Just stop in!

We are your friendly Neighborhood Garage, just stop in.

Too many times I hear this phrase, “I was driving by and you guys looked so busy.” Don’t wait, just stop in. I hear this one too, “I didn’t think you had time to look at it.” Don’t wait, just stop in. We are your friendly neighborhood garage and ready to help. Maintenance ignored leads to a break down on the road. Nobody likes sitting at the side of the road waiting on a tow truck.

Do you have a funky noise? We can look at that. Is it time for service? We do service work on all makes and models. A no start problem is no problem at Tony’s Service Center. Just stop in, we fix broken cars. Car care is a part of owning a car. Car repairs will happen and you need to be ready. Just stop in and say hi.

Need an oil change today?

We use a “synthetic blend” as our standard oil. Servicing you car is the most common reason to visit a repair garage. We use a synthetic blend because it extends the oil life, offering better protection against wear and resists carbon coking. If your car needs full synthetic we stock that too.

Regular motor oil: Regular oil works great for older engines, but if you do not service it regularly and or ignore your service intervals. It can lead to heavy carbon build up “hard sludge” or coking of the internal engine parts. “Coking aka soft sludge” “Coking” is characteristic of a high temperature reactions involving hydrocarbons. On todays small high revving engines, carbon deposits may cause restricted oil flow, shortening the life span of your engine.

Full Synthetic motor oil:  Synthetic oils primary use is in high heat stress applications like Arizona. Jet engines use Synthetic oil. Synthetic oils are great for cold climates too, it will flow normally even in freezing temperatures.  European cars, motor cycles and many of todays small turbo charged engines need full synthetic oils to prevent sludge and carbon build up.

Just stop in and let us know how we can help. 

HeyAnthonyAz.com & TonysServiceCenter.com

 

 

Tune-up

What is a Tune-up for a modern engine?

Carbon tracking on a 112,000 mile spark plug

From the mid 2000’s and up, the term Tune-up has been replaced with preventative maintenance. Newer engines don’t have anything to adjust. Everything is pre-set from the factory and you only replace parts if they fail or if you like to follow your maintenance schedule listed in the owner’s manual.

Converter meltdown due to a miss fire condition.

A modern engine can be adjusted through software changes, electronic tuning. Software tuning is not a normal undertaking and it voids the manufactures warranty. Programmers and software changes can build big power. All that power comes at a cost, more wear to the engine. When an engine replacement costs around 6,000.00 when it fails. What did you gain? You may also not pass emissions when it’s time for tags.

PCV hose failure.

You can make changes by putting aftermarket performance parts on the engine. Many parts you can bolt on will not void a warranty in most cases. Some bolt on parts can shorten engine life and cause emissions issues.

Replacing the exhaust system can have a big effect in power output. Exhaust changes effect how loud the tail pipe sounds. A loud exhaust is not needed to build power. The exhaust only needs to flow efficiently. Too much flow “big pipe exhaust systems” can hurt low rpm torque making your engine sluggish at lower speeds “city driving” and with the a/c on.

GM HEI Distributor showing a vacuüm advance and mechanical timing advancement weights.

The days of the real tune-ups, when engines had a real distributer, plug wires and a carburetor. It was a common to have 2 or 3 tune-ups a day back in the 80’s and 90’s. The carburetor needed adjustments at lease every time the season would change or around emissions time. The distributer had mechanical parts in it that would wear out. Hoses failed, air pumps died, catalytic converters would melt down. Yep, the good old days, nothing lasted for ever.

Modern cars have owners spoiled. driving a car a 100,000 miles or 10 years and never-changing the spark plugs, coils or installing a new fuel filter is amazing. Modern engines are built better and run cleaner. The improvements do have a price.

Ignition wire failure because it made contact with the hot exhaust manifold.

When parts fail, the price to fix the failure can be very large. When sticker shock sets in, many clients ask why is it so expensive.

I can only tell them that in the good old days it cost the same, it was just done in smaller installments over a 10 year period.

