Winter is here

The cold weather has finally arrived.  Here in  lower-southeast Virginia we are blessed with a mixed bag of weather.  Sometimes it rains, sometimes sleet, sometimes freezing rain or sleet, and occasionally an all-out snowfall.  Nobody wants to be stuck with a broken-down car regardless of when or where it happens.  Dead batteries, flat tires, broken wipers and a myriad of issues can and will happen.  If you are one of those with the foresight to maintain and service your car routinely, then these scenarios are far less likely to happen to you.

None of us look forward to a dentist visit, but we all consider it a necessity for better health, and less frequent visits if we heed the dentist's advice.  That same philosophy can be applied to your car.  If your car requires service or maintenance and that service is put off, then when it lets you down, indirectly you are the one accountable.  Now that is not  to say you caused the breakdown.  We all know there are enough road hazards for a multitude of maladies.  But this isn't what we're talking about.  What we are saying is if your car was in for a routine State Inspection, or an oil change and other items are noted to need service or repair, you can look at this two ways: 1) The service shop is just trying to up sell you; 'would you like fries with that burger?' or 2). there is a sincere concern for your safety, or the health of your vehicle.  I can't say how many times we've advised a customer not to continue to operate their car due to a safety issue.  Or an issue regarding engine or transmission performance that will escalate to all-out-failure and create the potential for an accident, or substantial engine or transmission damage.  Yet they blindly drive off like nothing's going to happen.  I suppose when it's our physical body in question we are bound to take the advice more seriously (you've been diagnose with ????), but when it's your car, some people consider that an out-of-body experience and don't give it another thought...go figure.

We recognize that not all people have the same budget, or any budget at all, for keeping their cars in top shape.  We respect our customers when they tell us they're on a fixed or limited income.  Or the service/repair in question exceeds the value of the car.  We get it! We are just not able to adjust the cost to repair/service a car to fit every person's budget or age and condition of their particular car.  We can sometimes suggest alternatives or options to a particular service or repair, or help the customer to know what concerns need to be addressed sooner than later.  This helps them to budget accordingly

We all need our cars to be reliable, and we at Japanese Auto Masters are here to help in any way we can: all year, every year. We look forward to hearing from you.  If there are any subjects that you feel would be interesting or you would like us to address, feel free to send us your suggestions to <[email protected]>.

 

 

Categories:

maintenance