I came across this service on the internet the other day:
RepairPal.comIt's a website that you can use to check to see if an auto repair estimate you have been given is fair or not. You click 'get estimate', enter your car's information, the type of service that needs to be completed, and your zip code.
For example, I have an 02 SS. The wheel bearings recently needed to be repaired.I put in my info, and here's the page it displayed:
You can see it broke down the service into labor/parts, compared independent shops to dealer pricing, listed common symptoms, other things that might need to be replaced at the same time, and other things that might bre wrong, OTHER than the wheel bearings. On the right hand side, there are local auto repair locations that advertise with repairpal.com.
They have broken their system down into regions, as well. Here's the link to their site for the LA area:
http://repairpal.com/los-angeles-auto-repairAdditionally, they have reviews on specific cars. For example, if you are looking for a new daily driver, you might come across a page like this:
http://repairpal.com/honda-civic-2001Here's a screen capture:
You can see the ratings in specific categories, with comments left by other people in the lower part of the page.
They also have an auto repair 'encyclopedia'. For example, lets say you took your car into a shop because the car was smoking. They told you it needed to have the headgasket replaced. Maybe you're not familiar with this, so you go home, head over to repairpal.com and type 'head gasket replacement' into the search bar. Here's where it will take you:
http://repairpal.com/head-gasket-replacementHave any of you used this website/service? Did you find it useful?