3-10-2010 Poco’s Pundits

Question:

        How can I find a mechanic I can trust?

Answer:

        Your car is probably your second highest investment you have. Your highest investment being your home. Care for your vehicle is very important. It is essential you find someone to do your service work that you can trust. Be careful when you look at the largest ads in the paper or the fanciest ad in the yellow pages. Anyone with a little money to throw away can buy a fancy ad. The best advice I can give you is to ask around. Ask your co-workers. Ask others at church. Ask the people at the coffee shops. This is advertisement that no one can buy. These people have nothing to gain by telling you anything other than the truth about the dealings they have had at different shops.

It would be a great idea to go and visit several stores and just “get to know” the people you will be dealing with BEFORE you have car trouble. Listen to what they have to offer. Is there someone there you feel comfortable talking to? Communication is important and ideally you would like to speak to someone you are comfortable with.

Try to find out how the management handles mistakes, accidents or just plain ole screw-ups. I have been associated with this industry for over 30 years and I know as well as most mechanics, sometimes the very best master technician can make a mistake. Maybe even misdiagnose a problem with a car. We have all been guilty of these things at one time or another. When everything is good and the work goes out as performed, everyone is happy. However, I think the true test of a store, or the management is how they handle failure. Hopefully you never have to find out first hand. Check with others, see if a shop messed a repair up. If they did mess up the repair, what did they do to rectify the situation.

Of course, I am answering this question from my own point of view. I have been a shop owner for over 25 years and been a mechanic for longer. I would love to get some insight from others in the community. If you have a good idea for locating a trustworthy mechanic send your ideas to pundits@pocoauto.com .

Just a thought: Three frogs are sitting on a log. One frog decides to jump off the log. How many frogs are left? For the answer go to pocoauto.com. Or just wait until next week.

Thanks for reading. See you next week!

Three frogs are left on the log. The frog only DECIDED to jump off the log. How many frogs are on your log? 

Point: Deciding how to fix a problem is just the start. Action is the only thing that will fix it!

3-3-2010 Poco’s Pundits

Question: Is there any difference in wheel alignment, wheel balance, and wheel rotation?

Answer:

Yes ! Definitely there is a huge difference in each of the services you asked about.

1. The first service, wheel alignment, should be checked twice a year. This is the angle of your four wheel and tire assemblies to the road surface. There are several angles that we check during the alignment process , but the two most important angles are camber and toe. Camber is the angle of your tire as viewed from the front or rear of the vehicle. An incorrect camber setting can and will cause premature inner or outer tire wear. That results in more tire purchases! Toe is the most critical angle in the alignment process. While sitting in your car , imagine your right front wheel turned slightly to the right. Now imagine your left front wheel turned slightly to the left. This would be considered a toe out condition. Each car has their own specifications for proper alignment. We align cars to these specs and the result is longer tire wear, better fuel mileage and better stability and drivability.

2. The second service you asked about is wheel balance. Incorrect wheel balance is usually noticed by a slight vibration at about 60-65 miles per hour. This vibration is uncomfortable and also causes premature tire wear. This service is performed by properly adding small weights to the inside and outside of the wheel. You know when the clothes all get stuck on one side of the washer during the spin cycle? That is what imbalance is! You might say we just raise the lid and readjust the laundry until each wheel spins perfectly with no vibration.

3. The third service is wheel rotation. Front wheel drive vehicles rotation procedure is: Move the right front wheel and tire assembly to the right rear. Move the right rear assembly to the left front. Move the left front to the left rear and move the left rear assembly to the right front. This process sounds a lot more confusing than it actually is. You just have to make sure, before you let the jack down that there is a wheel bolted on each corner! Rotations are important because today’s tire are made to be very good in the rain. However, a good rain tread tire is very susceptible to irregular tire wear. Important! Even if your tires are in correct alignment and are perfectly balanced you may still notice irregular tire wear if you don’t have a regular tire rotation scheduled. We recommend tire rotations every 5000 miles.

Your questions and comments are welcome at pundits@pocoauto.com !!

2-24-2010 Poco’s Pundits Oil Change Intervals

Question:

                When should I change my oil? First I hear every 3000 miles then I hear every 5000 or even 7500 miles. I want to take care of my car but I don’t want to waste money either.

Answer:

                We have always recommended changing your oil every 3000 miles or 3-6 months whichever comes first. Today’s engines run extremely efficient and very clean. The engine oils we use nowadays are much better quality than they have ever been. For these reasons our automobile manufacturers will recommend 5000 to 7500 miles. This is when you use the factory recommended oil and operate your car under “ideal” conditions. Your owners manual describes “severe conditions” as:                                                            

1. Frequent short trips (under 10 miles)

2. Stop and go city traffic.

3. Driving in dusty conditions ( dusty roads)

4. Or driving at sustained highway speeds ( especially in hot weather)

These severe conditions cover almost all of us in the Gatesville area. That is why we continue to recommend 3000 miles or 3-6 month intervals, more especially on higher mileage vehicles(75,000 and up).

The newer autos suggest and sometimes require a synthetic oil or at least a synthetic blend oil. The synthetic oil is designed to run at higher mileage and less frequent oil changes.

ALWAYS refer to your owners manual for oil change specifications and recommended intervals. If you have trouble locating the data, please feel free to stop by Poco Automotive and allow us to assist you in locating the information.

2-17-2010 Welcome to Poco"s Pundits !

       Our intent is to use this area to answer your questions about your automobile. Our ad should begin running in the Gatesville Messenger edition for 2-17-10. At that time, we will choose a new question each week to be published both in the newspaper and on our website. At times the answer will be to lengthy for the newspaper ad. (We do have to pay for the ad!) The more lengthy answers will be refered to our website for elaboration. Thanks and we hope you enjoy Poco's Pundits.