Gardena Auto Repair

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

The Importance of Maintaining Your Vehicle's Transmission Fluid Let's start with the basics to explain what the transmission does. The transmission is responsible for transferring the engine power to the wheels of the vehicle, while it is separate from the engine; the engine and transmission operate together to make your vehicle go forward or backwards. Automatic means the gears shift on their own and manual means the driver must manually select the proper gear at the proper speed for efficient movement. Transmissions are very complicated internally and have a lot of moving parts. In this post we will focus on automatic transmissions. Vehicle owners tend to fear transmission failure because they are very expensive to replace, however when properly maintained they usually have very few problems. The average well maintained transmission should be able to last 150,000 to 250,000 miles but due to different driver habits and commutes this is not always the case. A good example fo ... read more

Can You Trust Your Auto Repair Shop? A common question that seems to come up often in Google search and even comments on social media networks, consumers are talking about whether or not they can trust their auto repair shop. The automotive industry has a bad reputation when it comes to trust, with little to no regulation to govern how businesses are conducted, it is unfortunate that there are still people out there that will take advantage of customers with no shame. The best advice we can give you when choosing a mechanic is to do some thorough research so you have some values and expectations of how you should be treated. There are some really good automotive service and repair businesses and then there are ones that are not so good. There is a wide range and it all depends on what you are looking for. Here are the top qualifications that come to mind: 1.) Reputation is everything when it comes to automotive service and repair. A good reputation is key because our customer&rsquo ... read more

Winter Holiday Travel Road Safety Tips It's the time of year where your mind starts to wander off into good times relaxing, present shopping and getaways, and if you're planning a road trip getaway this Christmas, even if you're in Southern California these are things you need to mindful of, especially if you plan on heading to colder climates or even the snow, so in the spirit of the holidays, here are Shige's "Winter Holiday Travel Road Safety Tips" CHECK LIST! ENGINE OIL Check your owners manual for winter oil viscosity recommendations. In the winter oil viscosity is going to be thinner as cold temperatures cause the oil to thicken, it could get so thick the engine will not run properly. Getting stuck in the snow is never ideal! BATTERY In colder temperatures the engine is harder to turn which can shorten your battery's life. Get your battery tested or better yet get it teste ... read more

Call me a Boomer, but we're here to give Millennials some Car Care Advice .... There's that older but still popular meme of Homer Simpsons's dad clinching his fists in the air titled "Old Man Yells at Cloud" and of course we have the currently trending social media meme with the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" reality TV star, screaming and pointing at an angry, hissing cat sitting over a table and plate of vegetables. So what does this all mean exactly? Millennials really know their memes and while we try to find a way to avoid being called a Boomer, we really want to talk you about the importance of being a car owner and the responsibilities that come along with it. In a study conducted by Car Rentals an (Expedia company) they interviewed 1,000 Americans regarding car care issues and discovered 46% millennials can't jump start a car, while 67% Americans ages ... read more