The engine oil, transmission fluid, and the cooling system of your vehicle is just the beginning of proper maintenance.  There are other fluids, filters, and spark plugs just to name a few.  When you are on the repairing side of vehicles that have been in use for 60,000 miles or more and see the results […]

This article is the 2nd one on whether today’s vehicles are really maintenance free.  We were talking about engine oil, it is interesting but a simple oil change is one of the best returns on investment that you can have performed on your vehicle. By keeping the engine oil clean no matter what the service interval […]

  The timing chain of a vehicles’ engine is designed to last the life time of the engine, if that engine is maintained properly.  Timing chains are not typically a maintenance service that needs to be replaced after so many miles or years like a timing belt. The best way to maintain an engine and […]

When a vehicle hits the 100,000 mile mark and is moving into being a 7 or 8 year old car many consumers wonder if the vehicle is worth a major repair like a replacement engine, transmission, transfer case or other large expensive repairs. We recommend that you look at many things when facing that decision: […]

Vehicle breakdowns, are inconvenient, expensive and always seem to happen at the worst times.  There is also a huge safety factor, getting way off to the side of the road, using flares, hazard flashers and having an emergency plan and equipment in the event of a breakdown is always a good idea.   According to […]

As reliable as most automatic transmissions are, they are relatively easy to break and quite expensive to fix.  Being aware of how your vehicle performs, and any change in performance, or noise while performing can be your first clue of an issue.   One of the most common signs that there may be a problem […]

If the temperature on your vehicle is in the red zone, if it is getting hot, or your warning beeper that some vehicles are equipped with goes off, pull over and turn off your vehicle immediately.  If you see coolant leaking, see smoke from under the hood of your vehicle or smell coolant (sweet syrup […]

Is your vehicle road ready for winter?  Some of the things to have inspected is; that your coolant/antifreeze is at the proper protection level and there are no leaks in the system, the windshield washer fluid is at the proper mix for freezing temperatures, the washer fluid system and wipers are operational, and your heater […]

The last article we wrote we talked about some of the causes of vehicle fires and how to avoid them.  Even though we saw another car fire on I5 South last weekend, some of our feedback indicated that most consumers do not feel that a vehicle fire occurs very often, or would ever affect them […]

Maintenance services are usually recommended either by mileage or time.  The last several articles I have mentioned that time and time again.  We will use oil changes as an example to be performed every 3 months of 3,000 miles.  So which is it?  Time or mileage?   Most people average 15,000 miles a year and […]