What wrong with my car

Hi Shauna,

Since 1996 all US cars are required by law to have an On-Board Diagnostics (OBD-II) port and a standard set of protocols for communication. The OBD-II port allows you to hook up a scanner and read out the Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) generated by the engine computer. Any problem bad enough to cause your car to run like it is should almost certainly cause one or more trouble codes to be set.

So the first step for you is to find out if there are any trouble codes present. If there are, they will give you and us an idea of where to look for the problem. Here in the US, most auto parts stores will hook up their scan tool to your car for free and give you a list of any codes they find. Alternatively, you can buy an inexpensive OBD-II scanner at the auto parts store or online; some of them are pretty cheap. There are also Bluetooth dongles that plug into the port and link to your phone; you can download free apps to read out the DTCs; I personally use one called Torque. Those dongles can be had for around $5 or even cheaper online.

Once you have that list (or find there aren't any codes), come back and edit your post to add that information. The codes will consist of a letter followed by four numbers, such as P0103 for example.

Once we know what kind of codes you have, we'll be better equipped to try and point you in the direction of a fix.