I hope you find the links (click) here useful to you. If you have a good Ford link not listed here, please email me. I make no claims to the level of truth in these links. That is for you to decide yourself.

Thanks for visiting.

Resources Section

In this section you will find links to books at Chapters bookstores (below) along with links to help you build your own web site. The prices for these books are in Canadian funds. The CDN$ is much lower than the US$ but not as low as the Peso. The Lemon-Aid New car book is only published in Canada. So, if you wish to see the authors comments on new vehicles, you must buy the Canadian version and try to ignore the pricing as it too is in Canadian funds.

Mar. 21,2001.

This site has been updated to include recent events and  a new section with resources and books to assist you in making a wise vehicle purchase along with web site building suggestions.

To build your own web site regarding your particular automotive problem, you need some basic tools to get started. There  is a number of free items on the web to help you out.  The first is Front Page Express  (FPE) which is provided as a free download from Microsoft for Win98 users. This is a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) HTML editor. You will also want to download a free program called Arachnophilia which is a more HTML based editor. You will need Arachnophilia to clean up the HTML code produced in FPE for multiple page sites. I also have provided links to HTML books (below) I found helpful in learning HTML (I am still learning.)

If your car repairs haven't been huge and you still have a few coins jingling in your pockets, you can purchase better HTML editors. Some examples you can search out on your own include Microsofts Front Page (big brother to FPE), NetObjects Fusion and Macromedia's Dreamweaver.

All of the above programs have what is called a FTP agent which you need to publish your web site onto the web. You can learn how these work in the help section of whatever program you use as well as in the HTML books.

Now, you can't upload to the web unless you have a place on the web to place your site. Most internet providers give you a little free space with your email accounts. Contact your internet provider for details. You can also get FREE web space from a number of places including xoom.com which is where this site is located.

Also, if you want to know how many visitors you are getting and whether your auto manufacturer has found your site you will want a Free tracker. I think there is two good ones. The first is called Extreme and the other is called Ipstat. I provided an example of Ford's visits below. In the weeks before the recall was announced, Ford was visiting once a day. Now it has dropped off to about once a week.

How long it takes you to build your own site will depend on your current resources and knowledge. There is a definite learning curve, but the rewards are well worth it. After you learn, you can build other sites and post family photo's on a web page to share with friends and relatives around the world with ease. You can also use this knowledge to share you knowledge of your hobbies with others.

Books

As I had mentioned previously, Chapters.ca the book store I have linked these to is Canadian and in Canadian funds. Canadian funds are currently much cheaper than US$ (but not as low as the peso).

This is the book I find most useful for learning HTML code. It has 24 easy lessons to help you get your "feet wet" in web language.

If you should decide you like your Ford and want to keep it I have linked three books relating to Ford vehicle maintenance and repair.

If you have not purchased any vehicle yet, you may wish to read through some reference books to help you in making the correct choice of vehicle for your needs.

Another good book to look at if you are planning to purchase a vehicle is the Consumer Reports Annual Buying Guide. There is lots of valuable information there also.

Links

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Below, I have listed a few links that do not relate to auto's in any way. These are just a few interesting places on the web I thought I would share.