Fix it right, fix it once. HeyAnthonyAz.com

Cheaper to keep her…

Repair the car you own, it’s cheaper.

At Tony’s we see vehicles in all states of disrepair. A new car will only need basic services and 2 to 5-year-old cars will need bigger repairs as parts wears out. The cars I am talking about are the cars over 10 to 25 years of age and still look nice inside and out.

Just because a repair may be larger than the value of the car is no reason to give up and sell your car. I hear this phrase at least once a day. My car is not worth that. If you have a car that “blue books” at $4,000 and the car needs an AC over haul that may cost $1,800. The repair is worth doing, if your car is in great condition.

Repair it!

If the same $4,000 car needs an engine at $5,100. The car is still worth repairing, but only if the car has been correctly maintained. The car must be in “great condition”. “No accident damage”, good paint, interior is clean plus everything works correctly and you love your car.

In many cases if you go out car shopping you will buy a car that is over $12,000 and you will get a loan to buy the car and your license tags will cost more. Plus your insurance will go up.

It’s less expensive to repair the car you already own. Buying a new car is the same as fixing the car you already own. Now you are making payments vs a repair bill. You must be honest with your self, if you are a person that just does not care for your car. Your car will wear out and fall apart.

A “neglected” car is not worth repairing, junk it and move on

The owner of the car is the reason a car is in good or bad condition, not the repair garage. Let’s face it, some people don’t care about anything unless it’s broken. Preventative repairs and basic maintenance is not important, but a cat video on YouTube will have front row attention. If properly cared for 80% of cars sold would last 15 years or more. It’s up to the owner to care about keeping it in good condition.

2005 Dodge Neon, yes it has road rash, but it’s fixable. This car needs a $390 dollar repair. Any repair that is less than a monthly payment is worth doing.

 

Everyone needs a $1,000 Emergency car fund.

The average “break down repair” at Tony’s is around $650.00. With an emergency repair fund of $1,000 dollars, a $650.00 dollar repair is no big deal. My repair fund is $2,000. I have 2 cars and a service van. If all 3 need minor repairs in the same month, I should be ok.

If you have more than one car you should “add $500.00 dollars for each additional car”. If you have an SUV or European brand, double the amount in the fund.

It’s a fact, it is less expensive to fix a good used car than go and buy a new one.

Heyanthonyaz.com

 

It’s just a fuse.

Fuses fail for one reason, they are over loaded past their amps rating.

Many times a year I have vehicle owners drive in and ask us to look at their fuses. A fuse does not fail just because it’s old. They fail due to the load placed on them. 20161117_154934_hdr.jpgOver loading a circuit with aftermarket equipment is the most common reason for a fuse to fail “blow out” In a home, you have 20161118_095112_hdr.jpgcircuit breakers that protect each circuit within the home.

Fuses in a vehicle do the same job of protecting the electrical circuit, but if they fail you must remove the bad fuse and install a new one in the fuse box. Before you install a new fuse, its important to check to see why the fuse failed.20161123_122845_hdr.jpg

(What caused the fuse to fail) Just installing a fuse without looking for the reason it failed is not going to fix the problem. The second most common reason we see fuses fail is due to coins or metallic junk getting into the 12V aux/lighter socket. 20161118_094915_hdr.jpgI have found ear rings, small tokens, and paper clips stuck in the 12V power sockets. A direct short to ground will cause a fuse to fail instantly. 20161121_124842_hdr.jpgOnce you remove the junk from the socket the fuse can be replaced. At our service desk we offer free 12V socket to USB power adapters to plug into the open 12V sockets, just to prevent issues like junk or coins from getting into the socket and shorting the terminals in the socket
.

A 110V inverter to power a laptop can over load an accessory fuse circuit. 20161123_134347_hdr2.jpg.jpgYou do not want to use an inverter larger than 150 watts on a 15 amp fused circuit. Most basic 12V sockets only have a 15 amp fuse to power the socket, and its easy to pop a fuse with an inverter, cell phone, and GPS navigation all plugged in at the same time.

 

HeyAnthonyAz.com – It’s all good under the hood.

