Auto Repair In Bainbridge Island

Wow! The heat wave last month made me appreciate all the cooler temperatures we have in the Pacific Northwest. Your car seemed like a great place to hang out with the A/C blasting at full speed, especially if you don’t have A/C in your house. But what does the heat do to your car?  When your vehicle was new, all the components functioned well, and it was a very well-designed piece of machinery. But as it ages, components will begin to fail and require replacement. Your vehicle can be a cool place for you to be during the sweltering heat.  But what about your car, how is it doing?  Your vehicle is designed to work under extreme heat and still function to be able to give you reliable service and comfort.  Any time your vehicle is running, whether it is in the middle of winter or in an extreme heat wave, your vehicle is running at about 200 degrees. You should try open ... 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

I was talking to my doctor the other day about what we eat today will affect our health the latter part of our life.  It made me think of our cars and how we maintain them today will affect them as they age. Granted when something breaks on our car we can just replace it but at what cost?  If you look at what is spent on maintenance over the life of a car, you will see there are smaller costs that are fairly spaced out and easy for your buget to handle. Routine maintenance will also bring dependability and a peace of mind knowing you can trust your vehicle and it will get you home safely.  We have vehicles come in for the first time, we open the hood, look around and can see how well the vehicle was maintained. Usually these vehicles need a few repairs immediately to continue running and functioning properly and then prioritize a “to-do ... read more