Albany Auto Repair

How Do You Drive Safe in Winter?   We have discussed getting your car ready for winter, snow chains, ensuring the heat works, and general maintenance. What about driving in that snow, ice, or heavy rain? The first step is having your vehicle inspected and resolving any issues we may find. Next is driving in the cold temperatures with all of the other drivers on the road!   We can’t help anyone's driving habits, but we can help you be prepared for issues you may encounter.   No matter what time of the year or what the temperature is outside, you should have a quality roadside emergency kit. In winter, adding an extra jacket, a warm blanket, and some heavier footwear is a good idea. You may end up stopping for a long time due to an accident, breakdown, or bad weather; especially, if you are traveling somewhere without a lot of traffic. Most importantly, an ice scraper, snow brush, and keeping your fuel tank as full as possible during winter is essential ... read more

Why Is My Tire Light On, But I Don’t Have A Flat Tire?   New cars with all their technology are great, but a light on the dash can be annoying if it looks like nothing is wrong. Although, there might be a good reason it’s on. As the temperatures outside start to drop every year, we have increased calls and visits from people with a low tire light on the dash. Without getting too “sciencey”, hot or warm air expands, and cool or cold air contracts. So for a tire, that means the pressure can increase and decrease based on temperature.   The monitoring system in automobiles has a range of pressures it considers safe, so during normal day-to-day conditions, your warning light isn't going to go on and off. A tire that was checked or filled in the middle of summer to the correct pressure on a cold winter day could be just low enough to set the warning light. Nothing is wrong, it just needs to be topped off.   When summer comes back around, you ... read more

How Do I Get My Car Ready For Winter?   Here in Oregon, the weather is already starting to change; like it or not, winter is coming. Before winter, we do have a fall. Here, that means rain, rain, and more rain. Rain means a few things for drivers: you need good wiper blades and good tires, which we check during inspection here at Crabtree.    Once winter arrives and the cold sets in, there are a few more things to be mindful of. Like Fall, Winter requires more of your tires and wipers than summer. Also, if you live in a place where you have to deal with snow, you may want to change your tires to dedicated snow tires.    The difference between snow tires and regular tires is traction. Snow tires are designed for maximum grip on slippery surfaces. That is accomplished in a few ways. The rubber on a snow tire is much softer. Since snow is typically soft and fluffy, a snow tire can be softer than a normal tire without wearing out quickly. You can run a snow t ... read more