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April 2019

auto repair shop in Philadelphia, PA

Your Auto Repair Shop Helps You Avoid Road Salt Damage

By | Auto Repair | No Comments

The winters can be brutal in Pennsylvania and where there is snow and ice, there’s also often road salt. While road salt helps drivers make it to where they’re going in a safe manner, it’s also damaging to your vehicle. While you don’t want to slip and slide on the road, you also don’t want your vehicle to pay for that luxury later. The auto repair shop in Philadelphia, PA has some advice for you to protect your vehicle from road salt damage during the cold and snowy parts of the year.

There are plenty of small cracks and crevices on any vehicle and road salt is small and can work its way in and inflict damage that you might not even notice at first. Once the particles get in somewhere, they dissolve and their sodium and chloride are released with the warmer temperatures. Here are a few places road salt could get in and start to release damage.

The Vehicle’s Undercarriage

Most people don’t inspect the underside of their vehicle so while you assume it’s dirty, you can’t really see the full impact of road salt. Salt can become imbedded in the structural metal in this area and possible start causing rust. Rusted out undercarriages are very expensive to repair and too much rust in that area could cause you to fail the annual safety inspection.

The Paint

You will likely notice the road salt the most on your vehicle’s paint since that’s something you see every time you approach your car. This is the time of the year when everyone’s vehicle looks to be about the same color. It’s sort of a brownish, grayish, mucky color, right? And salt can weaken protective coatings and begin to corrode the metal beneath it as well. The longer the salt sits on your vehicle, the more inviting it is to damage. Chips and cracks in the pain are especially detrimental.

These are just a few of the areas that salt can harm, so what do you do about it? You can’t avoid the streets completely when salt is present since that’s basically the whole winter. The best move is to wash your vehicle, even the undercarriage, every other week in the winter or right after it snows. Try to do so when the temperatures are above freezing. Keep your car waxed as well to give the paint extra protection.

If you’d like more tips on protecting your car from road salt, talk to the experts at an auto repair shop in Philadelphia, PA. The professionals at Schafer’s Auto Center know vehicles, inside and out. We can help you with oil changes and repairs, but we can also make recommendations to aid you in protecting your vehicle from damage this winter. Call SAR at (215) 755-1270 or visit us in our shop at 1924 S Columbus Blvd, Philadelphia, PA 19148. We’re here to take care of maintaining your vehicle so you can stay as safe as possible on the road, salt and all.

auto repair in Philadelphia

Finding An Honest Auto Repair Shop

By | Auto Repair | No Comments

Do you have a friend with an auto repair story that is more of a nightmare than a story? Or have you ever been ‘taken’ when you got auto repair in Philadelphia? If you don’t know a lot about vehicles, it’s easy to believe people who present themselves as professionals. If they tell you that you need new air filters, you must really need them. If they say something’s broken, who are you to contradict their standards? If you need auto repairs of any kind, or if you just need regular maintenance, you want to work with an auto repair shop that is honest with you, more than anything else. Use these tips to find a shop that meets your expectations with their honesty.

Ask About Written Estimates

Auto repair shops should give you written estimates and not just shoot a quote that you don’t understand to you by mouth. You can take that written estimate to another shop and compare, if you’d like. When you get that estimate, you are able to see the costs broken down. You know what labor costs and what the parts cost and so on. You are more able to trust the shop if you can see where things stand.

Look Into Certification

The best auto repair shops are fully certified to do that they do. It’s better for their reliability and it’s better for your vehicle. Ask the business if they have their certifications so you can get the quality you need from them. As a consumer, you need to get what you pay for and without certification, you can’t guarantee that you will.

Ask Questions And Analyze Answers

Your auto repair shop should answer your questions in a thorough manner. If there’s something you don’t understand about a repair they are recommending, ask. They could show you pictures or a chart, or they might even take you to your vehicle in the repair bay and show you the problem in person. When you can see it for yourself, you are more likely to believe what they are saying. Any shop that avoids your questions isn’t one you want to trust.

Check Warranties

Auto shops worth trusting always have good warranties. They should stand behind their work so you can expect that if the same issue arises again sooner than it should, they will fix the problem without extra charges. This gives you extra peace of mind, but also allows you to trust that they will aim to fix things right the first time around.

