If your car breaks after it's out of warranty, social media affords you more ways to put the pressure on dealerships to get a fix in place at a reduced price.

Cars today are so much better, safer, and more reliable than they once were. Yet there are still times when things die prematurely. What to do?

Today, you can go to a site like AutoSafety.org and post your problems, see what others are posting, and start to see if what you're experiencing is a known manufacturer defect. Cars.com and TrueCar.com also offer similar capabilities.

But the new angle now is social media. If you're getting the runaround, exasperation and frustration can come through in 140 characters on Twitter like you wouldn't believe!

The Wall Street Journal  reports GM has a team of 30 people continuously monitoring posts about the brand on social media.

Long ago, I used to recommend picketing if you had a problem with a dealership. Particularly on a busy Saturday, particularly if you have children in tow and look like a nice suburban family.

But today, the picketing that's done is electronic and it's everywhere thanks to Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

If you have a gripe with a dealership, start with the service manager. If that doesn't work, you have to escalate your complaint and get a face-to-face meeting with the factory rep for your area. Bring all the info about known defects you've discovered on the Internet.

If you're still not getting the satisfaction you want, get busy posting on websites, tweeting and Facebooking.