By: Senior staff writer – Easton Ellsworth

DriverSide wants you to keep your current car in excellent working condition using its online information service.

Now it has $5.3 million more to help it do just that.

The tech startup’s Series B financing round was led by Allegis Capital. Other participants included the founders of the company as well as Catamount Ventures. DriverSide now has $8.4 million in financial backing.

Not surprisingly, DriverSide has grown well thanks to the woeful economy. Which would you rather have in front of you – a newfangled website that promises to help you find that posh dream car you’ve always craved, or DriverSide with its helpful tips on how to actually beat this recession by taking care of the vehicle you already own and don’t want to lose anytime soon?

Let’s say your Toyota sedan breaks down one day. You go to DriverSide and find out not only what to do to fix the problem, but how much it will cost and how you can prevent it from happening again.

I think that if DriverSide can love the bejeebers out of its 250,000-plus current members, it stands a great chance of succeeding over the next several years. I think it ought to develop as much of a social Web presence as possible via elements like Facebook widgets, Twitter feeds, and other news and information-related trackers and updates.

Have you tried out DriverSide?