Venice Auto Repair

How do I Improve my Fuel Economy?   These days you might be cringing at the gas pump each time you visit with the rising fuel prices. In this blog, we would like to discuss what you can do as a driver to improve your fuel economy and hopefully save you some money when it's time to fill up! Summer months are quickly approaching, when there is a rise in temperature, your fuel economy can actually increase because your engine doesn't have to work so hard to get up to a normal temperature. To counteract this though, there is the running of the A/C system in your vehicle that reduces fuel economy to keep the inside of the vehicle at a comfortable temperature. The easy solution to this you would think would be just rolling the windows down, right? But no. Rolling the windows down can also decrease fuel economy because now your vehicle is fighting against the wind resistance and using more power to push through that! Not to mention, who wants to roll the ... read more

Seasonal Car Care - Florida Edition  Hi there friends, residents, and visitors of Venice, Florida!  Today we are going to go into detail about the importance of maintaining your vehicle while you might be away from it for some time. Florida is no stranger to visitors and seasonal travelers during the winter and early spring months. We want to ensure that while you might be away in your home state, your vehicle down here still needs to be maintained routinely. So, let us talk about best practices, and what might work best for you! It is only January, but this is good prep for when the time comes, planning ahead will save you from last minute stress!  Car Battery First, let us talk about car batteries. Especially important to know that car batteries can die just by sitting for extended periods of time. They can die even when they are left connected and not recharged for some time. We ... read more

What is the Brakes for Breasts Program?     For the month of October, until the 31st, we are offering our Brakes for Breasts promotion. That means free Brake Pad or Shoes all October long. We donate 10% of the proceeds will benefit the Cleveland Clinic Breast Cancer Vaccine Fund. This is not only to our shop but shops across the country are participating in this to raise over $100,000 in proceeds! We want to defeat our goal from last year which was $680.00. This all happens around Breast Cancer Awareness Month which is also in October.  This is a wonderful cause we are happy to support but some may be completely clueless when it comes to anything Brakes related, other than that they make the car stop. Let's be honest, when they tell me I need new Brakes, I am sent a detailed inspection report, and shown all the pictures to see that diagnosi ... read more

Why Is My Car Shaking When Idle?    Have you ever experienced a rough idle or lots of shaking while you are stopped at a stop light or maybe you are slowing down, and it just starts to shake out of nowhere? There could be a variety of different reasons for this, it's not something you want to ignore as it may be a big underlying issue!   We recently had a BMW X2 in the shop that was experiencing this symptom. Upon doing a full diagnosis to the vehicle, our technician found that this was coming from the Motor Mounts. After asking my Service Manager about this issue, he stated that Motor Mounts can have many names, and can be different depending on make and model of vehicle. For instance, trucks usually have Engine Mounts that are metal and rubber, whereas other vehicles like this BMW X2 have mounts that have rubber with liquid inside of them, also known as hydraulic fluid. For this vehicle, Chris our ASE Certified Master Import & Eur ... read more

What is Carbon Build-up? How Does it Affect my Engine?  Carbon build-up can be found inside the engine. Over time carbon builds up inside the engine from exhaust and fuel combustion. As the engine burns fuel, the layers of carbon build up causing the valves to stick. This can impede the valves sealing correctly when disposing of exhaust or intaking air into the cylinder.  Carbon can also plug up your fuel injector nozzles resulting in poor fuel delivery.  For example, when there is a fire in the chimney you can see soot start to build up on the inside walls. This is exactly what is happening inside the engine!  Oil travels a long road before it winds up in your vehicle. Gasoline from oil refiners such as Shell, Chevron, etc. mix their gasoline with their own kind of detergents. These detergents are formulated to remove or prevent the carbon build up in the fuel injectors and intake valves. This may differ though with a direct injec ... read more