Don't Just Take Anyone's Word For It

We have worked hard to be one of the best service facilities where you can bring you car. We hold ourselves to high quality service and repairs. One of the areas we’ve held true to is, we do not work off of other people’s diagnoses, and this includes the Dealership’s. Everyone makes mistakes/misdiagnoses, including us, we are human. One thing I get a kick from is a tow truck driver’s diagnosis. Have you ever had the unfortunate luck of having your car break down on the road, requiring the service of a tow truck and had them tell you what wrong with car as they are loading it onto their truck? Really? If these gentlemen really knew what was wrong with your car, why are they tow truck drivers? We spend a lot of time and money to keep up with the technology that goes into these cars. Our technicians go to classes yearly to keep up with the changes these car manufacturers come out with every year. We focus on only the cars we work on. We purchase diagnostic equipment from the factories and the people who build the vehicles, not a generalized version of diagnostic equipment, to give you the best possible service we can.

I get a lot of phone calls where someone has gone to an auto parts store that will give you a free diagnostic reading of your ‘CHECK ENGINE’ or ‘SERVICE ENGINE SOON’ warning lights. These generic OBD II readers are just that, general reading. For example; one of the most common complaints I see and hear is: you go in with a ‘CHECK ENGINE’ light and the store reads the code. The code comes up as an oxygen sensor fault or failure. You have the oxygen sensor replaced, but the light remains on and the fault returns. How can that be? You were told that was the problem, or was that really the problem? The fault is more than likely the result, not the cause. Oxygen sensors on the cars we work on have come a long way and do not fail that often. Usually what we see is this: your ‘CHECK ENGINE’ light comes on, we check for the faults, and the fault comes up with an oxygen sensor fault or failure. After running a diagnostic check of the system, we find that the fault is a ‘lean running condition’ or too much air in the air to fuel mixture and the oxygen sensor cannot adjust the ratio because it is outside of its parameters. Further investigation will probably find a vacuum leak or old and cracked intake induction boot allowing too much air into the engine, and THAT is the problem, not the oxygen sensor. This is why, no matter what kind of car you drive, you should always find an independent shop that specializes in your car that you like and trust. Let them look into you problem, this is what they do, this is their job.

Please Don't Ask

I understand that economic times are hard everywhere. I understand that everyone is looking to either save money and/or getting the best they can for the dollar. No one can be criticized for this. But, when cutting corners, I personally don’t understand why your car’s service and repairs seem to be an area people seem to think are a good one to cut. Yes, some service and repairs are expensive. Yes, there are repair shops that are less expensive than our business. These shops use aftermarket, less expensive parts and may allow you to take your own parts in. We don’t do this. I know this may sound harsh or elitist, but we do have good reasons. First is quality. We use factory parts; we know they’re going to fit properly; We know they are of high quality; we know that if there is a premature failure, there is no problem with warranty and the factory is backing their own quality. Now, I understand that if you buy a part from the dealer, you would think, “I bought the right part, why won’t you install it for me?” That is our policy. We stand behind everything we do. If we were to compromise in one area or policy then you could ask yourself, what’s to keep them from compromising in other policies or areas?

Think about it, your car is the third highest expense in your life (The first being children and second being your home), and a very important necessity. You need your car to go to work (to make your hard earned money), to go to the store for food, to protect you from inclement weather while you are taking care of your responsibilities. Your car is something that you depend on. Are you really wanting to compromise with its dependability? What if you were hurt and had to go the emergency room? You wouldn’t take a bottle of whiskey with you because it’s cheaper than the Hospital’s anesthesia? It’s amazing how many phone calls we get from people that want to bring their own parts in, parts that have been purchased online, at an auto parts store, from the salvage yard, etc. Ask yourself this question; “Why is that part cheaper?” I could give you at least 50 different reasons why. I mean why buy a diamond wedding band when a cubic zirconium looks just as good, right? There is truth in the saying “You get what you pay for,” and it works both ways. Sometimes the “cheap” way is even the most expensive way. I personally learned this with a washing machine. Keeping your car dependable and in top condition, that’s what we do, that’s our job, our focus. It’s what we do best, allow us that privilege and I promise, we won’t come to your job, bring our own stuff and ask you to compromise your quality.

