Diagnostic Network, an automotive professionals’ forum whose founders include International Automotive Technicians Network alumni, announced last month it would become free to the industry.

The Aug. 19 news release said the new pricing would be effective immediately. Previously, members had to pay $20 a month to use the site.

Under the free subscriptions, Diag.net users can “start their own discussions, reply to others, and read everything,” Diagnostic Network wrote.

Repairers who upgrade to Premium for $49 a year also receive the ability to “search everything, create/manage user groups, bookmark discussions for later, and much more to come,” the site wrote.

“We look forward to the increased growth in our community that this pricing change should enable,” Diagnostic Network President Scott Brown said in a statement. “Since our mission is ‘to connect professional technicians to enable successful repair of complex vehicles through peer discussion, partner collaboration and education,’ the more members we can attract, the more achievable our mission becomes.”

Winging it based on advice from an Internet message board isn’t an acceptable substitute for researching and adhering to the actual OEM repair procedures on each repair. Nor would it trump consulting with the actual OEM on the issue — which repairers can do now directly or through middlemen like I-CAR or the National Automotive Service Task Force.

But shops might get a sense of what repair procedures they might have overlooked based upon the discussion and solutions on the site. Repairers trying to get more of a handle on vehicle electronics might find some good food for thought about the broader issues and technology too.

For example:

• A user wondered Aug. 23 about the amount of time needed for USB configuration. Based on the responses, it could take an hour or two. Such knowledge could help insurers or repairers who’ve never encountered the work plan around the procedure or sublet it. (Calibration and scanning are non-included, manual-entry procedures in all three collision estimating systems.)
• In May, Brown wrote a fascinating post about the effect misdirected front-facing radar had on a rental 2019 Nissan Altima SL with adaptive cruise control. Though the rental company said no record of collision work existed on the vehicle, the story carried lessons for the auto body repair industry on precision and road testing, and we ran it in Repairer Driven News as a guest column.
• Here’s an interesting June post and ensuing discussion about OEM and aftermarket scan tools.

NASTF Executive Director Donny Seyfer also contributes to the site, such as this Aug. 21 post discussing aesthetic changes to TIS2Web and reassuring readers that GM hasn’t dropped J-2534 programming support.

Read about other resources collision repairers can use for free with our Christmas 2018 “presents” roundup.

More information:

“Diagnostic Network Announces Free Subscriptions and More Affordable Pricing”

Diagnostic Network, Aug. 19, 2019

Featured image: Diagnostic Network in August 2019 announced it would offer a free subscription option. (Provided by Diagnostic Network via PRNewsfoto)