Frank Bellucci - EzineArticles.com Expert Author

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Beauty or a Beast?
[Automotive] People are always asking me what the most reliable car is to purchase. You know it took me quite a while to figure this out as I grew up mainly because I grew up in a family with recessive genes when it came to purchasing vehicles. My grandfather (the one who would sing Italian love songs after a glass of wine on my dad’s back patio) was in love with Cadillacs. Picture this 5’, 6” graying guy who looked like the typical image of the Mafia boss driving his 43-foot long El Dorado down the street and you start to understand what I’m talking about.

How to Find a Great Auto Repair Shop!
[Automotive:Repairs] I used to think that all auto repair shops were exactly the same. That’s what my dad told me. Being an at home “master mechanic” who saw cars as just another home repair, dad was sure that all those automotive car fix it folks were just guys with a wrench who had only one advantage over him – they already read the Chilton auto repair guide before him. He spent hours laboring over the guides learning how to fix various things on the car and once in a while he got it right. But beyond dad, how do you find a truly great auto repair shop? The fact is there are a lot of things that you can look for when picking an automotive repair shop. First I think it’s important to consider the credentials. For example, ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) certifications are a great place to start. Some shops have great mechanics who are not ASE certified, but the problem is without the certifications “you” don’t know which of those guys knows what they are doing and which ones don’t. The ASE certification is a great way to validate a mechanic’s skills. If the mechanic received an ASE certification in an area such as brakes, your chances of getting solid repair work are improved. Note that an ASE mechanic may be certified in brakes, but not in engine work, so it’s valid to ask the question of your service advisor as to whether the mechanic working on your car is ASE certified in the area you are going to have service. Taking it five steps further, you can look for a shop with a Master ASE mechanic on board. A Master ASE certified mechanic is certified in every area of automotive repair – hence the “Master” part of the certification title. This mechanic is most likely a guru of automotive repair and could be your best solution to years of long and solid service. This person is also usually a person with years of experience as well and it’s hard for me to think of a better “green beret” qualification than this. If the team that is working on your car is lead by a Master ASE certified mechanic and all the rest of the mechanics are at ASE certified in at least one area, you’ve probably found a great shop that can really help you out from a technical perspective. The next thing to look for is that the shop is listed as an ASE shop. You can go to the ASE’s web site at www.ase.com to look up shops that are ASE certified. The next level is an ASE “Blue Seal” shop. This level implies an even higher level of technical assurance than a standard ASE shop. Amongst other things, it tells you there is a Master ASE certified mechanic at the shop. There are other things to look for in a shop. Are they friendly and courteous in handling your call when you call in, or do they make you feel like they’re too busy for you? Of course, other things are honest and reliable work. One good way to know about service here is to check out the Better Business Bureau and see if the shop has an unusual number of complaints in its file. If they’re a “member” of the Better Business Bureau, you’re in even better shape since they must follow Better Business Bureau policies to stay a member. There are many other ways you might use to tell if a shop is reliable and solid. One of the best ways of course is a glowing review from friends or family. Word tends to get around if a shop really stands out as a great place to take your car, average place, or a shop that is not so good to go to. This is a super place to start. If that’s not possible (you’re new to town for example) take a look at the shop’s website and see if they have customer testimonials on there and see if there’s anything that resonates with you regarding those.

That New Car Smell - Tales from the Darkside in Austin, Texas
[Automotive] If you’re anything like me, you love that New Car Smell. There’s no smell quite like it in the whole world. I think the carmaker guys spend a lot of time enhancing it since they know it makes us buy cars faster than Margaritas on Cinco De Mayo. It’s the same strategy the fast food guys use. You know what I mean. You drive by and there’s some short and skinny guy up in the fast food chimney fanning out the burger and fries smell so you can’t help it but stop and buy the Biggie Burger and the Figgy Fries. The problem is it’s only about 1 hour after your done woofing your food before you wish you hadn’t gone to Biggie Burgers and about 1 month before you wish you hadn’t gone to Super Daddy’s Western Car Dealership.

My Red Pontiac Firebird - Babe Magnetic With an Attitude Problem
[Automotive] Before I talk about my Firebird, let me mention I once owned a brand spanking new Pontiac Fiero. It was black and racy, sexy and cool. I felt like a super hero in it as I zipped down the street and flew around corners. But I had trouble with that car; in short, I couldn’t drive, eat a donut, and shift all at the same time. That irked me a lot. But the car never broke down. Of course, it only had 30,000 miles on it before somebody used it as target practice for Terrorist Training by ramming their car into it and totaling it. So at 22 years old, I ran down to my Pontiac dealer and bought what I really wanted in the first place: A Red Pontiac Formula Firebird!

My Car Scored 18 Points Higher on its IQ Test Than Me! Tales From the Darkside in Austin, Texas
[Automotive] If I had my druthers, I'd buy an island with no plains, trains or automobiles. I'd probably donate my blackberry to somebody at Dell, give my cell phone to somebody in a prison cell, and fire that computer lady on the phone that always says, "hmmm, I didn't quite get that, did you say muster service?" You know where I'm going with this article. This is the part where I say things have gotten far too complicated. I'm either getting slower and stupider or the rest of the world is getting faster and sharper. I always used to be the guy on the cutting edge. Now I'm the guy who always hits the wrong button at the ATM and has to cancel the transaction and start over.

The "Family" Business - The Godfather's Business or the Automotive Repair Shop?
[Automotive] When somebody mentions "the Family Business" I think of a well dressed, old and skinny Italian man with a scratchy voice and has a name like Tony or Sammy. My Grandfather, who I've mentioned in some of my other articles, definitely fits the bill. With just one glass of a good Chianti wine, you might find him in our garden patio, rocking back and forth, singing Italian love songs for hours. He was indeed a short, skinny guy, who talked in a voice very similar to the Godfather and at the age of 80 he still had a full head of gray hair. Give him a mandolin and it was almost like being in an old Italian movie.

The Devil Inside the Check Engine Light
[Automotive] You know that funny little red light that comes on that says "Check Engine". We've all been there, minding our own business driving down the road and "pop" it comes on without any regard to our schedule and our busy lives. I don’t know about you, but I’ve noticed over the years that it has a reckless indifference to how stressed I am on a given day.

Brake it All! Tales from the Automotive Darkside from Austin, Texas
[Automotive] You know I hate going to the Doctor. They poke and prod, take X-rays and blood tests, and then come up with some report telling you that you have some rare disease that was born in monkeys 10,000 years ago and you’re one of 17 people in the world that have it. So, generally, with such a positive attitude towards preventive medicine, I'm clearly not the best at rushing to the Doctor when I get a snivel or a headache. But sometimes, it's clear that maybe I should to avoid deeper problems. At least I admit my shortcomings! Well you know the same thing applies to Brake Doctor visits and Human Doctor visits... read on!