What's Its Worth?

Unfortunately, if a car needs and expensive repair my job involves not only delivering the bad news, but also delivering what the cost of that repair is going to be. Over the years the change has been from “How much?” to “The car’s not worth it!!” Ok, let’s think about this a minute. How much is a car worth? That really is a big question. Most people today base the value of the car on the resale price, how much can they get for it. So, if your car is broken and you need an expensive repair, do you think you are going to get market value for it? Let’s say you do, now what? You now need a car, right? Are you going to buy a brand new car? If you are, then this article is not for you. New cars are expensive! So if you’re going to buy a used car, what kind of car are you going to get with the money that you got from selling your car? Why are those people selling their cars? Does it need repairs? Probably. What kind of service history does that car have? Did the previous owner take good care of it? Did it get regular scheduled maintenance? Hmmmm.

So, let’s take another look at our broken car. First, is it paid for? It’s nice not having a car payment! Insurance and tag costs are cheaper. Believe me, maintenance and repair costs on an older car are going to be less expensive over the years than the new cars! You probably already know the condition of your car, what repair it needs and services that are coming up. Is that large repair looking cheaper? Let’s say, for example, the repair is $3,500. If you were break that down, that’s less than a year of car payments. You don’t have to keep paying for another four or five years for repairs on top of a car payment. I have seen customers make $4,000 and $5,000 repairs, and come out with basically a new car that last them many more years, saving them thousands of dollars in the long run.

Information and the Internet

It amazes me how fast we all are to believe in young and fragile technology. Although, when you look at history, mankind has always been a little too trusting. Do you know that at one time doctors thought that if you traveled in a car faster than sixty miles per hour that you would die? Interesting what people thought one-hundred years ago. Public Internet is now just a touch over twenty years old and look at how much faith we blindly put into it. Websites like CARFAX are a great idea, but won’t really be dependable for at least another 5 or 10 years. Why do I say that? Remember the sayings about computers? “Garbage in, garbage out” or “A computer is only as good as the information that’s put into it.” As the years go by and more systems are tied together, I have no doubt that these types of informational websites will be factual and trustworthy. But as of now, they don’t get all the information. They are only as good as the information that is given them. Do you think we upload all our customers’ services onto a public information database? How many shops or dealerships do? Right now only title transfers and accidents are reported (well, accidents that are reported through insurance companies).

As computer technology progresses in cars, you won’t even need the internet. Even now, the later model cars have “pods” instead of keys; these “pods” carry the vehicle service history within them. As of yet, only the dealerships are allowed to have readers for these “pods,” but as cars and technology get older, the information will be released to the independent shops. Newer cars e-mail information to the dealership when some problem comes up, they call emergency services when they are in an accident and even tell them where the accident is.

Forums are a great place to meet people with similar interests. You can share experiences, problems and solutions with each other. But even here, information can be misleading. People claim that a particular car manufacturer has a problem with something when in reality; it’s not a true problem at all, but a result of change and is now a normal part of that cars life. BMW cooling systems are a great example of car manufacturers trying to make components lighter for emissions and fuel economy and less expensive to manufacture, etc. Most of the cooling system components are made of polymers (plastics) and have a shorter life expectancy. Radiators were once made of brass. Did they ever have failures? Not that I know of, not unless a hole got punched in them. Today, in the life of a car, you can expect to replace your radiator at least once or twice. Some problems are regional, shops on the northern east coast see problems we never have, and some of the problems we have are only seen in this region.

Not everything out there is true or correct for your car. It is for these reasons that I have decided to post “My Soapbox” blogs. I would like to do my best to educate, clear misconceptions and confusion about the cars we work on. The more you know about your car, the easier my job is and the easier it is for you to understand what we do to keep your car in top condition.