There’s a Calvin & Hobbes comic strip that flashes white hot in my mind whenever I have to deal with vehicle repairs.
In it, our title characters are attempting to put together a clubhouse for their new secret club. Calvin, a perpetually grounded 6-year-old with a wild imagination, suggests the garage, but to do that, the car that’s parked there needs to move.
As he and Hobbes, his imaginary (or maybe not) tiger friend, attempt to push it out to the driveway, the vehicle begins to roll away uncontrollably. The pair tries to keep pace, tries to jump inside and pull the emergency brake. Then they watch, helpless, as the car churns across the street and thuds into a ditch on the other side.
“What do you suppose a car like this costs?” Hobbes asks as they assess the scene. “I’ll bet at least $75.”
“Oh, man,” Calvin says, his life flashing before his eyes.
***
Paying $75 for vehicle repairs sounds like a dream now, of course. But sometimes not knowing that price tag – being in that phase where something breaks and you think, “I’ll bet at least…” – is even more frightening.
Luckily, Jackson County Library Services card holders have a free resource that can help with your sanity, your finances, and your know-how. The Chilton Library features “detailed information you need to tackle vehicle maintenance and repairs,” according to the site.
There is plenty of material to peruse in that space.
Here’s what’s hyped on the home page:
- Maintenance and specification tables for each specific vehicle.
- Step-by-step service and repair procedures.
- Vacuum diagrams for smoother troubleshooting.
- A labor estimation tool.
- Wiring diagrams.
- Close-up photographs and illustrations for visual support.
- Automotive Service Excellence test prep quizzes for the most popular certification exams.
Information for more than 18,000 vehicle types from 1940 to the present can be found within. That said, I’ll have to peruse a bit more to see if it covers tow truck costs for when your kid and his imaginary* friend accidentally push the car out of the garage into a ditch.
Either way, it’s a vast, deep resource to have, one that’s completely free to use with your library card.
“A lot of people might be familiar with Chilton manuals, which are physical books that kind of outline car repair,” says Jackson County Library Services digital selection librarian April Bozada-Armstrong. “The database offers kind of similar information, maybe not as in-depth for each vehicle, but it offers a wide range of vehicles.”
April mentions that you can also utilize Chilton to look up your VIN to see if there have been any recalls. Information for more complex repairs is also widely available, along with a video library that can walk you through various repairs and procedures.
“It’s just a really handy but very simple-to-use database that provides a lot of solid information about our cars,” April says.
It’s also surprisingly accessible, no matter your skill level in oil changes, brake pad swap outs, and the like.
“It is very simple language; surprisingly to-the-point directions on how to work through different things,” April says. “So there’s no fluff at all.”
Yes, this information is available in other places across the Internet. YouTube has basically become a town square for a host of do-it-yourself disciplines, but that can be a dice roll, a frustrating treasure hunt. Chilton is an accredited and trustworthy source, and barriers like video ads, various account sign-ins, and prompts to download certain types of software aren’t part of the equation.
“You don’t need to set up an account or anything. You just need your library card to log in, which makes it really easy, and you can access it from the library or at home,” April says.
Even if you do need to take your vehicle to the shop, Chilton can help you estimate repair costs and give you better insight into how such repairs are carried out. It’s a massive database intended to build your knowledge and confidence in learning about the four-wheels-and-engine apparatuses many of us drive and maintain.
Or, in rare cases, accidentally push into a ditch to make room for a club house. We listen and we don’t judge.