Chesapeake Auto Repair

Your Vehicle is NOT Maintenance Free, Chesapeake Car Owners   A generation ago, Chesapeake car owners seemed to be more inclined to keep their vehicle’s preventive maintenance on schedule. One reason for this may be that vehicles back then were a lot less reliable than they are today. Having your van in to your Chesapeake shop every year or two for repairs seemed to be a good reminder to keep the oil changed. For example, almost everyone in Chesapeake used to take their vehicles in for regular tune-ups. Vehicles had mechanical ignition systems, which meant ignition points, spark plugs and coils had to be replaced and the timing adjusted every few years. As long as the van was in for a tune-up at West Service Center, Inc., the vehicle was inspected and you took care of any needed repairs at the same time. Today’s engines have electronic ignition systems and engine control computers. Spark plugs can last for up to 100,000 miles. Vehicle rel ... read more

It’s About Time: Following Service Intervals at West Service Center, Inc. There are a lot of things in life that Chesapeake residents have to do on a regular basis. We wash dishes every day, do our laundry and mow our lawns every week, and pay the bills every month. We should go to our Chesapeake dentist twice a year and see our doctor for a check-up once a year. When we don’t stay on schedule with these routines, it can lead to embarrassing, painful or expensive consequences. Scheduled maintenance is also part of good car care. Chesapeake drivers should take their vans in regularly for a good check-up. But many Chesapeake folks struggle to remember, or actually even ignore, this auto advice. When it comes to our cars, we’re more likely to listen to “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” than “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Yet it is the second adage that is the more applicable one. Regular brushing treatments preven ... read more

Go Big or Go Home: Upsize Your Wheels at West Service Center, Inc.   A lot of us Chesapeake car owners like our vehicles to reflect our personalities. We’re picky about color and body style. We’ll customize anything from floor mats to window tints to license plates. One popular way for Virginia drivers to customize a vehicle is to get new wheels. Wheels come in thousands of designs. Custom wheels can add personality, style or sass to a vehicle. Many of these customizations involve getting a bigger wheel. Fifteen or sixteen-inch wheels used to be the factory standard, But today, because a lot of Chesapeake motorists like the look of larger wheels, many vehicles are available with seventeen or eighteen-inch wheels. Optional wheel packages of twenty inches or more are also available in Chesapeake. If you want to upsize the wheels on your current vehicle, however, you should know it’s not a do-it-yourself project. There are important factors involved i ... read more

Under Pressure in Chesapeake: TPMS Have you noticed an increase in price when you get a flat fixed in Chesapeake or your tires rotated? It might be the result of your TPMS, or Tire Pressure Monitoring System. The federal government began requiring a TPMS system on 2008 model year passenger vehicles and light trucks. Some 2006 and 2007 models may have them as well. The system has a warning light that is mounted on the dashboard that will go on if one of the tires becomes severely under inflated. Why the new requirement? Because underinflated tires are the number one cause of tire failure. Tire blowouts cause detrimental and sometimes fatal accidents. Underinflated tires also need longer stopping distance and can skid, both of which also present dangers on Virginia roads. Many flat tires can also be prevented by proper tire inflation, and though this may seem an economic consideration, Chesapeake drivers who have changed a flat on the side of the road recogn ... read more

Fuel Saving Tip: Dirty Oil In Your Chesapeake van   If you’re a quart low in your van, there isn’t enough motor oil to lubricate your engine properly. The extra friction causes drag that reduces fuel economy while you’re driving around the Chesapeake area. The same goes for dirty oil; it doesn’t reduce friction properly. The result is you get to watch those numbers at your local Chesapeake gas pump rolling higher and higher. The transmission also needs the proper amount of clean fluid to do its work. When it’s in need of service, the transmission drags your fuel economy down. So keep it clean and give yourself a fighting chance.