A Top Wheeler and Dealer

A rising star in the field of car repair on FixYa, Toyota Ed, has already received tons of real-world recognition for his work in the auto industry. His 702 solutions and 91% rating means that he is extremely well-respected here on FixYa as well.

Q: Tell us about yourself:
A:I am 54 years old, single, and have a 7 year old daughter, Sophia, that I adopted from Moscow. I have been in the automotive business since 1975. My dealerships have won the Number One Customer Satisfaction Award 3 times with me as Service & Customer Relations Manager- in 1994 with Nissan, and in 2000 and 2001 with Toyota. I have the qualifications to join Mensa, but never got around to it. I also speak seven different languages.

Q: What are your areas of expertise and how did you come to be involved with them?
A: I managed several different service departments, starting with strictly European cars (Lotus, Porsche, Alfa, Ferrari, TVR, Jaguar, and the like). I then traded down to manage an AMC/Jeep/Renault/Nissan dealership, and then traded up to manage my current service department with Toyota.

Q: What are your hobbies?
A: My daughter and I are hopelessly addicted to “Animusic”, the computer generated 3-D music DVDs. I am currently building for my daughter, a life-size, fully working duplicate of “Mr. Bass Man”, from Animusic 1. I play guitar, bass & keyboards. I like to cook and I have a 10 burner, dual-oven Imperial stove that is simply wonderful to cook on. I have a “fun car”, a 1974 Lotus Elite series 2. I like to play on heavy equipment when I’m bored. “Bigger toys for bigger boys”, so to speak.

Q: What first brought you to FixYa? When?
A: I was searching for something on the internet, and stumbled across FixYa. I stopped to look around, then just jumped in with both feet. I have made a lot of good friends with the other Experts. I am humbled when they mention me, by name, to clients with a problem in my area of expertise. Truly a wonderful, and very experienced bunch of people, these Experts. I’m proud to be associated with them.

Q: What is the FixYa answer you are most proud of?
A: With 700 solutions under my belt, I am at a loss to be specific. But, when I get the “thank yous” from the clients, that really makes me feel good. Especially the one lady that went on and on about how “people don’t want to help anybody anymore, and [her] experience with [me] and FixYa restored [her] faith that there still are people out there that will help people out, for free.”

Q: What advice do you have for those asking questions?
A: The clients with questions must provide as much information as possible, regarding their problem, so that the experts can present a bona fide solution. The more information that the Experts have, the better the solution will be. This is the single most important thing that the clients need to be aware of.

Q: What advice do you have for experts?
A: BE an expert, ACT like an expert. Understand that your solution(s) must be of the highest quality. Do not post “one-liner” solutions, yet be as concise as possible. If you have no experience in a particular area of expertise, don’t bother to post. Finally, never post “take it to a repair service”, or anything like that. That is simply unacceptable.

Q: What new features would you like to see FixYa roll out?
A: I would like to see a modification of the ratings system. I would like to see the bar raised for Wizard and Guru status. I especially would like to see a template for the clients’ questions.