3-Get Your Own Code Reader and Do Your Own Diagnostics

There's a huge market for simple OBD-II (On-Board Diagnostics, the built-in diagnostics and reporting technology built into most modern cars) scanners you can use at home or with your smartphone to diagnose your own problems. When a light goes up on your dash, or your car starts beeping like crazy, there's usually an OBD code associated with it. These tools will take those codes and beeps and translate them into real language so you understand what's wrong. Many of them let you do your own health checks on your car, and others will even record data while you drive and help you figure out if there's a problem before it becomes a serious issue. There's a whole category of OBD-II code readers and scanners at Amazon, but you don't even really need to buy a dedicated unit. A Bluetooth dongle and a smartphone app will do just as well, and costs less. Over at OppositeLock, Ubel has had luck with this dongle and the Torque Pro app for Android. If you don't like that one, there are plenty others to choose from, and plenty of Android apps and several iOS apps to pair them with. Just make sure that the app you download will help you diagnose issues and perform diagnostics. Many are aimed at enthusiasts who want to keep track of their fuel economy and performance while they drive—which are great—but may not be what you're looking for. Look for an app that will help you check your car's health periodically, report issues early, decipher warning beeps or lights on your dashboard, and most importantly, tell you what the real problem with your car is before you take it to the shop to be worked on.