Do you ever get that sinking feeling when your car stops working and your check engine light goes on? You know the drill - you don't know anything about fixing cars and are at the mercy of whatever auto repair shop that happens to be in the area. You hope that they won't rip you off and will actually tell you what's really wrong with your car, but you really don't know. Of course, you could take your car to multiple shops and hope that you get the same answer, but who really has the time?

The good news is that there is a new and relatively inexpensive product introduced this year that can help with this dilemma. The product is called CarMD and it is a self-diagnostic tool that will tell you what is wrong with your car before you have to take it to the auto repair shop.

What I like best about this product is that both the concept and usage is extremely simple. All car models 1996 or later

have an On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) system that is accessible via a standard-sized interface, usually located under the steering wheel. All you need to do to gather the diagnostic data in your car's computer is to plug in the device to the OBD system. Once the data is collected, you take the device to your computer where it downloads information about the problem with your car and tells you what the problem is, how much labor time will take to fix it, what parts are needed, and an estimated cost to repair.

The device itself is only $90 and is available on CarMD's website. You can use the device on up to 3 cars and obtain up to 6 diagnostic reports per month - much more than you should ever need.

Considering that auto repair shops can typically charge up to $100 for the same exact diagnostic test, this product goes in the 'no brainer' purchase category since it will in effect pay for itself with its first use.