“Five tips for finding a good mechanic - St. Petersburg Times” plus 4 more |
- Five tips for finding a good mechanic - St. Petersburg Times
- JOBS & CAREERS - Tribune
- Tesla’s Repair ‘Rangers’ Make House Calls - Wired News
- Toyota Prius Plug-in hits U.S. by 2012, gets extra 12 mpg - Newsday
- Natick’s Pierce Collision invests in waterborne technology - Enterprise
| Five tips for finding a good mechanic - St. Petersburg Times Posted: 06 Oct 2009 02:00 PM PDT Kimberly S. Johnson, Associated Press DETROIT — Is your car making funny noises, again? You're not alone. Tough times are forcing more people to keep their cars long after the warranty expires. So picking the right mechanic is key to protecting one of the biggest investments you'll make. Here are five tips to remember when shopping for a good mechanic. Kimberly S. Johnson, Associated Press 1Compare dealerships with independent repair shops. Parts and labor cost more at dealerships, say many consumer advocates and publications. The National Automobile Dealers Association says that dealership service departments are better equipped to handle repairs on new, computer-laden cars and trucks. Dealership garages use original manufacturer parts — new parts approved by Ford, GM, Toyota or other big carmakers. But there are also generic new parts that typically cost less. Consumers who go with independents can request original manufacturer parts, as long as they're willing to pay the extra cost. If your car is under a manufacturer's warranty, make sure you don't void the warranty by going to an independent repair shop. Ideally, it's best to find a mechanic before you need one. Trying to find a reputable repair shop when your car breaks down is stressful, and may force you to choose a shop that doesn't suit your needs. 2Look for certification. Good mechanics sharpen their skills and back them up with proof. Technicians certified by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence have passed a voluntary competency test. Auto body and paint experts upgrade their skills through the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair. These certifications are generally displayed near the customer service desk. Repair shops that are part of the Automotive Service Association have agreed to uphold a professional code of ethics, which includes furnishing an itemized bill of all parts and services. The invoice should list whether parts are new, used or refurbished. The mechanic should also allow you to inspect parts. Check www.asashop.org to find members. It's also helpful to check with the Better Business Bureau to find out if the repair shop has received and resolved complaints. 3Seek references and ask questions. An honest mechanic won't balk if you request references. Feel free to ask how long the shop has been in business. Mechanics should be comfortable answering all questions about your car and any repairs. A good mechanic will give you a mini-education. Also, be sure the technician has the right equipment to diagnose your car's problem. Today's vehicles contain several computer systems. Mechanics need to know how to find and address such issues. 4Inspect the cleanliness and organization of the shop. Repairing cars is dirty work, but waiting rooms should be neat and clean. Cars flowing in and out of the garage should be organized. Chaos at the garage may be a sign that the business is poorly managed. 5Find a specialist. Have constant problems with your exhaust system? Have a custom-built, high-performance vehicle? Find out if a local mechanic has expertise dealing with specific problems or a particular make of car. Some carmakers offer special classes that delve deeper into issues involving their vehicles. [Last modified: Oct 06, 2009 05:01 PM] |
| Posted: 06 Oct 2009 01:45 PM PDT Career Hotline After BPharm, opportunity no bar Meena Bhargava A. Great! Pharma is reckoned as a growth industry of the future. It is a fast growing sector second only to IT growing annually at 15 per cent, despite the slowdown in most other sectors. Jobs in the pharma industry range from those in sales and marketing to high-end specialist R&D jobs. Pharmaceutical science deals with the development and preparation of drugs. A pharmacist works in research laboratories to develop new drugs from natural and synthetic sources, reduce the side effects of the drugs sold in the market and ensure the quality of existing formulations. The minimum qualification for becoming a qualified pharmacist is a two-year diploma in pharmacy. The minimum qualification is 10 +2 (PCB/M). On completing the course, you must undergo practical training of three months in a recognised hospital, pharmacy or dispensary. A mere diploma will only qualify you for the job of a pharmacy technician or dispensing pharmacist in hospitals.
