You do not need to know how a car works to successfully communicate your problems to a repair center. By talking and describing your vehicles' symptoms as accurately as possible they should be able to find your problem.

1. Read your owners manual.

2. Keep a record of all repairs and maintenance.

3. You know your vehicle better than anyone else. You drive it every day and know how it feels and sounds when everything is right. So don't ignore its warning signals and describe them as accurately as possible to your repair center.

4. When you have a noise in your vehicle, have the service writer or a technician hear it with you. A noise you hear may not be the noise they hear.

5. Make a written list of the symptoms that you are experiencing so that nothing is left out of the repair order.

6. Resist the temptation to suggest a specific repair. Just like when you go to the doctor's you only tell where it hurts and for how long. Let the technician diagnose and recommend the repair so that unneeded parts are not wasted on your vehicle.

7. Ask as many questions as you need. Do not be embarrassed to request ant information in terms you can easily understand. Repair centers will more than willingly share as much information as you want so that you understand the repair.

8. Don't rush the service writer or the technician to make an on the spot diagnosis before they can perform the needed tests.

9. Do not leave anything out thinking it will save you money. Any information may help the technician solve your problem. The more information you give the service writer the quicker the diagnosis and the more money you will save in diagnostic fees.

10. Leave a telephone number or pager number or cell phone number that you can be reached at durning the entire day or your vehicles' repairs may not be completed as soon as you would like.