Gardena Auto Repair

Earth Day Car Care Tips: How to Make Your Car More Eco Friendly April 22nd is Earth Day and if you're looking for ways to make an impact on the environment we have a few tips for you that you can practice all year long, by changing a few habits from keeping up with regular car maintenance and better driving habits, you'll be able to shrink your car's carbon footprint for a "greener" ride. Here are some simple steps you can take to make your vehicle more eco friendly. Change your air filters: In order to run at maximum efficiency you need to change your air filter.  A dirty air filter can cause the engine to run bad, stall or misfire, reduce fuel economy and create higher exhaust gas emissions, by changing your filter you can save as much as 10% on your car's gas mileage. Clean out your trunk: Don't overload your vehicle with excess weight, empty your trunk, driving with your tr ... read more

  Going on a road trip this Thanksgiving? Between dropping temperatures and surging Covid-19 numbers the last thing you want to happen is for your car to break down while you're on the road in the middle of a pandemic. With Thanksgiving being one of the most popular times to travel it's a good idea to go through this checklist to help ensure vehicle safety and reliability in order to avoid any unscheduled stops. Doing a holiday pre-trip inspection can reduce the chance of unexpected, costly repairs and help to ensure a stress-free road trip.  Check all fluids (engine oil, power steering and brake and transmission, as well as windshield washer solvent and antifreeze/coolant)  Check hoses and belts (look for any that are cracked, brittle, frayed, loose or show signs of excessive wear)  Check the tires, including tire pressure and tread Make sure all lights are working (interior and exterior) Check wipers. Wiper blades should be replaced every six mo ... read more

Basic Car Air Conditioning Repair Tips   Air Conditioning is something we don’t think about until it’s not working, like on a recent trip I took to Lake Havasu, you can only guess what happened. Of course the A/C stopped working on my truck, it was 113 degrees and I was miserable! It was a lesson learned to have my A/C inspected, especially before taking a long trip in the heat.  Keeping it serviced and maintained is key to never finding yourself sweating and uncomfortable in your car.   The way A/C works is complicated, the system is made of several components that work together to make sure you get cold air. Instead of explaining the whole process we'll break it down so its very easy to understand. Inside your dash is a component called the EVAPORATOR and this unit get cold. You'll also find a motor called the BLOWER MOTOR which blows air through the cold EVAPORATOR and just like that, you now have COLD AIR! What makes the EVAPOR ... 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