Winter wipers and washer fluid

So if you live anywhere that gets cold like I do in Utah. Then now is the time for winter wiper blades, and winter washer fluid. These are easily accessible at your dealer, at Walmart, and at your part store. 

Word of caution no don't replace your entire wiper blade if all you need to do is buy a wiper insert if you're still running with your original factory wiper blades or you replace him at the dealer chances are you can just buy a five dollar wiper insert.

Maintenance lights......

I guess I'm just gonna sharing kind of mood tonight so let's talk about the maintenance light.

Real simple it's tied your odometer that's it. Now there are some models out there that actually monitor your oil those are the models the say things like 10%, 20%, or 25% left. You need to follow those exactly as they say. All I am saying is just take a minute and read your owners manual about the maintenance light or look it up online I get at least 30 calls a week from people they see there  maintenance lights on, and it scares them, I even had a car towed in from over three hours away because the maintenance light came on, now I am happy to take the calls and questions. So when in doubt call your manufacture for sure. I know it is just a lot easier to live your life without that stress

Oil change intervals!

OK this one has become more and more important & the longer that I spend working for Toyota, the more important it is. Please right now go to your owners manual find out what your actual oil change interval is, on synthetic cars most on the market right now have a 10,000 mile oil change interval, but if you have free maintenance every other trip is a tire rotation. The reason I bring this up is we continue to see people come in at 12 or 13 or even 15,000 miles and they're just thinking there a little bit late when the reality is there oil has not been changed for 12 or 13 or 15,000 miles. If this happens once that's not a big deal if it happens all the time you're going to end up having to put an engine in your vehicle. OK no admittedly every make and model is different and if you're driving a truck or your towing are you doing other strenuous things with your vehicle you should already be on top of your oil change, but the casual every day driver needs to be aware if you're at 13,000 miles & your maintenance light is on chances are your oil has not been changed yet. 

Rat in Your Cabin filter? A quick word!

Okay so along the lines of just good car wisdom, we know to change our oil, check our tires, look at the air filter every so often. One hugely neglected piece of your car, also very personal piece. You interior cabin filter..... Oh yes if your driving something 2010 or newer it most likely has one. This is a great item, if kept up. If not, it becomes like a stinky sock or worse. 

The cabin filter is typically located behind your glove box, it is designed to filter the air you put through the a/c system. This also means the air you put through the defrost in most models.

Why am I blogging about this little item, well yesterday a vehicle presented with a strange noise and a bad odor, this sometimes happens so nothing to exciting yet, then removed the glove box and the filter cover and the filter and find what is left of a RAT! yes I said RAT. Folks rodents love your car, it is warm (most of the time) it is full of tasty wires, crevices, and most of all nesting material and areas. 

Please have your cabin filter checked, and replaced if needed or get on youtube and do it yourself. They typically last 15k to 20k if not rodent infested, run between 20 and 60 bucks. This can really change the driving experience, and who wants to breath in rat poop or worse decomposing rat.

Winter is so hard on your car!

..A quick reminder for everybody that's in cold climates winter is so hard on your vehicle not only cold starts on the engine but your tires take a beating,your breaks take a beating, and your transmission takes a beating when you're stuck in the snow.

So my simple piece of free advice, get in and have your vehicle checked. Most repair shops including the one I work at. will do a quick check on your vehicle at no charge. Have your brakes checked, have your tires checked, have your oil checked, and put in your cold-weather windshield washer fluid for sure everybody good luck out there and safe driving!

Replacing tires?

After my Sister called to tell me that the tire store she was using (1000) miles away was telling her she needed all 4 tires replaced, to correct a bulging issue with 1 tire, I figured it was time to chime in again.

Please consult first your OWNERS MANUAL dealers are reliable but well trained, the manual however tells you exactly what the manufacture "legally" suggests or recommends.

I realize that is the short answer but the bottom line is the typical rule is 5,000 miles or less you can replace 1 tire, otherwise you should at least make sure the axles match. In other words you can typically replace 2. Now I said check the manual because, newer vehicles with active AWD (all wheel drive) may actually need all 4.

