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When you buy a used car, it’s brand new to you. However, people sell cars for different reasons. Maybe they just wanted something new or maybe they just couldn’t wait to get rid of it. Maybe it was a little bit of both. So how do you know what you’re getting?

Used cars with lower mileage are often lease returns, corporate program cars or former rental vehicles. When the car is newer—maybe new enough that it’s still under warranty—and its mileage is hovering between 25,000 and 35,000, it provides a sense of comfort and confidence. But there is still a burning question to be answered: How well was my “new-to-me” car maintained?

If you plan on owning a car for a long time, keeping up with maintenance is important to keep from paying for expensive repairs down the road. On the other hand, those who plan to only own the car for a few years may not be so committed to regular maintenance. It’s easy to assume that a skipped oil change here and there won’t ruin an engine, but this is incorrect. Unfortunately, by the time the engine goes, it’s someone else’s problem.

If the vehicle didn’t come with maintenance records, you need to assume the worst and hope for the best. Most likely the coolant system and transmission have never been serviced. The cabin air filter has probably not been changed and a fuel system cleaning may be in order.

Take your new used car to a NAPA AutoCare Center and ask your service provider to check the air conditioning, battery, engine air filter, serpentine belt and hoses. Remember to have them check the timing belt as well—this is far more expensive if it fails! An inspection is well worth the cost and, in this situation, it’s ALWAYS better to be safe than sorry.

If your “new” vehicle has more miles on it, getting it inspected is even more important. Check the owner’s manual or talk with your AutoCare service advisor about what should have been done. Your service advisor will help you get all of your maintenance priorities in order. Remember to keep your repair and maintenance records—you’ll need them if you ever decide to sell the car!

Air quality affects us wherever we are. We have become more aware of how air pollution negatively affects our lives over the past few decades. But have you thought about the air INSIDE your car?

Most vehicles model year 2000 and newer have cabin air filters. The filters take care of cleaning the air in the passenger compartment. They can filter enough particles to clean dust, pollen and most pollutants from the air inside your car. This is great news for those who suffer from seasonal allergies.

If you aren’t sure whether you have a cabin air filter, you can take a look at your owner’s manual. If you do, there will be a recommendation for replacing it when it gets dirty. If you live in an area where there is a lot of dust, pollen or pollution, you may wish to change it more often.

When in doubt, ask your NAPA AutoCare Service Advisor!

How difficult it is to change a cabin air filter depends on your vehicle. Some are easily accessible while others take a bit of extra effort to get to. They can typically be found in the engine compartment or under the dashboard.

Since cabin air filters are still new on the scene, some people haven’t heard of them—they many not even know they have one! Often, when a customer complains of unpleasant odors in their vehicle, it turns out the cause is a dirty cabin air filter.

An additional and important note for hybrid owners: your car has a special air filter that cleans the air and cools the hybrid battery pack. This filter should be inspected with the cabin air filter to ensure the battery pack doesn’t overheat.

Visit your local NAPA AutoCare Center today and ask your service advisor about your car’s cabin air filter!

Combating Blind Spots: Best Practices

While this is a very common term and nearly everyone understands the concept, blind spots still contribute to about 840,000 accidents and 300 fatalities per year. You can greatly reduce your blind spots by simply adjusting your mirrors to give the widest view possible. Don’t forget to make the adjustment before you start driving.

First, adjust your rear view mirror to give the best possible view directly behind your car. Don’t worry about getting a view of each side with this mirror—it should be used solely to see what’s behind you.

Next, lean your head until it almost touches the driver’s side window. Adjust your left side mirror so that you can just barely see the left side of your car. Now, lean your head to the middle of the car and adjust the outside mirror so that you can barely see the right side of the car.

With your mirrors adjusted this way, you will have the maximum possible coverage. Of course, driving is a dynamic process—anything can change in a second. You should ALWAYS take a quick look over your shoulder when switching lanes just in case someone has slipped into your blind spot.