 

Head Lights – plastics care & refinishing

Frosted, yellow, faded, ugly head lights.

98% of the vehicles today use plastic head light housings with plastic lenses, no glass lenses anymore. As the clear plastic lens age, the protective UV coating on the plastic goes bad and starts to fade or frost over. Some plastic head light housing do not have a protective film, and they show age within 3 to 5 years from new. 20161111_081537_hdr.jpgWe re-finish plastic head light lenses all the time.

20161111_071929_hdr.jpgNot all lenses can be saved. Rock pits, scratches, and plastic cracking can not be fixed with sanding if it’s too deep into the plastic surface. 20% of the head lamp housings I run across in my shop have major damage and need to be replaced.

Replacing factory head light housings with quality aftermarket units is not super expensive, but the labor to change out the light housing could make replacement out of the question for some budgets. 20161111_081656_hdr.jpgThe process of refinishing the plastic lens is fairly simple, and many parts stores sell DIY kits to sand, polish and protect the plastics.

Doing it your self or paying a repair shop to do this procedure will make your car look newer, and maybe influence you to keep your car vs buying a new one. Looks are everything, and the clients comment right away that it looks like they have a new car again. The second big plus to cleaning and polishing the lenses is your head lights will project farther down the road, You can see better at night.

20161111_084322_hdr.jpgSo here it is in a nut shell, we clean the plastics, wet sand the imperfections out of the surface. Then use a 2 step polishing compound to restore the clear as glass look. Last step is a double coating of wax. Regular car war works fine for this.

Keeping things looking clear depends on the owner washing and re-waxing the lenses, but we can also do that for the client when they are in for an oil change.20161111_084404_hdr.jpg

It’s all good under the hood. HeyAnthonyAz.com

 

Yep, it’s broken; Plastics…

Plastics, they don’t last forever.

Unhappy owners with broken cars arrive at my shop every month, and the owners just do not understand why the car has broken down. Well, if you drive it, it will wear out…..

Todays autos use lot’s of plastics. Auto makers have always used plastic parts, but in todays cars and trucks plastic parts are used for so many things, it can be frustrating when parts don’t last because they are made of plastic.wp-image-33241149jpg.jpg

Today I have a Nissan Frontier in the shop with a coolant leak at a plastic fitting on the heater core. This is a common thing on a vehicle that is 10 years old or older.

The hard part is informing the client that the engine is bad, because it over heated, due to a plastic part that failed. Using plastics to make a car lighter, and get better emissions is great, but at what cost to the client. I would rather have all cooling system parts made from metal. The auto maker makes the parts out of plastic because it’s cheaper to manufacture.

So what do they care if the part fails and the engine goes bad. That’s why they make new cars anyway.

Fix it right, fix it once. HeyAnthonyAz.com

Cheap Parts & Service = Poor Satisfaction!

The bitterness of “poor quality” lingers long after the sweetness of “low price” is forgotten: Ben Franklin

Fixing your vehicle does not have to break the bank. When a vehicle repair has good value, the cost of the repair is not a huge issue any longer. We use quality parts plus offer a solid warranty. Our goal is to offer vehicle repairs that have value and prevent breakdowns.

Knowing you get what you pay for. Haggling about the labor and using the cheapest parts possible to save money is asking for trouble. Sitting at the side of the road waiting for a tow truck is no fun.

We offer quality repairs with value. All repairs we do must stand up to our 2 year / 24,000 mile warranty. As an independent repair shop we use many dealer parts. The dealer parts fit correctly, and exceed our 2 year / 24,000 mile warranty. The aftermarket parts we use must “fit and function” just like the original equipment dealer parts we install.

Some clients will ask if we can find less expensive parts, and we say yes we can, but the part warranty may not be 2 years / 24,000 miles.

The warranty will be what the parts manufacturer offers, and you get no labor coverage. Our job is to show you the value of doing the repair correctly the first time.

“Fix my car as cheap as you can, Blah, Blah, I am selling it next week.”

