SAM gives drivers the skinny on their ailing vehicle
By Darren Murph 
posted February 10th 2007 11:25AM
posted February 10th 2007 11:25AM
Although Uncle Sam might not have the most pleasant plans in mind for your auto's garage, another form of SAM is most definitely looking out for your ride's well being. SAM, or Smart Auto Management, is a computerized system that is debuting at various Jiffy Lube, Speedemissions, Dekra Emission Check, Kwik Kar Lube & Tune, and gasoline stations around the country to give customers a quick, painless printout of precisely what's ailing their whip. Typical diagnostic procedures require a (usually pricey) trip to the dealership or knowing what all that mumbo jumbo means that comes flowing out of your ODB II reader, but SAM provides step-by-step instructions at each kiosk and prints out problems in laymen terms. So if you own a vehicle produced in 1996 or later, and feel that $15 is well worth knowing why all those lights and buzzers are turning your car into a low-rate K.I.T.T., be sure to hit the read link to find a SAM (hopefully) near you.[Via Gizmag]
What a joke... Just goto an autozone/pepboys etc... and they do it for FREE. I've never understood why people payed 80bucks or more at a dealership to get this done. I guess its as simple as... stupid people are the easiest to make money off of :p
You got me Xcited for a min there, when I read 1996 or later.. Umm that should read, 96 and Newer..
When I hear Later.. Im thinkin older..
These Kiosks wont be helpin my 87 Camaro any..
:(
I remember hearing a while ago that new cars have 30 or so faults, surly that should be solved first.
well 1996 or later works for me, 2000 is later in history than 1990 for example, and when talking about stuff that happened in history you say "later on Columbus sailed to America blah blah" So later shouldnt imply earlier (the opposite of later) to many people i don't think...
I came across a Korean version of this at New Tech 2006 that uses your cell phone to access the cars OBD.
http://hallyutech.blogspot.com/2006/12/confitechs-mochip-driving-and-engine.html
Splitty is right, AutoZone does this for free. And has been doing this for free. It might work for those without a quality auto parts store nearby, but this is no quite ground breaking.
Didn't this company have a naming contest for this product this last year? I wonder who came up with the acronym?
If you have to go to Jiffy Lube and pay $15 for this service, what is the point of the machine? As previously stated, many places will scan your OBD-II at no charge, and for the $15 I'm sure any mechanic would take 2 minutes to explain what the fault means in layman's terms.
On a semi-related note, the new OnStar-equipped GM vehicles have a similar function. OnStar interfaces with your OBD-II system and will email you if you have a detected fault, as well as emailing you once a month to update you on any required maintenance. Not a killer feature for me, but this is great for average drivers who don't think about maintenance schedules and whatnot.
Yes, AutoZone/Murray's will hook up a code reader and read/clear the code, but this thing actually tells you what the code usually indicates. The reason people still take their cars in to the dealership for the CEL is that the dealerships have books that say "CYL 4 MISFIRE" showed up 882 times out of 1000 as a result of this $15 widget in our testing. Hose down widget with brake cleaner, clear code. If it returns, replace $15 widget. That way, you don't replace your plug & wires, various filters, &c &c &c until you find the source of the issue.
I bought an OBD-II reader on ebay for 15$. Comes with the book with all the codes descriptions and most-likely parts in need of replacement. I find the fault, correct it, clear the code and go on my way... AND, i can fix my friends cars too...it was worth it.
Autozone device did NOT work for my manufacturer (Honda) transmission fault codes and as I understand it that device (POS) only reports emission fault codes. SAM website subscription gave me ALL of the TSB's for my vehicle of which there were 91 and 13 recalls as indicated on my report. I'm a big fan of SAM!
I also used the SAM kiosk to test my 2003 Toyota Camry and found a fault code P2238. I researched the technical service bulletins on the SAM website and found a TSB covering that condition. I later took my car to get fixed for free at the dealership because the TSB had a 96-month/80,000-mile warranty on that specific problem.
The SAM website is a great tool to do research on technical service bulletins and recalls. Everone can use it even without getting a car tested at a SAM kiosk first. Just visit the SAM website at http://www.iamsam.com/tsb.aspx