Mike Allen 10

7 Tips Every Teen Driver Needs to Know About Maintenance

Sure, your teen driver will have to take Driver’s Ed before they get a driver’s license. Frankly, trying to teach your own children to drive is probably a bad idea—a professional instructor will be more patient and more thorough. And insured properly, to boot. Both you and your children don’t need the potential stress of learning […]

April 4, 2016 More
 

Routine Car Maintenance You Don't Want to Skip

Your car is running fine, right? Mileage is what it’s always been, there’s no funny noise from underneath, no inscrutable icons lit up on your dashboard. So I can skip routine car maintenance right? It’s easy to get blasé about keeping up with routine car maintenance when all seems well. Modern cars are far more reliable […]

April 1, 2016 More
 

5 Unnecessary Car Maintenance Items You Can Skip

Regular preventative car maintenance is virtually always cheaper in the long run than episodic repairs. Write that down somewhere, because there will be a test later. The service writer at your dealership or garage should always be advising you about what maintenance is needed (if not, check for yours here), and generally, it’s best practice […]

January 26, 2016 More
 

How to Extend The Life of Your Car Lights and Wipers

This is really mostly about being able to see properly, and be seen when it’s raining or dark or both, isn’t it? We generally manage just fine on nice sunny days, but when it’s wet or dark out, there’s that instinctive reaction to squeeze the steering wheel a little tighter, lean a little forward, squint, and […]

January 19, 2016 More
 

Six Ways to Extend Your Car Battery Life

Baby, it’s cold outside. Cold enough that the starter motor on your car groans instead of sings. Cold enough that you’re starting to worry that you might just not get to work some morning without a jump. A few simple things may allow you to extend your car battery life considerably, however. Bear in mind […]

January 6, 2016 More
 

Why Do I Need an Annual Brake Inspection?

Your brakes are one of the least maintenance-intensive and most reliable systems on your vehicle. A normal brake replacement takes only a few minutes and should costs between $30-160 for one axle, depending on the car. Always, always replace brakes in pairs, lest your car develop a tendency to pull left or right as you […]

December 18, 2015 More
 

Car Exhaust System Maintenance Tips

Exhaust systems are pretty long-lasting nowadays. A generation ago, exhaust pipes and mufflers were made of inexpensive aluminum-coated steel. After a few years they would rust out, leaving you with a loud exhaust and the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning. Ultimately, these car exhaust systems would rust out from the inside, for the most part. How […]

December 8, 2015 More
 

5 Car Dashboard Warning Lights You Can’t Ignore

Too much month left at the end of your money? It’s a good thing the car has been as reliable as a brick, eh? Until, of course, it isn’t. Preventive maintenance, like oil changes, tire rotations and even major expenses, like timing belt replacements, can be planned in advance and budgeted for. But there are some […]

December 1, 2015 More
 

How Often Do You Need to Change Your Air Filter?

Your car or truck burns around 12,000 gallons of air for every gallon of gasoline it burns, according to the Filter Manufacturers Council. Do that math—if your vehicle gets 20 MPG, that’s 240,000 gallons of air for every mile you drive. Why do we care? Unfortunately,  that air is carrying a fair amount of plain […]

November 3, 2015 More
 

How Often Do You Need to Rotate Your Tires?

Wait (you say), I thought all my tires rotated all the time? Isn’t that what tires do? You know, rotate? Silly as that sounds, a lot of drivers don’t really know what’s involved in a tire rotation. It’s simple enough, though; because tires don’t all wear in the same places or at the same rate, […]

October 29, 2015 More