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At Stack Exchange, we stop in now and then to check on how each site is doing. As part of this, we like to take a few questions and compare them against the wisdom of The Greater Internet. This gives us a pretty good idea of which sites are progressing, and which are struggling... But it doesn't do much for you.

So let's try something a little different... Below you'll find ten questions, picked at random from Motor Vehicle Maintenance and Repair. Take a look at each, and try to find the answer on Google - then compare what you find to the answer(s) given here.

  1. Setting timer for central locking for forgetful owners

  2. What skills does one need to have to get started in auto body repair?

  3. Audi 06 - Replace Thermostat

  4. Loose Handbrake?

  5. What's the name of the little plastic bolt (?) that is used by a passanger/driver to lock the door from the inside?

  6. Honda CVT Multimatic Gearbox oil-change frequency

  7. Ford Focus steering wheel vibration and noise from front right wheel4

  8. Test Gasoline for Water Content

  9. My 2007 Jeep Commander is blowing hot air into the cabin even though the temperature is set to cool

  10. Racing Fuel (100 Octane Rating) - Better than Premium?

How does this site stack up against the various message boards, forums, and answer sites that populate the Web? Post your thoughts below...

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  • I've responded to point five if that helps organize the response.
    – Bob Cross Mod
    Commented Dec 5, 2011 at 0:43
  • Good stuff so far, thanks Bob
    – Shog9 Mod
    Commented Dec 7, 2011 at 16:54

3 Answers 3

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I'll take number five since I answered that question. Here's the standard google query. If you look at the results, they're all over the map in terms of door parts and plastic bits. There's very little that Google can do for what is, plainly, a fairly complex natural language problem.

In contrast, I was able to interpret what he was looking for and come up with a reasonable facsimile of an eBay query that provided the OP with a pictorial confirmation that I was at least in the right ball park as well as a potential source for replacement parts.

In sum, Reed turned up with a pretty simple question for humans to understand and seemed very satisfied with the result.

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Some commentary on question eight (one that I didn't participate in):

The excepted answer is a solo and it has a short summary of the fuel separation procedure. However, there's a lot more meat in the comments themselves, including a quick summary of the hygroscopic nature of ethanol.

So, I'd advise some judicious editing of the answer but it's not critical. The content is A+. The OP clearly came in with an "I'm not sure what to do" question and walked away with plenty of actionable information.

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I don't think these are the best questions to use for an evaluation. This site has the potential to blow the doors off all the UBB powered model enthusiast sites (modelforum.com/net/org) where you have to search through 10+ 20 page threads to find the one or three really good answers

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  • 1
    well, that may be - but the point of this exercise is to evaluate a random sample, to give us a feel for how the site is doing as a whole. If you have certain questions that you feel are exemplary, don't hesitate to post another thread here on Meta to highlight them - or better yet, show them to your friends!
    – Shog9 Mod
    Commented Apr 6, 2012 at 2:44

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