Views from the Coop Online 3-23-07: An Interview with Kristin Brocoff of CarMD

March 23, 2007

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Kristin was a great guest. She really knows her product and shared some great information about it. If you have a car, then you need a CarMD diagnostic tool. My mom, Gwen, who was in the Virtual Coop for the interview, thinks it’s a very practical idea to have one in her glove box in case the “Check Engine” light comes on while she’s out and about. I’ve had that happen to me on multiple occasions in my 1997 Nissan XE and every time (so far), the problem has proven to be something insignificant that wouldn’t have damaged the truck if I’d kept driving it. Of course, being cautious, I always paid the $68 (minimum) diagnostic fee. I don’t know about your neck of the woods, but around here, that fee doesn’t go toward any repairs to the vehicle either. It’s an additional fee on top of the repair costs. The CarMD costs $89.99 and comes with software that allows you to access a database and get information not only on what the diagnostic code means but also what the repairs are liable to cost you. CarMD did extensive research on automotive repair costs across the county and the estimates in their database reflect the costs in different parts of the country.

The CarMD looks like an early handheld cellphone and plugs into the DLC connector (usually located under the dash) of your 1996 or newer model car or truck. It has a series of lights (red, green, yellow) that flash to let you know if you’re good to go, need to do some further checking, or definitely have a problem. You can get a good feel for the features if you visit the CarMD website and view the demo. The website is a wealth of information about the diagnostic tool and how to use it in a variety of situations.

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