San Diego Auto Repair

We live in such a disposable society. It's amazing all the stuff we throw away. New stuff comes out so fast, we just toss the old and move on. In the old days people were real sticklers about taking care of their things. If something got lost or ruined by neglect, tough - they had to do without. Most people couldn't afford new cars very often, so they had to make them last as long as they could. It's a good thing that cars are more reliable these days. They just don't break down as often. And the good news for us CA penny pinchers is that a modern car can easily go 200,000 miles/320,000 km with proper care. The engineering and the manufacturing quality is tremendous. The missing ingredient is us San Diego car owners making sure we follow the manufacturer's recommended maintenance schedules. Extend Vehicle Life with these Simple Tips Every time you go a couple thousand extra miles between a car oil change, you ... read more

Is your car sometimes hard to start? When you turn the key, does it hesitate or stutter? If so, the problem could be the result of a dirty fuel system. Your car's fuel system starts with the car air filter and ends in the top of your engine. Over time, different parts of the system get dirty, which robs you of performance and hurts your fuel economy. Most of today's cars have fuel injectors, rather than a carburetor. Fuel injection systems have fewer problems and require less adjustment. But they still need to be properly maintained. This is why your owner's manual has a schedule for cleaning your fuel injectors and other parts of your fuel system. Some CA drivers are interested in buying fuel system cleaners that you can pour into your gas tank. You can do that - and there are lots of great products available that can help maintain an already clean fuel system - but these products cannot do a major cleaning ... read more

Hey San Diego, are your tires worn out? What is the standard for our CA streets? How can you tell on your sedan? While there may be legal requirements for the San Diego area, there are safety concerns that go beyond meeting minimum replacement mandates. 2/32 is the depth of the tire tread wear indicator bars that US law has required to be molded across all tires since August 1, 1968. When tires are worn so that this bar is visible, there's just 2/32 of an inch – 1.6 millimeters – of tread left. It's that level of wear that's been called into question recently. We're referring to the Consumer Reports call to consider replacing tires when tread reaches 4/32 of an inch, or 3.2 millimeters. And the recommendation is backed by some very compelling studies. The issue is braking on wet surfaces in and around San Diego. Most of us think of our brakes doing most of the work, but if you don't have e ... read more