Chesapeake Auto Repair

Tire Replacement: What Norfolk Drivers Need to Know   Looking at getting some new tires? The choices at Norfolk tire stores can be a little overwhelming. Suppose you have an SUV and are trying to decide between all season tires or some that are also rated for off-highway. Do you get off the payment on the outskirts of Norfolk more than most? If so, some additional off-road traction would be nice. Maybe the real reason for wanting those off-highway tires is that they look cool. Well there’s nothing wrong with that. If you make sure that you’ve got your functional needs covered with your selection, then you can have some fun with where you go from there. Let’s suppose you zip around Norfolk in a sporty car. You may like to run a high-performance summer tire when the weather’s good. When Virginia weather turns cold, you can put on high-performance winter tires. For the kind of driving you like to do, you want full-on performance tires. All-season ... read more

Fuel Saving Tip: Chesapeake Tune Up   Have you ever gone to Chesapeake to listen to an orchestra? The musicians take the stage early and tune their instruments. Each individual instrument must be in tune, but the critical thing is for the entire orchestra to be in tune with each other. That’s why they tune up together. Now this is no surprise; I’m going to relate the orchestra to your car. Your engine has many component systems that each need to be working properly. And the components need to be working in sync, all timed up together in order for the engine to work efficiently. We call this, (ta-da) a tune-up. When an orchestra’s out of tune you get a bad concert. When your vehicle’s out of tune you get bad performance and bad fuel economy. So check your owner’s manual for recommended tune-up intervals. Or ask your Chesapeake service advisor at West Service Center, Inc. what he thinks. &helli ... read more

Synthetic Oil For Chesapeake Autos   If you aren’t currently using synthetic motor oil in your Chesapeake vehicle, maybe now’s the time to consider it. Need more information? Well, synthetic motor oil is a substitute for petroleum based oil. Synthetic oil doesn’t gel or gum-up like petroleum based oil and it doesn’t vaporize as easily. It protects better in severe driving conditions like stop and go driving around Chesapeake, as well as in very hot or very cold conditions. More and more new vehicles are being delivered with full synthetic motor oil; with the recommendation to use synthetic for the life of the vehicle. Why is this? Synthetic motor oil maximizes engine power and fuel economy. To see why; we’d need a microscope, so we’ll have to settle for using our imaginations. The molecules of conventional motor oil are long hydrocarbon chains. Synthetic motor oil, on the other hand, has uniform, ro ... read more

Maintenance Free Myth   Sometimes we hear people say, “What’s up with all this maintenance stuff? Modern cars just don’t break down.” While it is true that today’s cars and trucks are extremely reliable, they are also becoming increasingly complicated and use more exotic materials than ever before. All that complexity demands higher tolerances for everything. For example, most folks don’t realize how high tech automotive fluids have become. Fluids like, engine oil, transmission fluid, coolant and brake fluid. Did you know that a modern engine would not run for more than a few months using motor oil formulas from 30 years ago? Today’s automotive fluids contain a much higher percentage of additives to protect your vehicle’s components from premature wear and corrosion. Time and miles march on for all of our cars. Please don’t think we’re using scare tactics to get you to take care of your maintenance  ... read more

Fuel Saving Tip: Slow Down Around Chesapeake   There’s not much we can do about the price of gas in Chesapeake Virginia, but we do quite a bit about how much we use as we’re driving on our Chesapeake streets. Our driving habits can dramatically affect our fuel economy. The first thing we can do is watch the ‘go-pedal’. Hard acceleration just sucks the gas. Gently leave stop lights and plan lane changes so you don’t need to floor it. That can save you hundreds of dollars a year. Go a little slower on the freeway to Chesapeake. Once you’re going more than sixty-five miles an hour your fuel economy starts to drop dramatically. Leave early so you don’t need to rush to be on time. And cruise control is your friend – steady speed uses less gas. Plan errands ahead. Make fewer trips by combining errands. Hey at current gas prices, a lead-foot might as well be a gold foot