San Diego Auto Repair

Motor oil has always been called the lifeblood of a car. Without it, cars do not run well - or at all - for any length of time. Any driver knows it’s essential that a car’s oil is changed on a regular basis to properly lubricate all of a car's valves and parts, and if a car’s oil is not changed on a regular basis, mechanical problems to the engine are inevitable. However, the traditional 3,000 miles oil change is history, for the most part. Oil chemistry and engine technology in new cars has improved to the point where the standard oil change is somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 miles.  Today, the two types of motor oil for cars are conventional motor oil and synthetic motor oil, and we'll go into detail on the difference between conventional and synthetic motor oil. Conventional motor oil is made from crude oil found beneath the ground. It is processed at refineries to maintain its base oil and additional products are ... read more

The type of car you drive has dictated a part of your status, personality and lifestyle since cars became mainstream in America, and car marketers know this. Cars are marketed to different lifestyles for exactly this reason, and just how marketers go about this task is a peek into the different lifestyles themselves. While there are many logical reasons behind the types of cars we buy, car buying is also highly emotional as few other things we buy say as much about us as our cars do. Car marketers do a great job of knowing their intended audience and tend to hit the nail on the head when it comes to presenting a specific car to a specific lifestyle. Here is how different types of cars are marketed to different lifestyles: Trucks: Ah, the truck. At least here in America, the truck will probably always be marketed towards the rugged, manly, git-r-done types. A huge part of this is because trucks are the workhorse of all vehicles, and those in those rugged, manly, git-r ... read more

There was a time when the family car was the preserve of only the family dog. Only he or she would be invited out to sanguine family picnics, trips to the park and the most exciting place of all—the local Pet Store Parking Lot! But now, thanks to many new restraint and safety apparatus for all types of family pets, you can take most any pet in the car, truck, SUV or even in a sport coupe safely. That is not, of course, to say that Fido has been left out of this equation. As follows are our ten choices for best pet friendly 2013 vehicles by category. Most Pet Friendly Sporty Car—2013 Hyundai Veloster/Veloster Turbo: The reason the Veloster sport coupe is so pet friendly comes down to one simple and unique engineering feature—its highly useful third, human sized door. No dog likes to hop into the back of any sport coupe and you try restraining a cat in the back of your Porsche 911 without throwing out your back. We ... read more

We're often asked why our customers should take their cars to Convoy Auto Repair and not one of our competitors. Our answer? We're have some of San Diego's best auto mechanics. While we can't necessarily speak to the abilities of our competitors, we can speak to the abilities of our mechanics and the kind of atmosphere we create at Convoy Auto Repair. Our auto repair technicians are all master trained technicians - we hire from the best auto mechanics in San Diego. In addition to being ASE certified, our auto repair technicians live, eat and breathe cars and car repair. They really, truly love what they do and go out of their way to help their customers. Watch our video for more about what makes Convoy Auto Repair attract San Diego's best auto mechanics, and why it's such a great place to work (or bring your car in). You can also check out our YouTube channel and find our other videos and some f ... read more

Even if you're one of the lucky ones who loves your job, getting on the road every morning with thousands of other drivers all trying to balance shaving and polishing off a breakfast burrito isn't easy. The stop and go, getting cut off, and being honked at when it totally wasn't your fault can put the most positive people in the wrong frame of mind for starting the work day. And getting back home is no walk in the park, either (if your daily commute does involve a walk in the park perhaps you're already in a calmer state of mind). Either you can learn meditation techniques in Burma from a Buddhist Monk or you can just listen to your favorite driving songs that soothe, inspire and make you want to sing along like an idiot. You can deny you sing along to music in the car all you want (we know the truth), but we're sure you won’t deny that the following ten songs are a terrific remedy for workday stresses. Best Driving Songs “Let it Be”—The Beatles A truly beautifu ... read more

Belts and hoses are two auto parts every car make and model has under the hood, and they're two of the most problematic parts, no matter what car you're driving. They're delicate yet crucial, which means your car could be stopped in its tracks if your belts and hoses snap. Belt and Hose Replacement Invest in belt and hose replacement at service intervals (based on your car's manual), before they cause you a huge hassle. In the following video, Convoy Auto Repair owner David talks about these necessary little bits and the trouble with belts and hoses. Have a look at the video to learn what you need to look out for before finding yourself stranded on the freeway with a car that won't go

With each new year brings a new round of auto shows around the world, and each new car model offers car makers a fresh chance to wow the world. Car evolution happens so quickly now that car features that were luxurious just a few years ago now come standard on even the most base models of cars. Ten years ago you were lucky if your mid-level sedan came with AC, power windows and locks, and a CD player. Now, you'll never see a car advertised with those things because they're all expected - and cars now have an adapter for your iPod in addition to the standard CD player. It also makes us wonder what luxuries we see now will become standard in the next 5 to 10 years (a cooler in the back seat for chilled champagne, anyone?). Top 10 Standard Car Features that Used to be Luxury Airbags: Someone, somewhere, decided that the wealthy shouldn't have greater safety than the rest of us. Which is great. By law, all cars must have had ... read more

To those who may not be aware, we have our very own YouTube channel! It's loaded with videos both from us and from other awesome car sources around the web. Both informational and fun, our YouTube channel is something any car owner will be wise to subscribe to. The whole Convoy Auto Repair YouTube channel is here, which has our playlists, our recent featured video, and a few car ads we liked, just for fun. In our top video, we meet owner David Ely, who has been behind the wheel (heh heh) at Convoy Auto Repair for more than 30 years. We're pleased to introduce the driving force (heh heh) behind our successful auto repair shop - an owner who is himself an ASE certified auto repair technician and who takes an active interest in his customer's needs. As a born and raised San Diegan, David loves his city and loves meeting his neighbors. He encourages his mechanics to go above and beyond whenever possible and will him ... read more

Car owners and manufacturers are always trying to stand out from the crowd, and understandably so; we all know someone who drives a blue Honda Civic. Some car features are the result of a safety idea, like the seat belts that slide across the door frame and buckle themselves (look ma, no hands!). Other features sound good in theory but are impractical, some scream ridiculous wealth, and some are just plain silly (fake bullet hole stickers, we're talking about you). Here is our list of those more ridiculous car features: Top 10 Most Ridiculous Car Features We'll start with an easy one: The Nissan Cube's headliner. The designers of the rectangle on wheels decided to think outside the box when decorating the interior. The juxtaposition of circular ripples on a car that shares its name with a uniform 3-D square is obviously a bit ridiculous. If you thought the Cube's headliner was out there, check out the Rolls-Royce starlight headliner. Not too sure on what the selling poin ... read more

New years mean new auto shows, and new auto shows mean lots of snazzy new rides. The auto shows this year were far from being an exception. By looking at the newly released vehicles by many auto makers, it's clear that style is the main focus. Even economy car brands like Hyundai and Kia are creating great looking new cars. Economy is still important to American car buyers, and fuel efficiency and low maintenance are still valuable aspects of new cars, but that's not the first thing anyone is going to notice. Here are the top 5 Cars Unveiled at Auto Shows in 2013: 1. Hyundai HCD-14 Genesis: The Genesis has been around for a few years now, and car buyers have pretty much stopped looking at Hyundai as a throw-away car. The future-release Genesis concept has "old fashioned power and glory" that's all about performance now. And if this car passed you on the highway you would be forgiven for thinking ... read more