Did a full timed practice test today and ran out of time with 7 questions left. Definitely have a time management problem.
The (CAR) Certified Automotive Recycler exam has 113 questions and the time limit is 102 minutes by my understanding. That works out to roughly 57 seconds per question — which should be doable except I keep stopping on "CAR exam" type questions.
My bad habit: I over-analyze questions I'm unsure about rather than making a best guess and moving on.
Any strategies that worked for you? Specifically:
- Do you go through once and skip hard questions to come back to?
- How many questions on "CAR" should I expect — is it worth the time investment?
- Is the real exam usually easier to pace than practice tests, or harder?
I'm good enough on the content, I think — it's purely pacing that's failing me.
Worth mentioning: the free automotive recycler vehicle dismantling processing covers exactly the areas people tend to struggle with most.
Appreciate everyone sharing their experience here. I'm 3 weeks out from my CAR exam date and feeling more confident after reading this. The consensus on study guide being the hardest section matches what I'm seeing in my practice scores — going to put extra time there this week.
Great discussion here. One thing I'd add that hasn't come up: sleep the night before is genuinely more important than one more study session. I went in fully rested for my CAR and felt sharper on the practice test questions than I expected. Don't underestimate recovery time.
The advice about understanding why wrong answers are wrong — not just memorizing right ones — is genuinely the best CAR advice in this thread. Rebuilt my prep around that and it made a real difference.
Great discussion. One thing nobody mentions: sleep the night before matters more than one more study session. Went in fully rested for my CAR and felt sharper than expected.
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