Some aftermarket parts may only have a 90 day warranty. Granted most parts should last at least 90 days, but if the part goes bad you get to pay labor again, even if the part has a warranty.

For Example: A car owner goes to a quick lube shop for a 14.95 oil change, and the shop strips the threads out of the oil pan. Anyway you look at this, your cheap oil change just turned into a big mess. Our standard oil change out the door is about $41.00 but it has good value. We do not shortcut the job, just to get it out the door. We spend up to 45 minutes on your vehicle, looking for things that may cause you a break down. If we find issues that need repair, we show you what we found, and we give you prices. We help you plan for your maintenance needs.

For Example: Brake pads have one of the biggest issues with quality vs price. If you go to the dealer, they will only offer one part for your model car, and the price will be high, but the parts fit and work correctly. Now go to an aftermarket parts house, and they may have 5 to 10 different brands of brake pad, all at different prices. Some may work good but make noise, others may wear fast or worse not stop the car correctly. With aftermarket parts you must be selective.

Some aftermarket parts work very good, and if you know what works well, then it’s easy to offer the savings to the client. Our job is to know what works and offer the client the best repair.

For Example: Belts, Hoses and Water pumps have a wide range of price and quality. If I am looking for a belt in the aftermarket, and I can get Bando or Dayco I am happy. I know they are brands that last a long time. For Hoses, I look for the best fit, and rubber quality. The parts quality, affects its service life. A long service life keeps you from having to visit the shop over and over. For Water Pumps, I turn to the dealer 60% of the time, because they just last so much longer.

Fixing your vehicle correctly will reduce how many times you need to visit the repair shop each year. If you own 3 or more cars, you can see how important it is to fix it right the first time. Anyway, It’s not that we don’t want to see you again. We want our clients to be happy they used our services.

We are here to help, we fix sick cars!

With today’s vehicle’s, you visit the repair shop less often, but it feels like the repairs cost more, and more when you visit your mechanic.

Going to the “car doctor” is not on anyone’s top ten list, but when your vehicle breaks down, you know you’re going to spend money.

Preventing breakdowns is what we do. Keeping you informed of your vehicle’s condition let’s you save when faced with bigger repairs. Helping you keep your vehicle in good condition, and preventing breakdowns is our goal.

cropped-heyanthonyaz.com-oil-change-display-nissan1.jpg

We like our clients to visit the shop for service at least every 5,000 miles of driving or once every 4 months. Many things can happen in 4 months of driving. Our clients are always welcome to stop by in between vehicle servicings, for fluid top offs and airing up the tires.

Fix it right, Fix it once.  HeyAnthonyAz.com

FREE Oil Change Monthly Drawing at Tony’s

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FREE OIL CHANGE @ TONY’S ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It’s time to change the oil!

Enter to win! Win a free oil change, enter your information @ Tony’s contact page.

Enter your contact information on Tony’s contact page & in the message box type “Free oil change monthly drawing” and include the make, model and year of your car.

You will be automatically entered into the drawing for the next months free oil change drawing. Enter as often as you like. The winner of the free oil change will be contacted by Tony’s at the end of each drawing month. The free oil change offer will be running till December 2015

The oil change includes, up to 5 qt’s of 10w30 synthetic blend oil, an oil filter, and under hood fluid top off’s, plus a vehicle safety inspection. This is a $30.00 value at our regular price & a great saving if you win it for free. So enter today, it’s easy and free.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HeyAnthonyAZ.com 2014 ~ It’s all good under the hood…

Rent a car for your small trip.

Ryan has a 9-year-old Pontiac G6 GT with 218,000 miles. The car is not road ready. It is not ready to take an 800 mile trip at high speeds. Taking a long road trip in a car that needs many repairs and could leave you stranded at the side of the road.

Waiting for a tow truck is no fun.

Ryan is heading out-of-town for a 4 day weekend in Las Vegas. Renting a car is a great idea for a small weekend trip. Ryan’s car needs 1,800.00 of basic mechanical repairs. Plus his vehicle also needs tires. New tires will set Ryan back another 1000.00 bucks.

