Difference

Depending on where you live in the US, snow tires are either unheard of, something your skier friend pays for, or a way of life. Go a little further north and most of Canada requires either snow tires or four wheel drive.

So what's the big deal? Do they really matter?

Short answer: tires matter more than having AWD/4WD.

Long answer:
When your car is trying to get grip, the tires are the single biggest game changer. Four spinning tires without traction is not much better than two, and much worse than two tires with traction. Most importantly, think about braking: unless you're using the skinny pedal on the right (accelerator) AWD/4WD does absolutely nothing. All that matters are the quality of your brakes (a little) and how much traction you have, which is all about up tires.