What we are finding is that these systems suggest, on average, an oil change every 6,000 miles depending on a number of factors which we won’t get into here. This is fine,  but it means that the typical car barely gets looked at twice a year. The lack of a knowing eye scanning under your hood on a regular basis can lead to more involved repairs.

So if you are only responding to the prompts that appear on your dashboard for oil changes, it may be a good idea to keep abreast of the other recommendations that appear in owner’s manual. We always encourage customers to take charge of their vehicle maintenance with the help of that book. This ensures that they will not fall victim of the ubiquitous upsell.

Believe it or not there are some signals that are evident at the repair shop that, if you heed them, can reduce the chance that you might have a bad experience. First, if the shop asks for a deposit on work to be performed you are definitely in the wrong place. As long as your car is worth more than the projected cost of the repair, there is no reason you should have to advance funds to the repairer. It could be a sign that the operation is underfunded.

Judge the condition of the shop in a similar way that you might with any other business that wants your dollars. Is it clean and orderly? Is the staff genuinely interested in solving your problems? Do they adhere to deadlines, promises and estimates.

For a more detailed consideration of this topic see   How to Know You have Chosen the Wrong Auto Repair Shop.

We learned a lot from this experience especially the value of committed clients who were willing to deviate from the norm to patronize our business. We also better appreciate the community of not only clients but also suppliers and competitors who offered help and kind words of support, which in the end got us through this challenging time. We in turn, having been through it, offer to share our knowledge of the process to anyone be it an individual or business who unfortunately might undergo a similar incident.

Well if your car is fairly new and you have never seen a blue thermometer icon, it’s the cold engine light. It is telling you to avoid racing the engine until the light goes away. If your car starts running hot you might have a thermostat that is stuck in the closed position and if you have no cabin heat at the same time it is almost certain that this is your problem.

Luke warm cabin heat is not as cut and dry and could mean anything from a clogged heater core to a thermostat that is stuck in the open position.

Stay safe and try to stay warm!