If you need an auto repair in Philadelphia, you can trust the professionals at Schafer’s Auto Center. Give us a call at (215) 755-1270 and we’ll answer any questions you have. We’re also happy for you to talk to past and current customers and we have references we can share with you. Stop by our shop and see how we operate! SAR is located at 1924 S Columbus Blvd, Philadelphia, PA 19148 and we can give you a written estimate for any work you need to have done.

auto repair shop in Philadelphia, PA

Finding An Auto Repair Shop That Makes You Comfortable

By | Auto Maintenance | No Comments

There are some people who know a lot about cars and feel comfortable visiting just about any auto repair shop in Philadelphia, PA. They know their vehicle well and all of the terminology that goes along with it. They can easily tell when someone is trying to pull something over on them. Good for them! However, not all of us were born with that knowledge, or even understand it if we try to learn. For the other type of people in this world, approaching an auto repair shop can be nerve-wracking. You need to be able to find an auto repair shop that makes you comfortable. Here are some tips to help you do just that.   

Tip 1: Make Some Calls With Questions 

Before you need an auto repair shop for maintenance or a repair, call around to some of the local shops and get a feel for how they treat customers. If they answer the phone in a gruff manner and don’t seem to have time for your questions, you won’t be comfortable with them in person, either. On the other hand, if they are polite, courteous, and answer your questions with ease, you might want to give them a shot.   

Tip 2: Check Out The Shop 

Chances are, when you’re getting an oil change or another repair, you’re going to have to utilize an auto repair shop waiting room. It’s nice to know what you’re getting into. Visit a few shops you’re considering just to see their operation. If they have a decent waiting room, you know you could sit in comfort with a book or bring your laptop to utilize the free Wi-Fi. The actual auto shop portion is likely to have dirt—they do work on cars, after all—but it should look organized and well maintained at the same time.   

Tip 3: Ask Friends Like You 

They say it takes one to know one, right? If you don’t know a lot about cars, you can recognize other people that are in the same boat. Surely you have a family member, friend, or co-worker who doesn’t have a clue or even particularly a desire to know a lot about cars. Ask them what auto repair shop they use. If their shop treats them right and works with them in an effective, efficient, and honest manner, you’ll feel a lot more comfortable trusting them yourself.   

At Schafer’s Auto Center, we understand that not everyone is an expert on cars and that’s okay. We have enough knowledge to cover your interests. When you need a Philadelphia, PA auto repair shop, we invite you to check us out. You can call our friendly representatives at (215) 755-1270 to ask questions or set up an appointment. You can also visit us at 1924 S Columbus Blvd, Philadelphia, PA 19148. We’re honest, hard-working folks here at SAR and we won’t tell you to do something on your vehicle unless it’s something we’d do to our own car.  

 

Philadelphia, PA auto repair

Keep Tabs On The MPG To Predict Auto Repair

By | Auto Service | No Comments

There are some instances that make Philadelphia, PA auto repair  needs obvious. When a warning light comes onto your dashboard, for example, you know you need to get your vehicle in for a checkup. If something starts making noise, that’s another good sign. But did you know you can also predict upcoming auto repair needs by keeping an eye on your miles per gallon? When that mileage drops, there could be a number of causes.   

Keep A Small Notebook 

It’s not easy to keep track of numbers in your head between times of filling up at the gas pump. Instead, keep a small notebook in your glove box and right after you fill up, do a little math. It’s not hard to figure out how many miles you are getting per gallon based on how many miles you drove between fills and how much gas you put into the tank. Write that figure in the notebook and the date of the fill. Next time, you will be able to tell if your MPG goes up or down. If you see a large drop, that’s cause for concern.   

Watch The Dash Info 

A lot of vehicles today give you more information about your vehicle’s essentials that older cars. You might have an information button somewhere around your dashboard that changes the information you get. Play around with that button a little and you could see a MPG display that will tell you how many MPG you are getting, on average. Check up on that information from time to time to keep tabs on how efficient your vehicle is operating.   

MPG Change Causes 

If your miles per gallon does change, there could be a number of causes. Driving habits are often a cause. If you have been stuck in traffic a lot, idling your vehicle, it can cause the MPG to drop. If you tend to slam on the brakes or accelerate too quickly, those things drop that average as well. If you get a quick oil change at a location that doesn’t use the right oil, you could see a big impact on your vehicle’s fuel economy. Check to see what you got last before you panic over the MPG. You could also have bad spark plugs or bad fuel injectors. Sometimes it’s even as simple as a hot spell that has you using the AC more.   

If you keep track of your miles per gallon, you have another way to predict possible auto repair needs in Philadelphia, PA. That can help you avoid costly repairs. You know the sooner you catch things, the more likely you are to fix minor things instead of major problems that only get worse. Contact the experts at Schafer’s Auto Center for more tips on keeping track of your miles per gallon, or, if you’ve already seen a drop, call for an appointment at (215) 755-1270. We’re here to help you figure things out. Stop by and see us at 1924 S Columbus Blvd, Philadelphia, PA 19148.   

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