Van Nuys Auto Repair & Service Center

Do you ever shop for shoes in one of our Los Angeles area shoe stores? When buying a running shoe, is quality important? Does durability matter as long as the shoes look fabulous? Would you rather have one pair of long lasting shoes or two pair of lower quality shoes at the same price? Is the warranty important when buying tires? When you choose new tires in Van Nuys, what's the most important factor for you? You know, buying tires in Van Nuys is a big deal. It's a big ticket item so you know you'll be spending a lot. You're not only concerned about the price, but you want to know that it'll be a long time before you need to buy new tires again. And of course there's the safety aspect as well. The tires do a lot of work – they carry the weight of the vehicle and you and your passengers. They need to be up to the task. You want to be sure they hold the road and provide good traction. If you carry heavy loads or tow a trailer, the tires need a high load rating to ... read more

Today’s report from AutoAid & Rescue is on car batteries, why they die and what we can do to lengthen their life. Most of us have had a dead battery at one time or another. In fact, it would be very unusual if you hadn’t. You may be surprised to learn that only 30 percent of Van Nuys vehicle batteries last for 48 months. Now that’s an average. How long a battery lasts depends on many factors. You may not know that one of the biggest factors is the temperatrue where you live and drive around Van Nuys. You might suppose that cold weather was harder on batteries because it takes more power to crank a cold engine, but the opposite is actually true. Batteries in very cold climates have a life expectancy of 51 months as opposed to 30 months in very warm climates. The reason is simple: batteries are chemically more active when they’re hot than when they’re cold. A car battery will actua ... read more

When I was a kid in Van Nuys, my dad always made sure he took the cars in for Spring and Fall checkups. I was telling a friend that it's about time to get into AutoAid & Rescue for my checkup and he said that he read on the internet that modern cars don't need seasonal service. My friend is (technically) right about some things, but from a practical standpoint, a seasonal check up still makes sense. Back when my dad was teaching me about how to take care of the family sedan, most cars used a different weight of oil in the winter and in the summer. But most of today's modern engines run the same oil year round. High-tech engines and high-tech motor oils are better able to handle the seasonal changes. Your owner's manual or Van Nuys service advisor at AutoAid & Rescue can tell you the right oil to use. Of course, you're concerned about the coolant or antifreeze ... read more

Today AutoAid & Rescue is talking about the proper fluids for your vehicle. It's become more complicated with changes in automotive design and manufacturing. It's not that people in CA are confused as much as they don't realize how much things have changed in recent years. Let's take engine oil. Twenty or thirty years ago, there were just a handful of different weights of oil. The weight of an oil is a scientific measure of its properties, particularly its viscosity or thickness. It was common in those days to use a lighter weight oil in the winter when it's cold outside. That way the oil would be able to splash around inside the engine and protect the parts before it was fully warmed up. And a heavier weight oil would be used in the summer. The thicker oil wouldn't thin out too much in the summer heat and vaporize in the engine. Modern valve trains have become very complicated with more moving parts and small passages than ever before. The valve train ... read more

AutoAid of Van Nuys and Sherman Oaks pledges $5 of every repair invoice written during the month of October to the Susan G Koman institute for Breast Cancer Research

In our auto video today we'll be talking with Alan Peterson about myths surrounding automotive maintenance. You can lump these myths into the statement that "modern cars are so reliable, they are virtually maintenance free". Any good myth has some elements of truth. No offense to Van Nuys Bigfoot fans, but this maintenance-free myth has more evidence than most. If we look at some isolated areas of auto maintenance, we could conclude that maintenance isn't so important. But other areas would just as easily lead you to believe that maintenance is more important than ever. Here are some examples for our friends in Van Nuys. -Chalk one up for the myth. On the other side, some vehicles come with sophisticated variable valve timing. A lot of complicated parts up in the valve train that didn't even exist not that many years ago. These parts are very vulnerable to oil sludge. -A point to maintenance. -Myth gets a poin ... read more

After 31 years in business I discovered very unusual tire damage to low profile tires that looks like an elongated cut to the sidewall which occurs from the inside of the tire. Apparently, if these tires are under inflated, the inside of the wheel (rim) starts to eat away at the sidewall from the inside and eventually ruptrues the tire. Most low profile tires are very expensive because they go no sports and high end  cars or vehicles with lots of bling. This is a perfect reason to have the tire pressure checked on your vehicle regularly regardless of the tire profile

No need to panic : http://www.asashop.org/tips/check.pdf

Safety Tip of the Week If you are ever in an emergency situation, and have dialed 911 and are placed on hold, do not hang up. If you are dialing from a normal land line, whether or not you are able to speak, the police can retrieve the address and will still respond. While we're on the topic, dialing 911 from a cell phone will first be connected to the CHP - - NOT your local police department. The CHP determines the natrue of the emergency then connects you to your local 911 - - causing valuable time to be lost. Whenever possible, use a land line when dialing

So what is the most distracting food to have in the car while driving around Van Nuys?Is it: A Hamburger; Coffee; A Soft Drink, or Gummy Bears? Well, you may be surprised to learn that all but the gummy bears are in the top ten most distracting foods when you are driving, but if you chose 'coffee', then give yourself an extra two points; coffee is the number one food distraction for drivers in Van Nuys and around the country. Food distractions cause 25 percent of all car accidents; over a million and a half each year! You'll notice that all of the top ten distracting food items are messy. Messy foods are the type of food you might spill (very distracting!), then try to clean up (a safe-driving impossibility!). If you gotta eat on the run, take five-then drive. You'll thank yourself later for two reasons, one being that you can actually relax for just a moment in our fast-paced world, and the other is that you won't have to worry ab ... read more