Greenwood Village Auto Repair

4th of July weekend is here! Warm weather, long weekend and the road are calling, but before you hit the road for an Independence Day weekend trip, make sure you take a few minutes to check these: 1. Oil When the oil level drops too low (or just gets dirty), your engine is not lubricated properly and will wear quickly. If the oil is dark and old, be sure to change it before leaving. If you’ve changed it recently and the level is low, make sure to add the proper amount and check for leaks. 2. Tire Pressure Driving with low tire pressure reduces your fuel efficiency and increases the likelihood of a blowout. Imagine dealing with a blowout on E-470 at 75 mph in traffic… no thank you! Check your owner’s manual and make ... read more

Imagine you’ve left Centennial and you’re up in the arctic on a dog sled. Your dog team is pulling straight and true. You can cover a lot of ground quickly. Now imagine what would happen if one or two of the dogs wanted to go their own way and were pulling off to the side. That would slow you down. You would have to work harder to keep the sled going where you wanted it. The dogs are all working as hard as before, but you’re covering less ground with the same effort. You’re wasting kibble. The same is true of your truck when the wheels are out of alignment. That wheel that’s pulling to the side is dragging down the rest of the vehicle; so you push a little harder on the gas pedal to keep up your speed. You’re wasting gas. So have your wheel alignment checked at least once a year. It is vital to get it checked right away if you feel the car pulling to one side. Sometimes we all bump a curb o ... read more

Taking care of our tires is a vital part of car care for Denver area drivers. We know they have to be replaced when they wear out, but tires also require some important preventive maintenance. This maintenance will improve fuel efficiency and extend the life of your tires, so it’s well worth the effort and expense get it done. Tire maintenance includes keeping tires properly inflated, rotating tires, and balancing wheels. The recommended tire pressure for a vehicle’s tires is printed on a sticker on the inside of the driver’s side doorjamb. A lot of engineering goes into calculating the correct pressure, so it’s a key number for drivers to know. Not following this recommendation can throw off your suspension system and can lead to expensive tire damage. Underinflated tires wear out more quickly than properly inflated tires. Vehicles also get better traction, handling, and fuel economy on properly inflated tires. Check your tire pressure at least once a week and add air if ... read more

Our vehicles are not massage chairs. While we may enjoy a good vibration in an overstuffed recliner, we Centennial car owners generally want as smooth a ride as possible in our vehicles. One way to achieve this is to keep a vehicle’s wheels in balance. When a tire is mounted onto a wheel, it is usually out of balance. This means that as the wheel spins, there is a slight wobble to the path of the tire. For best handling performance and safety on the road, drivers want to minimize this wobble as much as possible; so we balance our tires. To balance a tire, your honest and friendly Davis Repair service advisor spins it on a machine or drum to determine where it is off-balance. He then attaches weights that counter-balance the uneven weight. Most car owners are surprised at how much balancing improves the smoothness of their ride. High-quality tires generally hold their balance well. But over time, wear and tear take their toll and tires can become unbal ... read more

Today we’re going to talk about following recommended service intervals. Your vehicle isn’t the only aspect of your life with recommended intervals: Let’s start with twice yearly dental check-ups and regular physical exams. How about laundry, watering your lawn, and paying your bills? Now, what would happen if you didn’t follow these intervals? Well, you’d probably get more cavities. You may not discover health conditions that could be more effectively treated with early detection. And you’d have to wear dirty clothes, be embarrassed by your brown lawn, and have your utilities shut off. Clearly, there are some things in life that we have to take care of regularly. If we don’t, there are negative consequences. Our quality of life takes a hit and it inevitably costs more money. So why is it so hard to remember to follow regular preventive maintenance on our vehicles? Probably for a couple of reasons. One is that au ... read more