We wanted to take some of our down time and use it to give customers a couple of quick tips on does and dont’s when it comes to your vehicle. These tips can save you money in the long run or even major vehicle failures!
- Research the facilities you take your vehicles to. If you do not have a long term mechanic already this can be a somewhat daunting task. However, you want to find someone you know trusts or that has at least 60% good rating or better. We are all human and make mistakes so every facility will have some bad reviews however, there shouldn’t a high rate of bad review. Don’t just take your vehicle to the cheapest price place you find if you don’t know what the service is like. This can cause you to have more problems with you vehicle down the road if the vehicle is not serviced properly.
- Brakes – not at simple as many people think it is. Doing your own brakes can save you money if you know how to do it. If you choose to do your brakes yourself, please keep these tips in mind. Make sure you get both brake pads and rotors simultaneously. Putting new brake pads on old rotors will only make your pads wear down faster and unevenly. Make sure to clean your brake brackets with a die grinder or something similar. This step often gets skipped by many people when doing their brakes themselves but is one of the most important. If you do not clean the brackets the new clips will not fit properly and the pads can get stuck. Lastly, make sure you apply new grease to your caliper pins and if the boots are torn replace them. Caliper pins not being well lubricated will cause your pads to wear unevenly and prematurely.
- Do not use stop leak of any form in your vehicle. It is a common misconception that stop leak is a magical cure to leaks in your vehicle saving you money on head gaskets, radiators ect. However, this substance actually gums up inside of every crack and crevice in your system and causes multiple failures. You will save much more money in the long run repairing the original failure.
- Check your oil regularly!!! This is a well known fact to just about every driver on the road. However, most of us…including us mechanics do not check our oil often enough. We recommend checking all of your fluids not just oil though it is most important…every time you fill up with gas. We often see vehicles come in for work and when we check the oil there is next to no oil in the vehicle. While your checking your fluids take a look around for any oil, coolant or other fluids that may be leaking from your vehicle as well. Finding these problems early on will save you so much money and only take a matter of minutes!
- Listen to your car when you drive regularly! Not every problem that arises is a sudden noticeable one. Many times suspension parts start making noise over time but you don’t notice or become “immune” to the sound so try to pay attention. Fixing a suspension problem early on can save you from having to replace multiple suspension failures at once due to not noticing the problem soon enough.
- Lastly, if you don’t know ask!!! We are happy to take a quick peek, listen to or scan a vehicle any time at no charge. Or just answer some simple questions. Feel free to call or stop by and we can give you an idea of what your dealing with.