Depending on the extent of study and the area you specialise in (pharmacology, pharmaceutics, hospital pharmacy or quality assurance), you can opt for research. Teaching is another option after a masters degree. The government also appoints pharmacy graduates as drug inspectors and drug analysts. Hospitals also hire pharmacist consultants to advise physicians on the precise dosage, schedules and possible side effects of the various drugs. While a diploma-holder can work as a pharmacist in hospitals or as a pharmacy technician, BPharm or MPharm degree-holders can apply for jobs in the pharmaceutical industry. Although there are limited research openings in India, those with doctoral and post-doctoral qualifications find challenging avenues in R&D labs abroad. Apart from the drug manufacturing industry, pharmacists are also employed in the chemical industry and food and drug control organisations. A large number of those who do pharmacy go on to become medical sales representatives. Of course if you are enterprising, you can open your own chemist shop or even go into manufacture of drugs or cosmetics. The cosmetic industry is growing at a much faster rate as compared to the pharma sector. A diploma-holder is qualified to obtain a license for manufacturing cosmetics and for repackaging of drugs (other than those specified in Schedules C & C1). Healthcare is a growth sector in India, and the pharmacist is an essential part of it. Indias pharmaceutical industry is one of the most advanced among the developing countries and ranked fourth in the world in terms of volumes and offers excellent prospects for men and women alike. All graduates eligible for GMAT Q. Can a graduate from the arts stream take the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT)? Please tell me something about it. Vineet Suri A. Sure, any graduate can take the GMAT for admission to MBA programmes in the US. Many B-schools in other parts of the world including some in India accept GMAT cores. No age or academic qualification is specified. All you need is a valid passport. The computer-adaptive test (CAT) GMAT is available, year-round, at test centres in India and across the globe. The test is administered in a quiet environment at an individualised workstation under strict supervision and security measures.You will be informed of the security measures before arriving at the testing centre. The four-hour test has two optional breaks. Your official GMATscore report will feature four scores:
You can download the GMAT information bulletin from the GMAC website (www.gmac.com) which also gives details of the test, samples questions, test aids and other useful information. You can also take a mock test with real-time scoring using POWERPREP, which can be downloaded free from the GMAC website (www.mba.com). It is a comprehensive and useful starting point for advice, guidance and free downloads. Mass communication offered at bachelors level Alka Panigrahi A. Let me explain what this field is all about. After that you can decide for yourself whether you are suited for it or not. Also, you dont have to wait to complete your BCom to pursue a course in mass communication or journalism. Most universities offer these courses at the bachelors level itself, so you can go for it straight away after Class 12. Admission to most of these courses is based on an entrance test though. Mass communication is a very broad umbrella term that includes various fields i.e., advertising, journalism, public relations, cinema, radio, television & broadcasting, theatre, communication arts and now Internet in its ambit. Although communication remains the core element, the nature of work would depend on the field you are in. A course in mass communication will give you a general overview of each of these fields at the macro level. Thereafter, you can choose your preferred medium and area of specialisation and work in the area that fascinates you most. Electronic and satellite communication have ushered in dramatic changes in journalism. As a result, job opportunities exist in newspapers, magazines and periodicals, news agencies, television, radio, regional press bureaus of international papers/news agencies/networks, Internet portals, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, related government agencies like Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP), Directorate of Field Publicity, Public Relations departments of public and private sector corporations, as freelancer/stringer, art and theatre critic and book reviewer. Now, see what you want! BPOs look for decent vocabulary, neutral accent Harpal Kukreja A. Your friends are absolutely wrong! You dont need a tough vocabulary to be able to work in a BPO. A decent vocabulary with a neutral accent (neither pronounced vernacular nor mother tongue influence) is what is needed for international BPOs. The domestic ones are even more lenient in their requirements. Dont let anyone deter you from what you want to achieve in life even if it takes a bit longer. Moreover, the recruitment strategy of companies in the services sector is changing in favour of small town youth. In a marked departure from the traditional model of employing English-speaking public school products, many banks and even BPOs arerecruiting graduates from smaller towns and even some villages, who have a government school background. The notion that only English-speaking people can serve customers is wrong. Even those who dont know English can be suitably trained to cater to this segment. This strategy l not only contributes to containing the escalating attrition rates but also helps absorb educated unemployed youth from rural and semi-urban areas. Many other companies like Wipro have also started sourcing some of their workforce from this graduate pool. The strategy pays off because in turn, the companies get staff that is more loyal and stable. Choosing distance mode? Ravi Saini A. The following are some of the institutes that offer MTech (distance). IASE, Directorate of Distance Education, Gandhi Vidya Mandir, Sardarshahr-331401 (Rajasthan) Course: MTech (civil, computer science and engineering, IT, mechanical, electronics, electronics and communication biotech, bioinformatics) Website: www.iaseduniv.org
