Wheel Alignment

This clip contains clear explanations of wheel alignment, toe, camber and caster.

It also recommends that you should get your car aligned after rotating the tires, which makes sense. But if the interval is pretty short (say 7,500 miles) then it's not very practical to keep up with that routine.

The more often a technician touches your car, the more risk there is of human error. And wheel alignment is, in my experience, one of the procedures that has a high chance of not getting done right the first time, resulting in having to bring the car back for corrections. It's hard to get it just right.

So unless the car pulls to one side or is imbalanced, or there is evidence of uneven tire wear I wouldn't worry about getting an alignment each time I rotate the tires. Also, be sure to account for the effects of road crowning when checking alignment.

How to Change A Timing Belt

This is one of the more lively yet informative clips. Scotty Kilmer walks us through the process of replacing the timing belt on a Toyota Camry. The front wheel skid with the motorcycle in the intro is pretty impressive too.

Note he mentions a good idea of turning the engine over twice using a “cheater bar” before starting the engine with the new belt to check for correct installation (because a four stroke engine requires two full revolutions to complete a combustion cycle).

Comparing Auto Repair Costs With RepairPal

RepairPal lets you compare specific repair costs for your type of car, in your area.

The site compiles data from 173,000 dealers and independent repair shops to come up with a range of estimates in a given area for specific auto repairs. It also distinguishes between dealership ranges and those of independent shops, which tend to be less expensive.

Testing it I found the prices to be on the high side on what I’ve paid for repairs. The cynic in me believes the RepairPal estimates reflect the inclusion of inflated rates some (many?) people have paid. Because this includes amounts paid by a lot of people who don’t know cars (regular Joes and Janes) it drives up the average. You, on the other hand, could do a lot better.

Having this tool is good in that we’re starting to get quantifiable pricing information, one of the many things the web is good for (this site has some very interesting features).

Once you have an idea of what to expect it’s good to shop around. This is the best way I know of to get a sense of what a repair will cost.