Grouping objects

I’m just picking up Blender again after some time off and trying to learn the 2.5 series. Anyway, I modeled a car. I used the mirror modifier on a lot of parts like wheels, doors, etc and haven’t committed the modifier. So, do I need to go through everyone and do that or is there some faster way? And also, is there some way to easily parent them all to the chassis or is it a one at a time deal? I guess I’d just like to hear what other users are doing. Is it something you do while you are modeling or wait till you are finished? I might just join them all on another save, but I would also like them to be parented.

You can parent multiple selected objects at once.