You’ve Got Mail - From Your Car

Remember when your vehicle still had that new car smell? Like most of us, you probably promised yourself you’d wash it every week, get the oil changed regularly, and keep up with all the necessary maintenance. Then real life set in with work, appointments, trips, family functions and more.

Amid the hustle and bustle you may have forgotten your promises, along with the regular maintenance your car needs to run safely and reliably throughout its life. Wouldn’t it be nice to get a reminder when it’s time to give your car the attention it deserves? Now you can, with AutoManager, a free service from AAA.

AutoManager helps make car care more consistent by sending you an e-mail reminder when your vehicle requires routine maintenance. All you need to get started is Internet access to AAA.com, and a few minutes to complete a simple profile. Once you answer some easy questions about the make and model of your vehicle and your personal driving habits, AutoManager will begin sending you reminder e-mails based on the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance schedule for your vehicle and the way you drive. You will also receive important notices from automakers, such as recalls and safety alerts related to your vehicle. We’ll even translate the jargon into straightforward layman’s terms!

If you’d like, you can enter additional information that will enable AutoManager to remind you of upcoming car payments and insurance premiums as well. All of the information you enter in AutoManager is kept confidential. However, if you want to share your vehicle’s service history with a repair facility, you can do so at any computer with Internet access. Naturally, if you buy a new car or change jobs for a shorter commute, you can visit AutoManager at any time to add or delete vehicles and update other information.

The benefits don’t stop there. AutoManager also includes a diagnostics center that lets you probe the mind of a master technician while remaining comfortably behind your keyboard - instead of your dashboard. The Diagnostics Center contains an extensive troubleshooting library that can give you a sense of the extent - and urgency - of a problem. Just answer a few questions in the relevant category, and you’ll be guided to the most likely root cause of your problem, and provided with a rough estimate of typical repair costs.

If you need to find a trusted mechanic to perform maintenance or repairs, a link in AutoManager will direct you to the AAA Approved Auto Repair (AAR) Shop Locator. This tool can search for nearly 8,000 repair facilities in North America that meet AAA’s rigorous standards, and provide you with a list of those closest to you. In addition, you can consult a Web page for each shop that gives you information on its capabilities and hours of operation. Then, once you’ve selected a shop, you can call and make an appointment, or (in many cases) request an appointment online. Finally, you can print a map and driving directions that will make it easy to get to the shop from your location.

Auto Manager can also be used to organize all of your automobile’s service information in one easy-to-access place. Rather than stuffing service receipts into your glove box, you can easily create a comprehensive online record of vehicle maintenance operations and expenses that can add to your car’s value when it comes time to sell. A well-documented vehicle repair history can also help your mechanic work smarter and faster, saving you money. So, when it comes to your vehicle, a persistent clicking sound might not be the bad news it once was. Today it may just be the sound of people everywhere tapping into the wealth of vehicle maintenance and repair benefits available from the AutoManager on AAA.com.