There are a few others likeBITS,Pilani, Distance Learning Programme Division (www.bits-pilani.ac.in) andBIT,Mesra, Ranchi. However, I suggest you cross-check with AICTE as well as the Distance Education Council (www.dec.ac.in) as it is mandatory for all institutions imparting education through distance mode to get their degrees, diplomas, certificates (programmes) recognised and approved by the DEC. Otherwise you will not be eligible for a government job on the basis of that qualification. This column appears weekly. The writer is a noted career expert and director, Career Guidance India (CARING).Please send in your queries with your full name, complete address and academic qualifications to: The Editor, Jobs and Careers, The Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh-160030, or at careers@tribunemail.com |
| Tesla’s Repair ‘Rangers’ Make House Calls - Wired News Posted: 06 Oct 2009 01:17 PM PDT Getting your Tesla Roadster serviced can be a hassle if you don't live near one of Tesla's four dealerships in the United States, which is why the California company plans to make house calls. The company's "Mobile Service Rangers" — yes, they're really called that — will visit owners' homes or workplaces to perform "an array of procedures," including annual inspections and firmware upgrades. That convenience won't come cheap — Tesla Motors will charge $1 per mile each way, with a $100 minimum. That can add up quickly (more on that in a moment), but Tesla — which only recently saw its first profit — says the fee won't cover its expenses. Still, it says, eating the loss is cheaper than building more service centers. "Our customers told us they wanted service that was convenient, clean and fast, and our 'house call' approach is just what the doctor ordered," Greg Zanghi, Tesla's director of service operations, said in a statement. "Our strategy reflects Tesla's goal to take an uncompromising approach to everything we do, and we hope our rangers set a new standard for the industry." While Tesla hopes to set a new standard for the auto industry, it wasn't the auto industry it looked to when developing the idea.
Tesla says it relied on customer feedback when putting together the service strategy and studied companies like online shoe seller Zappos.com and computer repair service Geek Squad while creating it. Getting a Tesla tech to service your Roadster in the driveway will cost you. The minimum fee is $100, so you'll drop a C-note even if you're 10 miles from one of the company's four service centers in Los Angeles, Seattle, New York or Menlo Park, California. (Tesla plans to open three more in Chicago, South Florida and Washington, D.C., by the end of the year.) The bill adds up quickly if you're, say, tooling around Tulsa in a Tesla unless there are a few other Roadsters in town. "If you live 800 miles away, you could pay as much as $1,600," Tesla spokeswoman Rachel Konrad said. "But if we are sending out a technician to your town, it could be less money for you because the cost would be distributed among multiple users." Such a model could work for a niche car like the Roadster, which costs $109,000. The company has sold more than 700 of them so far. But Tesla plans to go mass-market with the Model S sedan, which it has said will be available in 2011 at a price of $49,900 (after the $7,500 federal tax credit for EVs). At this point, Tesla thinks the house-call model is viable for the Model S, but that could change if the car takes off. "We are going to evaluate this strategy as we grow, but for now we see it as sustainable because one, we will have many more stores, distributed over our top regional markets by the time we start production on Model S, and two, the buck-a-mile price is very reasonable for buyers of premium sports cars, who pay exorbitant fees in many cases to have exotic cars serviced," Konrad said. "But our house-call approach will not likely get the pickup with the more affordable Model S and more price-conscious buyers. Many Model S customers will simply bring their cars to stores for their annual inspection." Tesla currently has 19 service rangers and Konrad said the company is "recruiting aggressively." Photo: Jim Merithew / Wired.com |
| Toyota Prius Plug-in hits U.S. by 2012, gets extra 12 mpg - Newsday Posted: 06 Oct 2009 11:51 AM PDT NY Auto Show: First impressionsSaturday marks the 109th birthday of the New York International Auto Show. It has grown into one of the world's premiere events for automakers to showoff their next generation creations. The auto show showcases more than 1,000 cars and unveiled 33 new vehicles, including the redesigned Honda Element, the GMC Terrain and Chrysler showed its redesigned Jeep Grand Cherokee. The new models in Ford include the Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan hybrids. But the "green" future we've been hearing about the past 24 months, has yet to arrive. It seems like "green" to automakers is taking their existing platform cars and slapping some form of "hybrid" technology on them. A taste of what "green" means to automakers is the GMC Yukon Denali, which gets an EPA estimated 18 to 19 mpg highway -- its hybrid counterpart, gets 21 mpg highway. PHOTOS: 2009 - 2010 hybrid cars. The latest images from the NY Auto Show Complete coverage of the NY Auto Show From what I saw today, it's the same old technology that gave birth to the auto industry a hundred years ago (and the same technology that buried automakers last year). Despite the continued dominance of the old-school thinking, they are plenty things to look forward to at the event. Visitors will be able to sit in the redesigned muscle cars, including the Chevrolet Camaro, Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger. BMW exhibited its own