Utah winters will bring in snowy and icy conditions on the road, so it is important to check the following items on your vehicle to make sure it is ready to get you safely through the next few cold months.

Battery: Avoid getting stranded in the parking lot when it’s below freezing by recharging or replacing weak batteries. A battery load test performed by an ASE-Certified Salt Lake City mechanic can help you determine a battery’s strength.

Tires: Check for proper inflation and the condition of the tires. Cold temperatures can cause tire pressure to decrease. Don’t know if you need to replace your tires? Look for “wear bars” that periodically run across the hollow of each tread. If the tread has been worn down to the same height as the wear bar, it’s time for new tires!

Engine Oil: Your vehicle may require a different oil weight for cold weather operation. Check oil levels and change them at the interval recommended in your owner’s manual.

Lights: When snow is blowing during the day or night, it’s important all of your lights are working so other drivers are aware of your distance and driving direction and can avoid driving too close to you. Check for interior and exterior burned-out bulbs, malfunctioning switches, misdirected beams and clean lenses.

Windshield Wipers, Fluids and Defroster: Make sure your windshield wipers are effectively wiping your front and back windows. Remember to also stock up on no-freeze washer fluid because you don’t want to wait until you and the local stores are out or low on supply!

Heating and Cooling System: Test your heater and defroster so you know your vehicle can properly warm up inside and defrost any ice that develops on your windows. Check radiator hoses for leaks, bulges and cracks. Add antifreeze mixture if low and replenish if the liquid is discolored. Have your coolant checked with a hydrometer to be sure there is adequate cold weather protection, typically a 50/50 mix of coolant and water.

Prepare a Winter Emergency Driving Kit: Include an ice scraper with snow brush, flashlight with extra batteries, cell phone with a car charger, extra set of warm clothes including gloves and boots, first aid kit, tire chains, blanket, jumper cables, non-clumping kitty litter for traction, flares or reflective triangles, a gallon jug of water, non-perishable food items, window washer solvent and shovel.

If you make sure to check the items listed above with your professional Auto Repair Salt Lake City shop, you will have some peace of mind for the rest of the winter. Remember, your safety is priceless!

If you’re familiar at all with airplane pilots, you’ll know that nothing flies without first consulting a logbook. Pilots have logbooks that list accomplishments, ratings and hours flown. Airplanes have logbooks detailing fuel consumption, oil changes and regular overhauls. Meticulous record keeping is one of the reasons aviation is so safe. Now imagine getting the same reliability out of your car! A logbook for your vehicle can be used for more than just maintenance records. You might also consider recording gas consumption, mileage and destinations. Get into the habit of recording this information every time you drive your vehicle. A sudden drop in gas mileage can indicate a problem that would otherwise needlessly cost you money at the gas pump. You can also look at the average time it took you to reach your destinations and plan future trips according to those numbers.

All this record keeping can also pay off when you finally decide to sell your car. You will have a great resource of information that may raise the resell value of your vehicle considerably for any responsible buyers.

If you are recording trips, your logbook will also be a good record of your lifestyle over the years. You will be able to look back and remember the family vacation last year, or the job that required you to commute to another city every day. A logbook can show you how far you’ve come.

There is no better time to start recording your information than today, and if you feel like you might be behind on any maintenance, bring your car to a trusted auto repair shop in Salt Lake City. Your ASE Certified technician can help you determine what services you need to bring you up to date. That way, you’ll have a fresh start and will know exactly when maintenance you’ll need in the future.

Most components in a car will fail gracefully – you’ll start to hear worn bearings or see a slow oil or coolant leak as signs of any impending failures. Some components in a car fail less gracefully. One such component is your car’s timing belt. A broken timing belt may result in catastrophic engine failure.

The timing belt connects the car’s crankshaft to the car’s camshafts. These shafts are connected to the internal parts of your car’s engine. All of these parts need to be perfectly “timed” to operate with one another, which is where the timing belt comes into play.

If a vehicles timing belt fails, the engines parts may slam in to each other and break. This will lead to quite a costly repair or an entire engine rebuild.

Checking a timing belt’s condition is almost as complicated as replacing it, so a timing belt should be replaced at intervals recommended by the manufacturer.

Replacing a timing belt is a very involved procedure, which performed improperly, may damage the engine and leave you without a working car. It is imperative that a timing belt replacement is performed before the belt’s lifespan is exceeded or you could end up stranded with a very large repair bill.

If you know you are due for a new belt or just aren’t sure, find an auto repair shop in Salt Lake City with ASE Certified Technicians who will recommend a solution and preventative maintenance that will keep your car on the road for years to come.

A shuddering car can be much more than uncomfortable; the continuous vibrations can accelerate wear on parts and may cause them to fail.

Shuddering is often the result of misbalanced wheels.  Because rims and tires are not always perfectly round, one side of the wheel may weigh more than another.  When the wheel is spinning, even tiny imperfections can be amplified by high speeds and cause a car-shaking shudder. Whether a balancing weight fell off of the wheel or the job was never performed properly to begin with, a wheel balance is a quick fix for an ASE Certified Technician, and most shops can do this while you wait.

If a car shudders only when braking, it is likely the result of warped rotors.  A rotor is the disc attached to your car’s axle that the brake pads clamp to bring your car to a stop.  Warped rotors can also cause your brake fluid pressure to pulsate and may cause damage to other brake components.

A common misconception regarding car shudder is that it is caused by wheels that are out of alignment.  An improper alignment may change the handling characteristics of the car, reduce gas mileage and reduce tire life, but will generally not have any effect on how smooth a car rides at high speeds.

Find an ASE certified mechanic in Salt Lake City who will be able to properly diagnose your car’s symptoms and will offer solutions and preventative maintenance that will help you keep your car on the road for years to come.

If your car handles more like a trampoline on wheels instead of taking on bumps and turns like a pro, then it may be time to check your shocks and suspension.

A vehicle’s suspension components are designed to give the car a mix of comfort, stability, and performance based on its weight. When these components wear out, handling is often compromised.

A vehicle’s shocks compress when driving over bumps and take the jarring jolts out of a bounce. When shocks begin to wear out, you may find your vehicle skipping over the pavement instead of sticking to the road.

If your car is a hop, skip, and a jump away from bouncing right off the road, make sure to bring your car into the Salt Lake City BMW specialists at Alex’s Auto Haus and let our ASE Certified techs inspect and replace your car’s worn out suspension components.

Did you ever think about how much experience and knowledge the technician has who is working on your car?

No business like the Automotive repair business is based on experience and continuous education. I am in the Automotive repair business for over 30 years now and I feel like a car myself sometimes. I see young people come into this profession who do not know carburetors and ignition points anymore and rather forget the basics to hunt down computer problems that are not there. Let’s face it a car still has a combustion engine that works the same way when it got invented by Gottfried Daimler. Yes the materials and designs improved and of course everything is computer controlled. That is why experience is a very important factor in repairing and servicing cars. There is plenty of people out there who open a business with little or no experience and think they are experts. Well I only can tell you I earned my experience and pass it on everyday to my technicians who will some day have the same experience I do, by then I will be not around anymore.

Fact is nobody can know in 2 year what some other person learned and experienced in 30 years, and I am learning something new every day.

It is very important today to look what kind of oil or fluid has to be used on your car. Many manufacturers have designed their own blends and the one fits all just does not apply anymore. In the matter of the fact the wrong motor oil or fluid in your car can cause problems and even damage to components. We are always eager to educate our customers and if you have a question about what fluid or motor oil should be in your car we are more than happy to help you.