How Healthy is Your Car? New Website CarMD Offers Help
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It is the great mystery when buying a used car or truck. How much will you spend repairing a particular car that looks great on the outside, but may not be on the inside. And more importantly, how do you know certain 2009 model is more/less reliable than a different model from 2007.
Well, now the doctor is in. More specifically it's CarMD.
The online website has launched a new service that gives a unique snap shot of the health of 136 million cars built over the last decade. What's intriguing about the latest Vehicle Health Index from CarMD is that it shows how different models in different years stack up against each other.
CarMD compiled the score for each model by gathering data from more than three thousand mechanics who work on cars, trucks and SUV's around the country. Often, these mechanics are fixing cars brought in after the "check engine" comes on. Based on the frequency of those "check engine" visits and cost of the repairs (replace the O2 sensor or the catalytic converter are two of the most common repairs) CarMD has calculated the health cars and trucks built since 2001.
CarMD has determined some older models are healthier than newer models. For example the '05 Chevy Blazer ranked #5 among all models. It's a result that would likely surprise a used car buyer. What's more, the '05 Blazer gets a higher score than the '08 Blazer.
Meanwhile, the reliability of other models varies depending on what year they were built.
Check out the web site: www.carmd.com/snapshot. Put in your make and model. See the most common repairs and find out the health score of car or truck.
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