muscle with the all new X6 M. I recommend that visitors get into this super-sport SUV, which uses a version of BMW's latest twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V8. Output is pegged at 555 hp. at 5,750 rpm and peak torque is 501 pound-feet, available between 1,500 and 5,650 rpm. The car can accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds. On display were a couple of electric vehicles, the cars I was most looking forward to seeing. The Chevrolet Volt was there, sort of (it's actually just the chassis), the Mini Cooper E and the Dodge EV. But the highlight of the entire show is the beautifully crafted electric Fisker Karma. Unlike Ferrari, Lamborghini and other exotic counterparts, the Karma will actually be available for visitors to sit behind the steering wheel. I've been in many exotics, including the million-dollar Ferrari Enzo, but the Fisker Karma blows the others out of the water in terms of comfort and interior design. If nothing else, you should probably still go to the auto show for the loads of freebies, shiny cars, light shows and attractive floor hosts, live game shows, driving simulators -- and simply because the automotive industry needs a bit an ego boost. --José Moreno Tags: auto show, auto industry, gm, honda, fisker karma, chevrolet, chevrolet volt, ford, retro cars, mitsubishi |
| Natick’s Pierce Collision invests in waterborne technology - Enterprise Posted: 06 Oct 2009 10:54 AM PDT VOCs won't be treated as VIPs any time soon by environmentalists. In high amounts, VOCs, aka volatile organic compounds, can wreak havoc on Mother Nature. However, some companies have taken steps to help reduce VOC emissions, and they include businesses that have traditionally made the green crowd see red. For example, auto body shops. One shop that has taken a wrench to this perception is Pierce Collision Inc. The Natick-based auto body shop is one of the few certified waterborne shops in Massachusetts, according to Stephen K. Pierce, who owns the business with his brother, David. For its waterborne system, the company chose Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries. In the following interview, Stephen provides the lowdown on waterborne technology as well as the history of Pierce Collision to Daily News staff writer Bob Tremblay. QUESTION: Why did your company get involved in this technology? ANSWER: We wanted to stay ahead of the competition, knowing waterborne technology will be required by all body shops in the United States. A date of 2012 has been proposed. We also wanted to take a proactive stand in protecting the environment by going green with PPG's paint finishing system. PPG is a worldwide company that specializes in automotive coatings and other specialty products. Recently, we switched to a low VOC, waterborne basecoat from a conventional solvent borne-based system. VOCs are commonly used in paint coatings and cleaning products. When released into the atmosphere they help to create ozone and smog. Our use of waterborne basecoat for refinishing our customers' vehicles significantly reduces the emissions of VOCs into the atmosphere. This move helps us do our part to improve the quality of our air and contribute to an overall healthier work environment. When compared to a conventional solvent-based basecoat, PPG Envirobase High Performance paint can reduce basecoat-sourced VOC emissions by up to 80 percent. Waterborne basecoat is the latest coating technology that's typically used by manufacturers to create the original color on today's vehicles. According to PPG, the introduction of its waterborne color toners for use in collision centers provides the enhanced ability to match a vehicle's original finish. This is a major technological advancement with no downside. Not only is the paint better ecologically, it gives better color matches and it's faster to complete a repair when compared to the solvent-based system we were using. Not every auto body shop qualifies for use of this waterborne paint. The paint equipment must be up to date and top notch. PPG has to test the air systems that are used to spray with. The air has to be clean and dry and there cannot be any moisture or oil in the air lines. We were tested by PPG and passed every test. Our shop's air is clean and dry. And our spray booth is heated in such a way that we can bake the finish just as the vehicle's manufacturer did. The water-based paint we are using gets reduced or thinned out with deironized water, not a lacquer or solvent thinner like most shops use. This way we're not putting any solvents into the atmosphere. For a shop that mixes an average of one gallon of solvent-borne basecoat color per week, the move to waterborne basecoat annually saves more than 300 pounds of VOCs from being emitted into the air we breathe. This is the equivalent of taking more than 1,000 vehicles off the road annually. If all auto body shops changed, that would make a remarkable difference in the quality of our air. Also, by making the change to waterborne paint systems we are reducing greenhouse gases. Costwise, installing this new system was a sound investment. We found that we are saving time and money because it is a faster system to use. Q: How did the company come about? A: Pierce Collision Inc. was started by my brother David and I after many years of experience running other auto body shops in the area. With our shared experience, we were confident that we could manage a body shop on our own. I started working in the auto body business in Natick in 1974. David started working in the business in 1978. Over the years both David and I gained experience working both on the floor and in management positions. In 1989, David was working in an auto body located at our present location. The owner of the shop chose to leave the business. We saw an opportunity to start our own business so we took over the lease in 1990 and changed the name to Pierce Collision Inc. MetroWest Daily News
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