Despite my fondness for (and previous career in) computer troubleshooting, I find myself at sea when it comes to dealing with my car. But fortunately pretty much every car has a computer in it these days, and that onboard system can provide a first step to diagnosing a problem—all you need is the right tool.
Like a slew of other car diagnostic devices on the market, Mechanic Advisor's Connection Key is a $75 dongle (which you can pre-order for $45 as of this writing) that plugs into your car and retrieves diagnostic information—the same information that a real, live mechanic would pull up were you to take your car into the shop. But it's got a handful of advantages over many of its competitors.
The OBD-II port that the Connection Key and competing devices use has been standard on pretty much every gasoline car since 1996 (sorry, diesel and electric owners). I used to occasionally troubleshoot my dearly departed 1997 Honda Accord with a similar gadget, CarMD. However, that device was pretty cumbersome; first I had to remember where I'd left it in my (generally-messy) office; then bring it out to the car and plug it in; then bring it back inside so I could connect it via USB to my computer and finally look up the diagnostic code using some clunky software.
As someone who's always a little worried that my mechanic might be taking me for a ride—so to speak—a device like this seems like a good way to be forearmed, so you can avoid taking an (oil) bath next time you bring your car in for service.
