Shift Pointers
- Author: Pete Luban, ATSG Technical Supervisor
The title of this article brings forth visions of a bunch of cutthroats chasing after you because you’ve committed some kind of credit-card abuse.
Well, credit-card abuse is exactly what’s going to happen, depending on how many of the technical-information Web sites now available from the automobile manufacturers that you access.
For years now, almost everyone in the automotive-aftermarket repair business has been complaining that we did not have access to the same technical information that the car dealerships have. Well, now you do! But did you think it would be free?
Anything but; it actually can be quite expensive, depending on the extent of use.
However, I must give credit to Hyundai Motors of America, which provides all its service-manual information as well as diagnostics, wiring diagrams and even a newsletter at no charge.
At the other end of the spectrum, Volvo of North America wants $7,100 – from your wallet – for a year’s subscription to all of its information.
All other automaker Web sites charge varying prices for subscriptions, including a daily, monthly or yearly fee. Some offer subscription terms between those, such as 6 months or 72 hours. Some offer a one-month free trial.
In figures 1 and 2 you will find all the Web sites currently available from the auto manufacturers. Also illustrated are the Web addresses, which types of materials are available and the pricing policies for site usage.
Figure 2a is Ford’s pricing policies, which because of their expanse had to have their own chart.
Because of the nature of the materials available on these Web sites, there are certain minimum and/or suggested hardware and software requirements. Yes, you may have to update your equipment (hittin’ the wallet again).
Most of the materials on these sites are displayed as Portable Document Format (PDF) or Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) documents, which is why there are minimum computer requirements. Figure 4 lists these requirements.
Here’s a tip: If you subscribe to one of these sites for a 24-hour period, download all the material you can, unless you don’t mind $20 a pop to access that site. Most will allow unlimited use; some will automatically log you out when they see 8 or more hours of continuous use, such as the DaimlerChrysler Web site (must be that Mercedes influence).
Some of the sites require some tricky navigation that will take some getting used to, such as Subaru. When you access Subaru.com, you will think you have entered the company’s new-car-sales Web site (you have). You must click on the “HOME” tab, then a pull-down menu will appear. Next, click on “TECHNICAL INFORMATION,” and you’re in.
You also can find this information on the ATSG Web site, free of charge, at http://atsg.biz/oemlinks.
So, what’s in your wallet? After multiple Web-site usage, probably nothing!
