by Admin | Mar 5, 2019 | Auto Care Blog
Bad rotors are an expensive problem. Sometimes you can save a little money and machine them and other times not. Here is how to know the difference.
Bad Rotors
When you hear some grinding when you come to a stop or your brake pedal goes so much lower than it used to, you probably need a brake job. Replacing the brake pads is not all that expensive. It is when you have bad rotors that the brake job is several hundred dollars more. This part isn’t cheap and the mechanic always recommends replacing them, why?
Your options are:
- Replace just the brake pads
- Replace the rotors too
- Have the rotors machines
- Sell the car
Why Replace Rotors?
The mechanic will always tell you to replace the rotors, not because he wants you to spend more, although that’s an attractive option for the mechanic. He wants your car to operate in the best possible way when he is done with your car repair.
If you don’t replace the rotors and you chose the option to have them machined, you can save a little cash if they are very lightly grooved. But machining won’t get the deep grooves out of the rotors. This means it’ll make a lot of noise still and it will grind up your brand-new brake pads like a kid with a bag of Halloween candy. Just say no to machining. It really is not the best option in most cases. There was a day when rotors were machined, but those days have long since passed.
For the best price and to ensure your car will have brakes that will last a long time, and have quieter stops, choose to spend a little extra on brake pads to get the ones that are quieter. And choose to replace the rotors.
Replacing Brakes
If you’re concerned about your brake wear, call for an appointment for a brake check at A1 Performance Auto Repair and we’ll take a look at them.
by Admin | Feb 26, 2019 | Auto Care Blog |
There have been some changes to the smog abatement fee rules in California. There are changes to the amount of the fee, which vehicles are exempt from smog certification and which are exempt from having to pay the fee.
Smog Abatement Fee
The smog abatement fee is now $25 for cars that are 7 and 8 years old. If you have a 7-year-old vehicle and you got a smog certificate, then you are exempt from having to pay the smog abatement fee.
Cars that are 8 years old or less, are exempt from having to get a smog certification.
If your car is 6 years old or less, you must pay a $20 annual smog abatement fee. This is the rule that has been in effect in prior years. There is no change to this particular rule.
More Information
For more information on how to figure out which rule effects you. See the DMV Page for Abatement Fee Changes for 2019. This page also covers how this might affect your vehicle registration, title transfer and procedures.
Where to Get Smogged
A1 Performance Auto Repair can test your emissions and issue you the certificate you need, if your car is old enough to require it. Call our office for an appointment to have your smog check done.
You can save $10 on your smog certification test by asking to use our coupon, providing it is still a current special on our Deals Page. Check out our deals page for the smog coupon as well as for other auto maintenance and repair specials.
Auto Repairs and Maintenance
Whenever you need an auto repair, maintenance or smog certificate, give us a call for an appointment. We are a busy shop and as much as we’d like to squeeze you into the schedule, it isn’t always possible. So, give us a call and we will schedule an appointment for you. Smog abatement fee change information is just a courtesy, we have no relationship with the state of California. Always check their website for the most current information.
by Admin | Feb 20, 2019 | Auto Care Blog
We’ve all done it. You pull into the gas station, unscrew the gas cap and place it on top of the car. Then slide your credit card in the machine, put gas in the car, replace the pump’s handle into the slot and then jump in the car and go.
Gas Cap
Your car will run a little weird for the next 400 miles or so, but you figure you’ll take it to the mechanic when its convenient. Eventually, you’ll need fuel again and you see you do not have a gas cap any longer. You drove off without putting it back on at the last fueling. Ugh. Now what?
Gas Cap Heaven
There is a place where all gas caps run free. They all live together in a gas smelling, dirty, oil stained cardboard box – at the gas station. You find most makes of cars represented in the box. Think of that box as a public service gas cap swap.
Go to any gas station and ask for the gas cap box. They’ll hand you a box full of them. Just start twisting them on and off until you find one that fits like your old one did, until you abandoned it, left it crushed in the middle of the parking lot. Or worse yet, you let it slide off the car into oncoming traffic to be pummeled into dust. Pity.
Sure, you could go to the dealer and order a new one or find a replica of your old one on the Internet, but why? You can just go down to the gas station near your house and get one for free. Without the wait.
Hopefully in the future you’ll have a gas cap with a little safety cord on it that connects it to the car. You’ll find that it is a lot harder to loose, unless you drive off with it bouncing around by the cord for days until it breaks free. Those can join the others in the box, too. If you need help finding just the right one, we’ll get you a new one at A1 Performance Auto Repair. Stop by.
by Admin | Feb 13, 2019 | Auto Care Blog
It can be rather important to know how much tire pressure to reach before the tire explodes. It doesn’t come up a lot, but it could. And in a big way. Oddly enough, that magical number might be right in front of you when you’re putting air in your tires.
