Matthew Wright, your About.com Guide to Auto Repair, has been trained in both journalism and auto repair, with extensive experience in both fields. He attended Georgia State University's well known school of journalism, where he studied newswriting. Prior to this he worked for years in the automotive industry, running a repair facility in Atlanta before moving to the great state of New York.

Experience:

Matthew has experience in both journalism and auto repair. He has worked in the automotive industry since 1989, specializing in European auto repair and rebuilding. After almost a decade in the business, he began working as a reporter in 1996, and has held positions as a newspaper staff writer and magazine editor. After some years in journalism, he returned to the automotive world, opening an exclusive repair and restoration facility for vintage European makes.

Education:

Matthew attended Georgia State University where he studied print journalism and held the position of news editor at the University's weekly newspaper, but the real education came from years of maintaining, troubleshooting and repairing both my own cars and those for our first repair facility, Wright Brothers Automotive. There is no substitute for experience, and Matthew's experience goes back to 1989.

From Matthew Wright:

Doing your own auto repair, troubleshooting and maintenance can be very rewarding! Not only will you save money by avoiding some trips to the repair shop, the more you fix yourself the better you know your car, and that makes sense on all fronts. With a little help, you can be greasy and accomplished in no time at all. And for those times that a trip to the mechanic is unavoidable, you'll know when you're being treated fairly and when somebody might be trying to rip you off. Throw a little mechanic-speak back at those guys and watch their tune change before your eyes. Now get out there and dirty up!