Finding a repair shop with RepairPal

If you are a conscientious car owner like me, I am sure you have at one time or the other faced the problem of finding a suitable garage to repair or service your car.

Unless money is not an issue, it can really be time consuming and stressful to find a repair shop. One site in the US that is getting a lot of attention is RepairPal. Set up by a couple of auto enthusiasts and entrepreneurs in California, to make it easier for car owners to access a comprehensive auto shop directory and more. Their encyclopaedia page is filled with a lot of useful explanations of car related terms. Found it really useful.

You can get fair auto repair estimates in a few steps by choosing your car make, model, year, the service type you are interested in (for example, Timing belt replacement) and finally providing your zip code. Customers can then rate the shops as per their experience.

Signing up allows you to access a number of features including a place to maintain your car records. The will even email you when your car service is due. Definitely a useful site for all car owners.

Changing clutch on my Ford Escort

The problem with buying a used car, especially one that's older than 5 years, is that the parts start failing one after the other.

I have had clutch problems on my old Ford Escort from day one. Of late it had been giving me a lot of problems - the clutch was so damn hard that I used to have pain in my left leg driving anywhere. It was worst whenever there were traffic jams with short 'Stops and Gos'. However, last Monday, I got stuck at an intersection as the gears refused to go into first gear. I eventually managed to get it into first hear but that was really frustrating and that was it. Finally decided to have something done.

So this Tuesaday, I took the car back to the best Ford specialist in Coventry, KNS Autoparts. Left it in the morning and the car was ready by 5pm. It cost me £164.50 (inclusive of vat). Lot cheaper than what other garages were quoting - one said £300 before VAT and another £250.

I had a tough time adjusting to the new clutch - it' so soft. The car drives like a dream now. I am definitely not selling it anytime soon.