As you drive, be sure to avoid staying in other vehicles’ blind spots. Unfortunately, you can’t always count on other drivers to be watching their mirrors and looking for you nor can you predict what they’ll do next. Pass large trucks and busses on their left whenever possible—their blind spots are much larger on the right.

One extra NAPA AutoCare Safety tip: Always be attentive and remember to wear your seat belt!

Question:
What benefit will I get out of a fuel system cleaning?

Answer:
Obviously, the dirtier your fuel system is, the bigger the improvement you will see in performance and fuel economy after a fuel system cleaning. But it is important not to wait until your system is running poorly. If you do, by the time you get a cleaning, you’ve wasted hundreds of dollars in gas or even possibly damaged your fuel injectors and catalytic converter.

Gasoline is a petroleum-based product and will leave some residue, gum and varnish along the way. Some of that can find its way into your fuel injectors and interfere with their job. The fuel injectors do just what their name suggests- inject fuel into your engine. They spray a precise amount of fuel, at a precise time, in a precise pattern, at a precise pressure. This process is very calculated and when your fuel injectors are dirty, it just isn’t possible. In turn, your engine can run rough. Also carbon deposits build up on valves and in the combustion chamber. Fuel economy suffers and performance is degraded over time.

These poor conditions allow excess unburned fuel to pass through the exhaust to accumulate in the catalytic converter. This can lead to overheating and failing. So the main issues while having a dirty fuel system are: bad fuel economy, poor engine performance and the chance of having to replace expensive parts such as the fuel injectors and catalytic converter.

A professional fuel system cleaning cleans out deposits, fuel injectors and the air induction system. This will give you optimum power! This is, of course, ONLY for professional cleanings. This isn’t just pouring a bottle of gas in the tank. Cleaner is added to the fuel system with a special tool attached to a vacuum source as well as some manual scrubbing.

If you are experiencing a rough idle or unusually poor fuel economy, talk to your local NAPA AutoCare service advisor and ask if a professional fuel system cleaning is in order!

Read the full article at http://www.napaautocare.com/blog/fuel-system-cleaning.aspx

Happy Wallet Quality Auto Repair is located at 3863 Enterprise Ave. #2 in Naples, FL. Through the years, our mission has remained to provide extraordinary value you won’t find anywhere else in town. During your online visit, feel free to browse an online list of all auto repairs and tire brands available at our location in Naples, FL.

Happy Wallet Quality Auto Repair owner James Washburn has 30 years of experience as an ASE Master Certified Auto Tech. We are a NAPA Auto Care Center and part of the Be Car Care Aware program. At Happy Wallet Quality Auto Repair, we suggest only repairs that are affordable, including proactive measures to prevent breakdown on the road and repairs that will be more expensive if left ignored. With hourly labor rates well below the market average, we can keep your vehicles running. You can expect repairs to be done right and for less at Happy Wallet Auto Repair. Ask about our Happy Wallet Annual Maintenance Club. We also provide local fleet services.

You can use our Tire Size Finder tool to help you conduct your search for the perfect tire. This tool is a useful feature that only requires the make, model, and year of your vehicle to display a tire match in the style and size of your vehicle. Customers can search through results from superior tire brands like BFGoodrich®, Bridgestone, and Continental. Our highly trained and experienced technicians at Happy Wallet Quality Auto Repair know that vehicles may need tire repairs from time to time. Our technicians routinely perform many tire services like computer spin balancing, flat tire repairs, and tire rotations. We maintain one of the most competitively priced selections of tires and honest, quality auto repair services in the Naples, FL area. Whether you live in Naples, FL, Marco Island, FL, Bonita Springs, FL, or another surrounding area, we can help you with your auto and tire repair needs. You can schedule your next appointment with us online today, or feel free to stop in and visit us to begin receiving quality repairs from an auto shop you can trust.