Ryan has been a client for many years and I did not want to see Ryan have issues out on the road.

Without a doubt, Ryan’s car needs many repairs, but what else could fail on a long road trip? It’s hard to know what could go wrong out on the road.

We offered Ryan a rental with an upgrade to a Lincoln for his long trip. Ryan is going to travel in style and his G6 GT is going to be getting the repairs it has needed for many months. When Ryan gets back to town his car will be ready to go.

The idea is to let the rental car take the beating. Driving out-of-town at high speeds, up hills with the AC cranked on high is a lot of stress for any car, so let the rental take the beating and save your ride for the easy in-town driving.

It’s all good under the hood, heyanthonyaz.com 2014

 

Adjust it till it fits?

Hack Jobs Happen…

I see some crazy short cut repairs (hack jobs). “Hack jobs” by owners, shade tree mechanics and approved auto repair shops. Then I wonder why, why try, why risk a comeback. Why take the short cut in the first place. Why risk loosing a client when the hack job fails, leaving the vehicle owner stranded on the side of the road.

A hack job will fail, it’s a sub-standard repair.

 

Today I had an odd repair issue pop into the shop. Ronda had a fuel pump replaced on her 1995 Chevy Suburban about 30 days ago in Sedona Arizona. The truck has a 5.7 TBI fuel injected engine. (Throttle Body Injection System) Ronda only had one issue with the repair, the fuel economy was reduced by 30 to 40% and this was noticed right after the pump was installed. The shop that installed the pump had double checked the fuel system, and said nothing was wrong.

Ronda had moved to Sedona last year.

The client (Ronda) use to live right around the corner from our shop, but had moved to Sedona in 2013. Ronda happened to be in the valley for some doctors visits, so Ronda stopped in to see if we had time to look at this issue.

Testing showed the fuel system was running too rich. The scan tool (a computer that talks to the car’s computer) showed that the PCM (the car’s computer) was subtracting a lot of fuel. The engine computer uses a pair of fuel trim ratio numbers to display fuel system compensation (larger number = more fuel added to the engine Or a smaller number = less fuel, fuel reduced to the engine). A repair technician can view the fuel trim numbers “live” as they update (in real-time) and watch how the system is operating, rich, lean or normal.

Next I attached a gauge used to test fuel pressure to the engine’s fuel system. The fuel pressure gauge showed that the fuel system pressure was around 19 PSI of pressure. (Why?) The TBI system specification is 9 to 12 PSI. So why was the PSI so high?

I suspected it had the wrong fuel pump installed. So, I removed the fuel pump and found a big mess. What I found was a major issue, the person that did the repairs, must have had a huge loss of reasoning. The part was clearly the wrong part for the truck. When I entered the pump part number into a parts jobber, part interchange system. I discovered the part was the wrong pump for the truck.

The shop decided to adjust the wrong part till it would fit in the tank. But wait, that’s not all. The pump was for a 1996 5.7 MPI engine. (Multi Port Injection System) not a 1995 5.7 TBI system. The 1996 MPI system runs at 60 to 66 PSI. This is clearly too much pressure for the system to handle. To bleed off the high PSI. The shop that made the repairs, had removed the hose clamp to the PSI fuel coupling hose that connects the fuel pumps outlet pipe to the metal pipe going out to the engine’s fuel injector’s. Plus the old fuel pump harness was installed on the new pump, and the electrical connector had a broken retaining clip.

The adjustments and compromises should have never happened, but they did.

Just buy the correct part, and if the part arrives wrong, get the correct part. The correct part was available in Flagstaff, less than a 2 hour round trip from Sedona. The client had already waited 5 days, what was one more day to get the right part.

We fixed the truck and it is running correctly, with the correct part. The client is happy and the mileage is back to normal. Plus Ronda will be bringing her truck to us when ever she is in town every 3 to 4 months.

Keeping up on the needs of an older vehicle may seem costly, but if you do the math. The right older vehicle can be cost-effective in the long run. Every vehicle needs repairs someday, new or old.

It’s all good under the hood, heyanthonyaz.com 2014