Van Nuys Auto Repair & Service Center

Spring is here and it is time to give your car some extra attention, says the non-profit Car Care Council. Results of vehicle inspections held at community car care events across the country during Car Care Months in April and October 2014 reveal that 84 percent of vehicles need service or parts, up 5 percent from the previous year. “Neglected vehicle care almost always means much higher costs down the line in the form of more extensive repairs or lost resale value. These results show that the majority of vehicle owners could save money by being proactive in the maintenance of their second largest investment,” said Rich White, executive director, Car Care Council.   When checking lubricants and fluids, the three top failure rates were: low washer fluid at 27 percent; low or dirty motor oil at 25 percent; and low, leaky or dirty coolant at 17 percent. Power steering, brake and transmission fluids were also checked, and had failure rates of 13 per ... read more

Kids these days are hard to shop for. You want to give them something they will use but also something that they can learn from. Lucky for you and them there is a new toy out there meant to get them eager to learn to earn a spot alongside dad in the garage! Hammacher Schlemmer specializes in unique and unusual toys. Their latest endeavor is The Car Lover's Engine Repair Set. It is modeled after the front half of a car and allows for your aspiring mechanics to change the oil and tinker with the engine. The toy comes with removable components such as wing nuts, spark plugs, and removable cowling. Once a repair job is complete, kids can even get behind the wheel to turn the ignition key and hear how the engine sounds when it starts. The car has a working horn and headlights, and the set comes with a screwdriver, wrench, and other tools sized to fit little grea ... read more

Crossing the block at Mecum’s Austin 2014 auction, December 12th and 13th, will be one of the three famed original Eleanor Mustang hero cars from the movie “Gone in 60 Seconds” The unlikely star was specially built for the 2000 remake by Hollywood’s Cinema Vehicle Services. Inside, Eleanor resembles your typical top-of-the-line Mustang, with period accurate ’67 dash, gauges, steering wheel, and enhanced of course with the ‘Go-Baby-Go’ shift knob. Underneath the hood the sweet girl packs enough punch to match her high powered looks. The Mustang fits a burly 351-ci Ford Racing crate motor, complete with a Holley 700 four-barrel carb and backing up to a four speed manual gearbox. A positraction rear end and 17-inch Schmidt wheels help put that power to the ground. Although it’s designated as the seventh of 11 Eleanor Mustangs built for filming, this fine example and its two sister hero cars were the only ones used in scenes involving the star-studded cast. Considering the origin of Gone ... read more

These days, it seem that you can’t open a newspaper (if anyone still does that), or read the news without hearing about Google’s latest invention. Now the internet giant is venturing into the car business and trying to improve road safety. The new ground breaking technology being: the driverless automobile. A prototype of Google’s new self-driving car—a two-passenger electric vehicle with buttons to turn the car on and off, but without a steering wheel, accelerator pedal or brake pedal—was unveiled in May. Without a driver at the wheel, the automobile is instead guided by a light detection and ranging (LIDAR) rotating sensor on the vehicle’s roof that scans the car’s surroundings to determine its driving route, as well as to identify such everyday obstacles as pedestrians, bicyclists and other cars. Although they don’t expect any of these automated vehicles on the road until 2030, this will vastly improve the amount of collisions on the road

I'm proud to announce that Alex Bulko, number three son, has joined the AutoAid staff with brother David and me Jack. It's the highest compliment to a family owned and operated business when the children, now grown, take part in the growth, care and futrue of our company. Expect even greater service in the weeks and years to come

With Breast Cancer Awareness month in full swing, AutoAid is donating a portion of every dollar spent on Service at our Body and Repair shops during the month of October to the Susan G Koman Foundation for Breast Cancer Research. So if you have plans of servicing your vehicle{s)in the next few months, bring it in in October and help the cause. It's a darn good one

The United States could be on the cusp of a great leap forward in automotive safety. All that’s required is for the auto industry to rally behind the scientists and engineers who have spent the past decade developing a wireless technology called V2X. This catch-all term refers to two closely related systems: vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructrue (V2I) communications. V2X transmitters let cars talk to the world around them and warn drivers of trouble ahead — giving them precious time to react if, for example, an oncoming vehicle appears to be about to run a red light or another is coming around a blind corner. This isn’t the stuff of science fiction. It’s engineering reality. And we’re ready to move it from the lab to the nation’s roads. Cadillac will take the first step on behalf of General Motors. Last month at the Intelligent Transportation World Congress in Detroit, It was announced that the 2017 Cadillac CTS would be the first GM vehicle to carry V2X technology. I ... read more

Car accidents happen for three primary reasons. Poor or neglected vehicle maintenance, driving distractions and simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Poor or neglected car maintenance would include, worn wipers affecting visibility, worn tires affecting road traction especially during bad weather, worn brakes affecting stopping on demand, worn belts affecting potential loss of power steering, lights (failed alternator), overheating causing engine failure. You can eliminate up to 90% of these failures by simply having a professional mechanic inspect your vehicle at least twice a year. Distractions needless to say fall in numerous categories, namely texting, phoning, eating and applying makeup while driving. Can these things be done before or after getting behind the wheel? Absolutely! So why not Just do it and live a longer, healthier and happier life

I am not in the employment or recruiting field. But I have been working---in some form or another---coming up on 40 years. I have interviewed, been interviewed and read about the new work force coming out of our colleges. At the same time, I see all the inspirational advice coming from the experts, the thinkers and the influencers. Well, here is some homespun logical advice from a dad. A quick set up. My overachieving college senior daughter “texted” me frantically this morning concerning a critical job fair today at her school. Apparently, she had “blown” it. She had nothing to wear and did not conduct in depth research on the 250 companies who would recruiting today. All is lost. You see, as an “overachiever” and I mean it---an overachiever---straight “A’s” scholarships, Phi Beta Kappa, she really knows nothing about what is required in the working world. To be sure, her skill set will transfer nicely and she will be wildly successful one day. But, our high powered kids never had t ... read more

  Jesus Llamas, an impressive rising senior at Cleveland High School in Reseda interned at AutoAid this summer for 6 weeks. Jesus was introduced as a young student of business and entrepreneurship. His focus was on learning as much as he could about starting, running and promoting a business as though it was his own. His interest in cars, service and auto body shined through with his eagerness and enthusiasm to start each day. Jesus showed up early, stayed late, followed instructions, offered suggestions and helped with social media, a subject still foreign to me. He designed Thank You cards, researched automotive related blog sources, helped in the body shop, attended Chamber of Commerce events, watered the plants and did everything he was asked to do without hesitation and a hunger for knowledge.This young man is going places! On behalf of myself and the staff at AutoAid Auto Body and Repair we wish him the best of luck and success in all his endeavor ... read more