Finally I am getting back to it and I am setting up a YouTube channel for "ease and saving the typing please let me know what I can help with.

chriscarguy34@yahoo.com

Hybrid questions, some basic knowledge makes you dangerous!

So I Still-field a lot of phone calls every week about hybrid some of the questions are pretty in-depth and I need help answering them, but most of the questions are pretty basic, like how they work, what's the difference , and what's the advantage or disadvantage? So I thought I just might give a little more than a nutshell of what A hybrid is.


So there's two basic ideas behind hybrid, I'm not going to get real deep into both of those ideas. I am just explaining to you one is designed to add power to the engine & one is designed to give additional efficiency. Now the longer hybrids have been out the closer car companies have come to the middle of that line. In other words Toyota and Lexus have managed to put a very powerful hybrid power plant with their Standard Motor and still get great efficiency with the Atckinson cycle motor. Honda has done a great job squeezing power out of their very efficient design hybrid.


Okay seriously I said I wasn't to get into that so that's enough about the difference. The basic idea behind a hybrid is your Engine runs as it always has, you put gasoline in the car, you start it, the spark ignites the fuel and your car goes down the road. Where the hybrid comes in, during those moments where that engine does not need to run, it switches to electric power and shuts the engine down. That electric power, which is powered by a battery, that is recharged by the gas motor. Takes over the low demand of power that is currently working against the vehicle. When you are sitting in traffic or at a stop light, the engine technically does not need to run. You also get hybrid power when you're in a parking lot going less than 5 miles an hour. These are scenarios where a efficient hybrid motor will take over the responsibility of the gasoline engine and save you fuel. The way the engine restarts is automatic, so do not let that scare you away. It is all lightning fast and automatic.


Now in those cases when you're running one of the more power adjusted hybrids you're going to be in a scenario where going up a steep grade or pushing your vehicle like when towing there will be times when that electric motor jumps in on top of the gas motor and provide additional horsepower for towing pulling going up steep grade and thus creating still a more efficient environment for your gasoline motor.


Okay I realize that's a real nutshell version of how hybrid works but here are couple of quick things you need to know about. If the batteries are not charged the hybrid won't work at all so you need to keep the battery in a good state of charge, otherwise you don't have a hybrid you just have a gasoline engine toting around a whole lot of extra batteries. Also under extreme temperature conditions the hybrid will not work efficiently. Check the internet in your area for reviews on specific models.


My strong advice, if you're going to make the leap into a hybrid, I believe it is well worth it. I believe this is where all cars are going to in the future, but you should get to know the differences in how it really works. Many of the models use constant variable transmission, that means there's no shift points, many people get car sick when the vehicle feels this way. So you need to test drive them first. Find out why they feel different and how they work before you take that plunge, because that is serious buyers remorse when you spend an extra $10,000 on a hybrid vehicle that you hate to drive.


Okay one thing I didn't touch on was maintenance. That is a huge benefit of hybrids as long as you understand them. Hybrid vehicles use regenerative braking. Regenerative braking is responsible for helping recharge those hybrid batteries. So coming down a steep hill and you're applying the brakes, the brake pad and the rotor actually do not making contact. Wild right, they are using negative electricity like when magnets oppose each other. This not only recharges the batteries but it slows the vehicle down. No in sudden stops or excessive foot to pedal force the brakes work just as any brakes work. Now that's a real basic explanation but, the bottom line is you save wear and tear on your brakes.. So I was seeing very typically double the life expectancy out of brake pads. In addition all of the wear and tear on your engine is reduced as well because your engine does not run as often. There is also electronic power steering, electronic air conditioning, and those are two components that have never been electronic before in previous gas model cars. That eliminates a lot of moving parts and in the case of Lexus and Toyota they have eliminated all of the all-wheel-drive components and just use an electric motor there all-wheel-drive in at least a couple models.


Basically I am of the belief that the Hybrid is the smart phone of the auto industry. The more you understand them the better your experience will be. There will come a time where hybrid is standard I do believe that, and I think that is a great advantage.

By the way most manufactures offer long warranties on the hybrid components, up to ten years and in the 8 years I dealt with them I only ever saw two or three batteries replaced. They were all warranty items.