10 Signs That Your Brakes Need to be Inspected

Your car's brakes system is the most vital component that keeps you safe while driving. Paying attention to the different signs of brake wear will save you money and keep your vehicle from bouncing off the car in front of you.

ToyoTechs recommends routine brake inspections as they are essential to safe driving and maintaining your vehicle. As responsible car owners we need to stay on top of brake maintenance. Your brakes are at the top of the list for vehicle safety. We all need to have our brakes checked at least once a year or more often if you drive a lot. Neglecting your braking system will lead to increased cost of repairs and leave you on the side of the road or worse.

Here’s what to look for to indicate your brakes need to be inspected and possibly replaced.

• Noise: screeching, grinding or clicking noises when applying the brakes
• Pulling: your car pulls to one side while braking
• Low Pedal: brake pedal nearly touches the floor before engaging
• Hard Pedal: must apply extreme pressure to the pedal before it engages
• Grabbing: brakes grab at the slightest touch to the pedal
• Vibration: brake pedal vibrates or pulses, even under normal braking conditions
• Light: brake light is illuminated on your vehicle’s dashboard
• Emergency Brake: weakness felt when applying, or you notice the brake not holding
• Smell: a bad odor after coming to a hard stop
• Stopping: the feeling that the vehicle should of stopped sooner or not stopping
• Doubt: if you have any doubt about your vehicle's braking ability, stop your car and call for tow, or slowly bring your car in NOW

Brakes are a normal wear item on all vehicles and will eventually need to be replaced. There are many factors that affect brake wear such as driving habits, operating conditions, vehicle type and the quality of the braking materials used. (cheap brake pads and shoes are cheap for a reason)

If you have not had your brakes inspected in a while please make an appointment for a safety check.

Learning to Save Gas Without Driving Less

With gas prices still hovering above the $2 mark you don’t have to drive less to save gas. You can help control your gas mileage by following some simple and inexpensive vehicle maintenance tips.

Most of us don’t really have an option to drive less when gas prices go up however we can cancel out some of the increases by making sure our vehicle’s are getting the maximum fuel economy available. The amount of fuel used is directly related to vehicle maintenance and driver behavior. Both can have a huge impact on how much fuel is used.

Here are some simple steps we have put together to save gas without driving less.

• Keep your car properly tuned to improve gas mileage by an average of 4 percent.
• Keeping your tires properly inflated can improve gas mileage by 3 percent.
• Replace clogged and dirty air filters on older vehicles to improve gas mileage by as much as 14 percent.
• Replace old and dirty spark plugs. Dirty plugs reduce gas mileage by 2 miles per gallon
• Change your oil regularly and gain another mile per gallon.
• Check your gas cap. Damaged, loose or missing gas caps allows gas to vaporize into the air.
• Observe the speed limit. Gas mileage decreases rapidly above 60 mph
• Avoid excessive idling. Idling gets Zero miles per gallon. Warming up the vehicle for 1 - 2 minutes is sufficient
• Avoid quick starts and stops. Aggressive driving can lower gas mileage by 33 percent on the highway and 5 percent in the city.
• Consolidate trips. Several short trips taken from a cold start can use twice as much gas as one longer multi-purpose trip
• Don’t haul around unneeded items in your trunk. An extra 100 pounds in the trunk reduces fuel economy by 1 - 2 percent.

I know recently as this past fall I had fallen behind on my own scheduled maintenance and on top of that I had a small oil leak (gasket) which meant I was using much more oil than I should of been using. My vehicle has a lot of miles on it and I questioned whether the money spent on maintenance and repairs would be worth it.

Many people including myself thought we were saving money by putting off needed vehicle maintenance and repairs. However what I now realize today is that by neglecting routine maintenance and repairs it could of ended up costing me a lot more in the end. I found that my own car was using a lot more oil and gas than I thought and am very fortunate that I did not blow up my engine.

So a new gasket and some spark plugs got my vehicle running amazingly like (almost) new. I have 294,000 miles on my 2011 Scion and my car really runs great and the expense of the repairs has been well worth it. I do get better gas mileage, my car runs smoother and has better get up and go !!

information supplied by The Car Care Council

Will Your Warranty Still Be Good if You Use ToyoTechs ?

Did you know when your vehicle’s under warranty you don’t have to go to “the dealer” to have your car serviced ? It’s a false assumption that unless you use “the dealer” that your warranty can be voided. It is perfectly fine to have ToyoTechs perform your vehicle’s scheduled maintenance and repairs while under warranty.

According to the Car Care Council consumers are protected by the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act that is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission. (FTC) It is illegal for a dealer to deny warranty because you had routine maintenance or repairs performed by another company.

All you need to do is maintain the service records on your vehicle making sure you are adhering to the manufacturer's scheduled service requirements. If a warranty claim happens the records you keep will provide proof that the scheduled required maintenance has been performed.

It would be the actual warranty work that you need be done at the dealer. An example would be if your transmission failed when you only have a few thousand miles on your vehicle. Your drive train usually is under warranty for 36,000 miles, however some manufacturers have upped the mileage to 100,000 miles. All new vehicles have very specific warranty coverage. This would be a case that the dealer has to be the one repairs the problem.

So don’t ever be afraid of bringing your your vehicle in for service and repairs. We always keep a record of your visit and give you a copy for your records.