Auto Repair In Bainbridge Island

With Summer just around the corner, we thought we would share one of our island's fun summer events that Modern Collision Rebuild & Service puts on, the Bainbridge Island Classic Car Cruise-in, and it starts in less than a week. On the last Tuesday of May, June, July & August you will see an Island tradition take shape in the form of rubber and metal, all coming together to show off. We usually have anywhere from 100 to 150 cars join in for this fun event which draws in people from all over Kitsap County.  There are delicious hamburgers and hotdogs served and for $8.00 you can enjoy the beautiful cars, while having a hamburger, chips and a soda. This is the 21st year that this has been going on and every year it gets bigger. We have families show up just to see the cars and eat dinner. All the money that is raised goes directly to our local Helpline House for Project Backpack which helps kids prepare for the coming school year. Since the first car show, Project B ... read more

With spring just around the corner, make sure you are ready for the wonderful wet Pacific Northwest spring. We tend to have wet springs which is why it is so green here. Road conditions are worse in the spring than almost any other season we have. Why? I blame the wet weather. Rain can cause an accident easier than almost anything because of the false sense of control until you hit that patch of water or mud and things don’t quite go as planned.   Having good tires is just as important as having a full tank of gas when heading out on a long trip, without good tires you won’t be going anywhere, at least not safely. Most people who live here also know the importance of good wipers. There is nothing worse than not being able to see when the car in front of you sends the spray of water all over your windshield.  Get ready for spring and enjoy the wet weather, it is what keeps us green all year long. Grab your boots and rain gear and head out for a wonderful day hike ... read more

Tires are round and come in all different sizes and patterns, materials but the only thing they have in common is their shape. While I am no tire expert by all means, I do know enough to be able to give a little insight about this marvelous invention and that we should appreciate the advancements in their technology. I could start with the invention of the wheel but I’ll skip a few thousand years, and start in the late 19th century.   Some of the first rubber tires were made of a thick layer of rubber around a solid metal disc. I could only imagine the chatter of teeth and the rattling of bones of the passengers on a nice rough surface, but I'm sure it was an improvement over the solid metal wagon wheels that preceded them. In about 1890 John Dunlop (Dunlop tire company) created the first rubber air filled tire for his sons bicycle, then, shortly after that ... read more

Are your headlights illuminating the road properly?  Yes, summer is over and it is starting to get darker earlier, and soon you will be coming home after work and have to use your headlights to see the road. Seeing what is in the road ahead of you is important not only for you but the other drivers on the road too. Headlights are not something people think about unless they don’t work.   But what happens when they work, but not as well as they did when they were new? It is like batteries in a flashlight that are slowly dying. You really don’t notice the light slowly dimming until you almost can’t see. Well, that is a lot like your headlights.  The lenses of most vehicles are made of plastic and as your vehicle ages the sun takes its toll on the plastic components of your vehicle, including the clear headlight lenses. Ever walk through a parking lot and notice some headlights have a yellowish tint ... read more

Fluids will always break down over time from wear and tear, miniscule debris from parts and from heat.  All fluids in your vehicle will eventually need to be serviced.  Fluid maintenance is probably the single most important repair for getting your money's worth out of your car.  My trusty old Corolla had over 345,000 miles when I sold it.  The transmission fluid was still a beautiful red color and worked perfect, because at every oil change, I would drain 2 quarts out and refill it.   I always get a kick out of the car manufactures selling point “life time fluid”, it does not need to be changed. I still have yet to see a fluid that does not break down over time. Take a BMWs transmission, filled with BMWs signature lifetime fluid, do you want to know how many BMW transmissions I have seen fail? When I am asked about BMW’s lifetime fluid, my favorite line ... read more

Car washes  This seems like a real simple subject. Everyone loves to drive around in a clean car or to look out the window and see a nice shining car in the driveway.  I remember when I was a kid, on a very rare occasion, we would take a trip through the car wash tunnel, watching all of the brushes spin and having the car jerk around.  It was like a small amusement park ride that only lasted for a few minutes but it was a lot of fun when you are a kid. Then when I was a teenager, I bought my first driving car. All the other cars before this didn’t run or I had taken them apart and, well they still didn’t run. That car, a 1983 Toyota Corolla hatchback, didn’t need a wash job, it needed a paint job, but none the less it got washed on a regular basis. It never saw a drive through car wash, I would get out the hose and bucket and go to town. It was my car, and I bought it with my ow ... read more

Oil is the life blood of your engine, yet it is one of the most neglected fluids.  In the last article we discussed the importance of using the correct oil and why.  In this article we are going to discuss the importance of changing your engines most vital fluids.  During this past year, people have been driving less and their cars have been racking up less miles.  But your engine’s oil is still degrading over time.  Just because you're driving has decreased, doesn’t mean the oil is fine.  When oil is new, it is designed to keep your engine well lubricated and provide protection to all those internal parts.  As you drive, even if it just a couple of miles a day, your engine oil is slowly becoming contaminated with small fuel and exhaust particles that break down that protection oil provides.  That ... read more