Identifix, one of the nation’s premier sources of online and hotline vehicle diagnostic, maintenance and repair information, recently announced the release of its new Factory Scheduled Maintenance (FSM) program in Direct-Hit. The Identifix Direct-Hit FSM feature is designed to access original equipment manufacturers’ recommended maintenance activities based on specific year, make, model and mileage situations. With extensive coverage through 2010 model years, this new offering will enable automotive repair shops that perform vehicle maintenance services to provide factory recommended maintenance schedules to their customers in under a minute, even for the most complex versions. For more information or to take a Test Drive of the new feature, visit www.identifix.com and select the Try Direct-Hit link.

Unlike traditional mileage-based maintenance schedules, which focus on recommended services based on "normal" or "severe" conditions, Identifix’s new generation of preventive maintenance plans provide a broader and more robust set of information for vehicle maintenance.  Direct-Hit’s FSM delivers factory information for Maintenance Minders, time driven schedules and multiple versions of schedules based on special operating conditions.

For example, the 2007 Buick Lucerne combines dashboard Maintenance Minders with mileage for preventive maintenance service. When service is required, the technician must address the illuminated vehicle Maintenance Minder (Maintenance I or Maintenance II) and consult the factory recommended mileage service information. Using Identifix’s Factory Scheduled Maintenance feature, technicians no longer have to look up Maintenance Minders and the factory recommended service tasks in multiple locations. Direct-Hit maintains this information in one location.

And, since not all manufacturers provide vehicle recommended maintenance the same way, Identifix has adapted the FSM program to support all systems. For example, Ford recommends ‘more is better’ for vehicle maintenance. When servicing a 2007 Ford F-150 the shop must determine what ‘Special Operating Conditions’ apply to the vehicle and select all that apply. This impacts the maintenance items and recommended time for next service. Since each ‘Special Operating Condition’ has its own maintenance schedule and mileage, the shop could be presenting five different maintenance schedules to the car owner. The new Direct-Hit FSM feature quickly sorts through the various maintenance schedules, thus eliminating the opportunity to overwhelm the customer with too many service plans to manage.  Direct-Hit provides the customer with one complete maintenance schedule in language they can understand and follow.

"We know when customers drop off or pick up their vehicles they just want to get in and out. So unless the shop can record the vehicle mileage, get answers to some questions and put the correct list of maintenance activities in the customer’s hands fast, they risk missing an opportunity for additional business," said Jeff Sweet, Identifix President. "At Identifix, we build our products to help technicians streamline their daily workflows. The updated Factory Scheduled Maintenance feature in Direct-Hit will make a huge difference. We are excited to offer shops the ability to provide customers with timely, reliable and trustworthy maintenance schedules in seconds," Sweet added.

Direct-Hit is Identifix’s subscription-based online diagnostic resource offering real-world, proven diagnostic and fix information. It was developed from over 3.6 million Identifix Repair Hotline calls to the company’s staff of over 45 ASE Master L1+ Carline Specialists. Direct-Hit delivers more than 380,000 Hotline Archives that contain symptoms, associated short-cut tests and confirmed fixes. Direct-Hit is updated with over 6,000 new entries added to the database each month.

Direct-Hit enables technicians to perform repairs profitably and accept repair services on jobs that otherwise might have been turned away. The company also serves as a content supplier to Microsoft’s MSN.Auto web site, providing data on used vehicle reliability and reparability.  

For more information, visit www.identifix.com.