Auto Repair in Camarillo

If you've ever been driving around Camarillo and had a headlamp go out, you've probably just wanted to replace the bad bulb. If your car uses halogen headlamps, they dim over time. So if you just put in one, they won't have the same brightness which can be distracting and will affect your field of vision. To have your headlights inspected, visit us at Camarillo Car Care Center. We're at 2739 Daily Drive in Camarillo, CA 93010. Or give us a call Experts in Camarillo recommend replacing your halogen headlamps every year. It's easy to remember if you do it when daylight savings time changes in the fall. That way you'll have bright headlamps for those long Camarillo winter nights. There are other types of headlamps in addition to halogen. There are the old standard bulbs that have been around for decades. These are OK, but you can usually upgrade to halogen. They cost a little more but you can't believe the difference. If you ... read more

When your car breaks down in the Camarillo CA area, or just needs some routine service, it can make you a little nervous. Because your car's so important to your life, you need to be back on the road as soon as possible. And, with the problem fixed right the first time. We've been checking into some of the training our Camarillo CA technicians receive, and we're very impressed. It's amazing how much knowledge and skill goes into diagnosing and repairing a modern car. So it's not like when your uncle worked on his hot rod over weekend. Today there are four cylinder engines that make more power than the V-8's in luxury cars 20 years ago. A new V-6 Toyota Camry could beat Sonny Crocket's Ferrari in a race to 60 mph. Our engines are more and more powerful and at the same time their fuel economy keeps inching up. And they're so reliable. This is all due to engineering. But the advances come at the price of simplicity. Modern cars are so much more comple ... read more

About 90% of our Camarillo CA driving decisions are based solely on what we see. So having a good pair of windshield wipers is extremely important. Everyone in Camarillo CA has experienced the frustration and fear of not being able to see clearly during a storm, or when our windshield is just dirty. In fact, it's estimated that 46,000,000 motorists from Thousand Oaks and across the nation are driving with wipers that can't adequately clear their windshield in a storm. It seems like your wiper blades are always at their worst when you need them the most. If that sounds like you, you've got plenty of company in the Thousand Oaks area. 78% of drivers only change their wiper blades after the blades function so poorly that they become a safety hazard. We need to change our thinking. Instead of blades being something to replace when they fail, we need to consider wiper blades as an important safety component ... read more

Buying a new car in Camarillo is always a big financial decision. The allure of that new car smell is powerful, to be sure. But what if your current car is still in good shape? How do you decide? People in Camarillo who've been used to driving a new car every three to five years may be having second thoughts in this economy. For many, the question is, how does the certainty of a new car payment stack up against uncertain repairs for a car that may be out of warranty? For purposes of our discussion, let's assume you live right here in Camarillo and have a five year old vehicle. It's now paid off. If you keep it, you fear that there'll be some repairs over the next five years, but you really don't know what to expect. For help we turned to Edmunds.com. Edmunds.com has compiled maintenance and repair information for cars and trucks. With this data ... read more

Today we're going to be talking about serpentine belts for our Camarillo CA customers. Let's start by talking about the accessories that are driven by the serpentine belt. First is the alternator. That's the device that makes electricity to power the vehicle and recharge the battery. Then there's the air conditioning compressor that makes cool air for you while you're driving around Camarillo CA in the summer. The power steering and power brake pumps are driven by the serpentine belt in most vehicles. Those pumps make the pressure that assists your steering and braking. In many vehicles, the water pump is driven by the serpentine belt. The water pump is what circulates the coolant that protects your engine. In some cars around Camarillo CA, the water pump is driven by the timing belt. The radiator cooling fans on some vehicles are also driven by the serpentine belt. Some have separate electric motors. That's really ... read more

People in Camarillo have been hearing a lot about higher oil change intervals these days. Maybe you're wondering: What are the key issues? Some new vehicle manufacturers in Camarillo are now recommending much higher oil change intervals than they have in the past. As much as 5,000 to 8,000 miles or more. This practice came under scrutiny when four of the largest new car manufacturers announced that owners like those in Camarillo were experiencing engine damage resulting from these higher oil change intervals. The manufacturers' standard oil drain service for particular vehicles was scheduled at around 7,500 miles. People following these recommendations were experiencing engine damage. It turns out that oil sludge was building up. This caused small oil passages to clog and engine parts to fail. What causes oil sludge? It's a factor of time and mileage. There are hot spots in every engine that cause oil burn off that l ... read more

No matter how well they're made, cars are bound to have problems with their design or manufacturing. When the government thinks a problem is really serious, they require the manufacturer to issue a recall notice to Camarillo residents and to fix the car free of charge. The manufacturer then tries to contact everyone who owns that type of car in Camarillo and elsewhere until the work is done. These recalls always affect safety, so you need to take them seriously. It's really easy to find out if a vehicle is being recalled. For links to government sites, look in the AutoNetTV website. Other website include: carfax.com; autobytel.com; and dmv.org. All of these sites have free recall searches. Recalls are pretty serious and don't happen all ... read more

The government mandates a lot of equipment on cars in Camarillo CA: emission devices and control computers, safety equipment like airbags and crash worthiness requirements. All of this is great for the Camarillo CA motoring public, but it does add quite a bit to the price of a new car. Because new cars are more expensive, people in the Thousand Oaks area are driving their old cars longer. The average car is now over nine years old. Two thirds of vehicles on the road in Thousand Oaks have more than 75,000 miles. As cars age, their performance drops, they have difficulty idling for long periods and are more sensitive to weather extremes. Fortunately today's cars are up to the challenge but they need a little help to keep on goin'. Give Camarillo Car Care Center a call to schedule your next maintenance. 2739 Daily Drive Camarillo, CA 93010 805-482-2853 Some owner's manuals don't speci ... read more

We live in such a disposable society here in Camarillo. It's amazing all the stuff we throw away. New stuff comes out so fast, we just toss the old and move on. It seems like when we were kids, our parents were real sticklers about taking care of our stuff. You know, hang up your clothes, polish your shoes, put away your toys. If something got lost or ruined by neglect, tough we had to do without. We couldn't afford new cars very often, so we tried to make them last as long as we could. It's a good thing that cars are more reliable these days. They just don't break down as often. And the good news for us penny pinchers is that a modern car can easily go 200,000 miles with proper care. The engineering's there and so is the manufacturing quality. The missing ingredient is us making sure we follow the manufacturer's recommended maintenance schedules. Is it really that bad to get off schedule? Well, it all adds up. Every time you go a couple ... read more

At Camarillo Car Care Center we've had a lot of people asking how they can make their vehicles last longer. These questions are actually a reflection of a trend that's been building for several years. The median age of personal vehicles is now over nine years. And 33 percent of all vehicles on the road have over 75,000 miles on them. It looks like it's going to keep heading in that direction for a while. With high fuel prices a lot of folks are putting off buying a new car. Thanks to AutoNetTV, we can provide you with a video answer to this question. So let's say you're one of the average people in the Thousand Oaks area; you've got a nine year old car with 80,000 miles on the odometer. What can you to do make it last another year or two? Let's start with the premise that there's no reason that a modern car can't run for 200,000 miles with proper care. The engineering and manufacturing quality is there ... read more