Gardena Auto Repair

Catalytic Converter Theft How to Prevent It Catalytic Converter theft is up on the rise again as you may have seen posts about it on your Nextdoor or Ring app. We have had multiple vehicles brought into our shop where the catalytic converters have been stolen; which costs quite a lot of money to replace. The thieves are getting more brazen in their attempts and even stealing the catalytic converters in broad daylight! They can be stolen in a matter of minutes and cause thousands of dollars of damage.    What is a Catalytic Converter? Catalytic Converter is an exhaust emissions component that converts harmful gases that your engine produces into less harmful gases and is usually located under the vehicle (part of the exhaust system).    Why do they want to steal it? Catalytic Converters are made of precious metals such as platinum, palladium, gold and rhodium, to give you an idea of it's worth - one ounce of pla ... read more

  Car Maintenance Terms All Drivers Should Know   When you drop off your vehicle for service whether it's for routine maintenance or you have an issue, do you feel confident about it? Do you have concerns that the bill may be big, your car may be out of commission  for a while, even if you bring your car into a shop that you trust? Unfortunately this anxiety car owners face, often stems from lack of knowledge about car repair in general or what goes on under the hood of your car. Although every vehicle that is brought in we provide a courtesy inspection that includes a detailed outline and photos of what is the most immediate repair needs and what can be dealt with later, understanding technical terms may help you when it comes to decision making to authorize repairs, here's a list of some of the most important maintenance terms all drivers should know.    Alternator: The alternator is the part in t ... read more

  TIPS TO HELP EXTEND YOUR CAR’S LIFE   The average price to purchase a new car is estimated at $38,000 in the U.S. and with yearly rising prices for ownership that does not even include maintenance, there's a reason most vehicle owners tend to keep the same car for at least 11 years. The modern vehicle is already engineered to last long as long as it is maintained properly.  Components of your vehicle can be serviced to prevent major repairs which is the name of the game. At a minimum, you should follow the factory scheduled maintenance. According to Consumer Reports, the average lifespan of today’s cars is about eight years or 150,000 miles. As a professional in vehicle maintenance, we often wonder why manufacturers make claims that transmission fluid is a lifetime fluid and boast this fact, while the factory warranty ends anywhere from 36k to 60k miles? How can you claim the guarantee at a lifetime and only cover you to 60k miles? We ... read more

California Wildfires Continue, Why is it Important to Change Your Cabin Air Filter   With fires continuing to burn in California it's a good idea to inspect your cabin air filter and have it replaced if needed; smoke and debris caused by forest fires can severely affect your cabin air filter. Changing your filter is simple yet an important service that helps clean the air inside your car.  The purpose of the cabin air filter is to prevent dirt, dust and pollen from entering the vehicle cabin through the air vents. Whether you have the A/C on or the heater, when your vehicle is equipped with a cabin filter, the air from the outside flows through this filter, filtering the air you and your passengers breathe. When the filter becomes dirty, and clogged it reduces the ability to filter the air you breathe. A "plugged up" filter will prevent air flow which will cause the air conditioning to get cold effectively, not an ideal situation especially wh ... read more

California Smog Check How to Prepare Your Vehicle For the Test If you're a registered driver in Los Angeles, the California Emissions Program or SMOG Check is very strict compared to other states, customers often ask us how they can get their car ready to pass the smog inspection. Despite the fact California has some rules that are very questionable regarding this test, we're going to cover a few areas that we think will be the most useful. Testing Procedures: The state of CA there are 2 tests. One is called the BAR 97 which is performed for every vehicle that has a model year before 2000. BAR 97 requires the vehicle to be test on a dynamometer which is when you see the car on the rollers and the drive wheels spinning. They are testing the vehicles emission output at 15 MPH and then again at 25 MPH. In addition to the emissions test, the technicians are looking for anything tampered, broken, aftermarket parts, ignition timing, fuel cap test, fuel tank pressure test, and they will eve ... read more