Roberts Automotive

Should you fix that minor oil seepage coming from the valve cover? If you spend a lot of time on the road, yes. If you use the car locally, maybe you can live with it. I make that statement at the risk of offending environmentalists, but the realities are that use is a definite consideration. I always query the customer about who the primary driver is and how the car is used before recommending any service procedure. If your teenager is using the vehicle around town or you are a retiree who only drives a couple of miles to the grocery every other day, it probably makes sense to spend the money on something of higher priority, like food and shelter. An auto repair shop should be finding, noting, and prioritizing every current and potential problem with the vehicle by doing an inspection whenever it is in for service. Knowing all the current and potential problems allows the customer to either budget for the repairs or start looking for another vehicle before the current one dies.  The service advisor at the shop needs to have a good understanding of a customer’s situation relative to how he or she uses the car and then must help prioritize repairs.

Does changing the fluids in a car really help? Well, it helps, but you have to consider your plan for how long you will keep those wheels and how they will be used. If you trade every couple of years, just changing the oil and keeping the other fluids topped off will be enough. On the other hand if your plan is to keep it until the wheels fall off, then preventive maintenance including changing fluids becomes very important. We see a lot of cooling system problems such as failed radiators and heater cores from not changing antifreeze. We also notice a lot of water outlet failures too (they’re plastic) in cars with old antifreeze. Antifreeze and power steering fluid should be changed every three years, and brake fluid every two. Heater core replacement in VW and Audi vehicles requires disassembly of the interior of the car and is a big job, so you can imagine how expensive it is. Power steering units for these cars are very expensive also. Cars will last many years and hundreds of thousands of miles by performing scheduled maintenance.

Believe it or not noise problems are some of the most difficult problems to cure. It starts with the customer’s vague description of the situation which results in a lot of time being spent by the technician who sometimes cures the “wrong” noise. See, the technician views the problem from a safety and reliability standpoint, whereas the owner of the vehicle views it as an annoyance he or she can’t live with. I have fixed the “wrong” noise so many times that I now require the customer to ride with a technician and point it out to him. It is surprising how many times a car is dropped off and it makes no noise, but if the owner of the vehicle is able to point it out when the condition is present, the technician may be able to find it. Or the owner may decide not to spend money looking for it. We have some sophisticated tools to locate noises – our ears and a 4 channel electronic listening device. Even with the electronic device the technician has to decide where to put the transmitters and that is where the owner comes in. A detailed description of the noise including what it sounds like (marbles in a can is one example), when it happens, and when it was first noticed is helpful. Any information that gets the technician in the right area as soon as possible saves time and time is money. Help him help you. It’ll save you money in the end