Spring Car Love

Posted on April 10, 2013 by randrinc

Spring is the time for car love! Not only should you be thinking about giving your car the TLC it needs it needs to recover from winter’s brutal wear and tear, it’s also time to think about preventative maintenance. Properly maintaining your vehicle will save you aggravation and keep you safer. It’s also the secret to joining our Quarter Million Mile Club and saving big bucks.

Your owner’s manual will provide you with the minimum care your car requires to survive the long-term warranty. Here are the tasks that should be on your own preventative maintenance checklist and that you can take care of on your own:

Change the oil and filter regularly. We recommend every 3,000 miles if you use regular oil and every 5,000 miles for synthetic. Don’t forget to check your oil level at least once a month.
Check all fluids regularly. These include windshield washer, antifreeze, as well brake fluid, transmission, and power steering.
Check the air pressure level once a month.
Check the windshield wiper blades regularly. Look for split rubber at both ends of the blades. If the rubber is split or the wipers are smearing or streaking, replace them.

Unless you’re a home mechanic, let a professional take care of Spring maintenance. Your R&R Service Team will check the engine belts and hoses, drive train, steering, suspension, and transaxle fluid. In addition, we’ll also check the shocks, struts, CV boot, brakes, exhaust, charger, and starting system. If you like, we also can take care of that oil change for you, too. Just ask. Make your appointment today.

Oil & Filter: How Often Should You Change Them?

Posted on November 1, 2012 by randrinc

If you’ve ever maintained your own vehicle, you may remember the old standard rule to change the oil and filter every 3,000 miles. However, if you check the owner’s manual of most of today’s vehicles, you’ll probably find the manufacturer recommends that, with the exception of “severe driving conditions,” oil changes can be stretched safely to every 7,500 miles or once a year. The manufacturer also probably recommends a new oil filter with every second oil change.

Here’s the catch. As defined by auto makers, severe conditions include:

Making frequent, short trips of less than fives miles.
Making frequent, short trips of less than 10 miles when temperatures are below freezing.
Driving in hot weather stop-and-go traffic.
Extensive idling and/or low-speed driving for long periods of time (taxi, police, door-to-door delivery, etc.).
Driving at sustained high speeds during hot weather.
Towing a trailer.
Driving in areas with heavy dust (gravel roads, construction zones, and so on).

Under this definition, few drivers in a congested metropolitan area qualify as NOT driving in severe driving conditions.

Our advice? With the longevity of your car in mind, we recommend following the advice of the mechanics of generations past: If you use regular oil in your vehicle, change the oil and filter every 3,000 miles or three months. If you use synthetic oil, change the oil every 5,000 miles or every five months. It’s the most economical, most effective preventive maintenance you can give your vehicle.

Products & Services Your Car Does Not Need

Posted on October 24, 2012 by randrinc

Three products your car doesn’t need

Just as there are cosmetics that are useless, there are car products that are useless, too. While none of these are big-ticket items, those nickels and dimes add up.

Oil additives. Your engine needs the correct oil, changed regularly. Oil additives not only don’t work, but can be harmful.
Gas-savers. The EPA has tested them all, and they don’t work. Some can even lower engine performance.
Nitrogen fill of tires. Don’t do it, unless you just enjoy burning cash.

Four services your car doesn’t need

No matter what that service manager says, your car does not need the following procedures:

Engine flush. What your engine does need are regular oil changes.
Fuel-injection cleaning. This unnecessary service could set you back as much as $200.
Transmission flush. Flushing the transmission can stir up sediment that can then travel into small passages, such as precision valves, and affect the shifting quality of the transmission. If anything, R&R would recommend an alternate procedure, a drain and refill, which minimizes the chances of agitating sediment. You don’t really need a drain and refill, either, but if you decide you like the idea, do it regularly or not at all to minimize the chances of transmission damage. We recently encountered a customer whose transmission was destroyed in the aftermath of a dealer-advised transmission flush.
Power steering flush. In our experience, this is unnecessary unless a failed steering component is being replaced.