Auto Repair in Camarillo

What Really Happens to Your Vehicles in the Shop Auto repairs can not only be expensive, but they can also be stressful if you don’t trust the company performing them. Putting blind faith, along with your hard-earned dollars, into a service can be as risky as setting chips on a roulette table. You just don’t know how it’s going to turn out. As an owner of a long-standing reputable automotive repair shop, I’m going to share some facts about our industry that many of you might not know—the things that happen out of sight once your vehicles are pulled into their service bays. If certain procedures are not followed, the longevity of your auto repair or the safety of your vehicle can be jeopardized. As consumers, we hire professionals to help us in areas we cannot do alone. This hiring process happens daily—with doctors, lawyers, plumbers, electricians, etc. We hire professionals because we assume they will do a good job. We expect a roofer to properly ... read more

Your automobile is equipped with several types of filters. Some are designed for liquids such as engine oil, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, or fuel. Others are designed to remove impurities from the air under the hood or within the cabin. Although each filter is created to perform in a specific way, the purpose of every filter is to prevent dirt, debris, or other foreign objects from entering places they don’t belong. Your car has four to five main filters that often require periodic replacements to properly maintain the vehicle’s operation. To understand the importance of these filters and the basics of replacing them, follow the guide below. Engine Oil Filter —The job of the engine oil filter is to catch impurities or debris that forms in your engine oil. Your engine is composed of many metal pieces rotating against each other and causing friction. Though engine oil protects these components from exces ... read more

Camarillo service centers have a menu board that lists the services they provide. Some Camarillo drivers may not be familiar with all of the items on the board so here is a quick description of some of the typical services that might be listed. Camarillo Car Care Center fuel system cleaning: Over time, the SUV fuel system gets gum and varnish built up. A fuel system cleaning gets rid of that and cleans out the fuel injectors. Saves gas, by the way. Camarillo Car Care Center headlamp replacement: Halogen and standard headlamps gradually fade. It’s usually good to change them every year or so. Camarillo Car Care Center inspections: Camarillo drivers get inspections for many reasons. Maybe they’re going on a trip or just want to make sure their vehicle’s ready for CA summer or winter. Maybe they just bought a used SUV and want to give it the once over. An inspection may reveal some things that are broken or ... read more

Today in our Camarillo Car Care Center blog, we’re going to talk about following recommended service intervals. Your SUV isn’t the only aspect of your life in Camarillo with recommended intervals: Let’s start with twice yearly dental cleaning. And physical exams. How about laundry, mowing the lawn and paying the bills? Now, what would happen if you didn’t follow these intervals? Well, you’d get more cavities. You’d probably not become aware of health issues that benefit from early detection and treatment. And you’d have to wear dirty clothes, be embarrassed by your overgrown lawn and have your utilities shut off. We all realize 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 SUVs? Probably a ... read more

Your SUV engine really needs clean air to operate efficiently. Let’s go egghead for a minute. For every gallon of gas we burn driving around Camarillo , twenty pounds of carbon dioxide comes out the tailpipe. Question: how can a gallon of gas that weighs a little over six pounds produce twenty pounds of carbon dioxide? The answer is that the carbon comes from the gasoline, but the oxygen comes from the air. You see, it takes about twelve thousand gallons of air to burn a gallon of gas in your engine. Clearly, your SUV needs a lot of air to keep going in Camarillo . A lot of clean air is better. You’ve seen the pictures of the crowds in Asia wearing face masks. They want some kind of filter to keep unwanted pollution and germs out of their lungs. Well, your SUV also works better when its internals are clean. When your SUV air filter’s dirty, it simply can’t trap any more dirt, so the dirt ... read more

There’s a segment of the Camarillo population that’s not committed to proper vehicle maintenance. Mistaken perceptions have crept into the CA area over time. Many Camarillo motorists think the root lies in the fact that modern cars are so reliable. Reliability has improved dramatically in recent years. Quality surveys report fewer problems with new cars than ever before. Back when cars spent more time in the repair shop, Camarillo drivers were more mindful of routine service. Now, it’s much easier to put it off. Take tune-ups for example. In the days of mechanical ignition systems, an engine needed to be tuned-up every couple of years. The ignition points had to be replaced, spark plugs and coils replaced and the timing adjusted. If your engine was out of tune, you knew it. It ran poorly and got bad fuel economy. Now, the ignition system in your SUV is electronic and co ... read more

A while back, the Cash for Clunkers program was all over the news. Camarillo people could trade in their old vehicle for a new one that got better fuel economy and receive a government rebate. A lot of Camarillo motorists had so-called clunkers that they wanted to keep. They’re good commuters, grocery getters or toy haulers. They enjoy that fact that they’re paid off, or soon will be. They would gladly like to keep their SUVs for 200,000 miles or more - as long as it’s economical to do so. There are plenty of Camarillo drivers whose vehicles are running after 150,000 or 200,000 miles. We can learn from what they’re doing to keep our own SUVs on the road in CA. Camarillo drivers of high-mileage cars often report a common denominator of never skipping an oil change.That may sound a bit unsophisticated, but it’s really not. First off, oil is ... read more

If you’ve ever heard a squealing sound under your hood, chances are it was your serpentine belt. Your serpentine belt is a long belt that’s driven by your engine. It winds around several accessories that power important automotive systems in your SUV. Let’s go over them. First, the serpentine belt drives your air conditioning system. It spins the compressor that makes the cool air that takes the edge off the summer heat in Camarillo.Next, the belt powers the alternator. The alternator creates electricity that’s used by your SUV’s electrical systems and also charges your car battery. Without the alternator, the battery will go dead in a few miles. The serpentine belt may also run the pumps for both the power steering (some are electric) and power brakes (some use vacuum boost). And, on most SUVs, the serpentine belt powers the water ... read more

High gas prices in Camarillo have hit most of our budgets. You’ve probably budgeted a certain amount for vehicle related stuff. Increased fuel costs are now consuming a bigger portion of that budget and you may be tempted to skimp in some other areas - like scheduled maintenance. According to news reports and industry studies, you’re not alone. Nine out of ten personal vehicles on the road have at least one maintenance or repair item that hasn’t been done. Some of these items are serious safety concerns. Others are just more likely to affect the cost of operating your vehicle. In this area, we can take a lesson from professional Camarillo vehicle owners. I’m talking about fleet owners and operators. You know, Camarillo folks like the trucking companies and delivery services. Because their livelihood depends on it, they have gotten scheduled maintenance down to a science. And the last thing they skimp on i ... read more

When it comes to their vehicles, some Thousand Oaks people don’t have a maintenance mindset. They know they need to take care of their cars, but it just seems really hard to get them to remember to do it. Thousand Oaks drivers generally accept that many things in life require regular maintenance, but just may have not applied it to their SUVs. For example: the lawn. You water it and mow it every week. And weed the flower beds and rake the leaves. There are other things that Thousand Oaks people are good about maintaining. Going to the dentist twice a year. Clothes to the dry cleaner. Flu shots. Taking the kids to your Thousand Oaks doctor for a checkup before school starts. So Thousand Oaks people really are maintenance minded. They just have to learn to apply that mindset to cars. I mean, if you never brush your teeth or go to the dentist, you’ll become painfully aware of your neglect when you g ... read more