How Much Tire Pressure Before Boom!
That number that is too much is right in front of you while you add air to the tire. On the sidewall of the tire you’ll see some very fine print. One of those things on there is the Maximum PSI. Go past that number at your own risk, because the maximum PSI is the pound per square inch that the tire is meant to withstand. Maybe it’ll blow if there’s a defect, but probably not. Probably. Seriously though, you’d have to go to 200 PSI to get it to explode.
So, if your tire looks low or the dashboard says there is a problem with your tire, you put the maximum PSI into it? No. Never. If you put the maximum PSI in your tire it will bulge.
A bulging tire will wear incorrectly. You’ll end up with bald tread down the middle of your tire and unused tread on the outside of the bald row. This is called cupping. Cupping is a problem. Don’t cup.
The tire pressure you want to reach is the recommended tire pressure. If your car is new then you’ll find it in the door jamb. If your tires were replaced then the shop might have or might not have updated the door jamb sticker. For most cars you want between 32 – 34 PSI. To find out exactly what it should be, call the shop that sold the tires to you or go to the manufacturer’s website.
When you test the tire pressure with your little tire pressure device, do it while the car is cold and has been sitting around for a while. You’ll get an accurate number then. If your tire is very low, put air in it to reach the minimum amount. The next morning check it again to see if it needs more.
Happy driving, now that you know how much tire pressure will reach that exploding sweet spot.
by Admin | Feb 5, 2019 | Auto Care Blog
Hey, would you like to make a quick $50? You can by referring your buddies to the A1 Performance Auto Repair mailing list. Here is how you and your friend can get that $50 Amazon gift card.
Auto Service Company Issuing $50 Amazon Gift Cards
A1 Performance Auto Repair in Sunnyvale, CA, is running a promotion. They give away a $50 Amazon Gift Card about once a month, although there is no set date. Sometimes they skip a month here and there.
But here is how you can win that gift card. You sign up for the A1 Performance Auto Repair mailing list. You’ll receive the monthly newsletter about auto repair specials and cool blog posts that are on the website.
Encourage your buddies to sign up, too. You can share the link on social media and email your friends that live in and around Sunnyvale, CA.
Every month or so, the owner of the auto shop will pick a person from the mailing list to win the $50 Amazon Gift Card. That person is called and told to come down to the shop to have their picture taken for the website and pick up their $50 Amazon Gift Card.
That’s it! Easy, isn’t it? Plus, every month you’ll receive one email from the newsletter mailing list. You’ll see all the current specials that will help you save some cash on those oil changes and auto repairs.
First, sign up for the A1 Performance newsletter today using this link to our newsletter sign-up.
Next: Copy and share this message on your social media accounts:
Win a chance at the $50 Amazon Gift Card just by subscribing to the A1 Performance Auto Repair newsletter! #AUTOREPAIRCOUPONS #SUNNYVALE #A1AUTOREPAIR
https://a1performanceautorepair.us10.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=b250e9585ffe063840848ac45&id=6015e378fb
We hope you are the next big winner on our auto service newsletter!
by Admin | Jan 20, 2019 | Auto Care Blog
There was a recall in 2015 of certain cars that contain an engine named Theta II. The problem was that this engine had manufacturing debris inside it that could cause it to suddenly burst into flames. The recall wasn’t handled as well as it should have been, according to the US Department of Justice. You might own one of these cars today.
Cars with the Theta II
This recall was for car makes Hyundai and Kia that had the Theta II engine. There were over 1,000,000 cars recalled in the USA. These models were Hyundai Sonata and Santa Fe sport utility vehicles. And Kia recalled models Optima, Sorento and Sportage cars.
A former engineer for Hyundai had said they should have recalled more cars than they did over this problem.
Depending on the results of the DOJ investigation, Hyundai and Kia could be forced to pay huge fines for this engine problem. In the recent past both Toyota and VW were forced to pay billions for the problems and/or misrepresentations of their vehicles.
If you own one of the Kia car models listed below, you might check with your dealer to have your engine checked for debris damage.
- 2011-2013 Optima
- 2014 Optima
- 2012-2014 Sorento
- 2011-2013 Sportage
Here are the Hyundai models:
- 2011-2012 Sonatas
- 2013-2014 Hyundai Sonata and Santa Fe Sport
Lawsuits started after the car maker Hyundai refused to pay for the thousands of dollars it took to repair the damaged engine. Kia was also sued over their handling of their recall.
The recall problems are an ongoing investigation by the USA Department of Justice. They will ultimately determine if Hyundai and Kia did enough to take care of this problem with the manufacturer debris and slush left in the engines of these automobiles.
At A1 Performance Auto Repair European Specialist, we post occasional recall information at a courtesy to help keep our customers informed.
