German Auto Repair in Eugene

One of the most frequent questions that comes up both at my shops and in my personal life is for parents to ask what kind of vehicle they should get for their young adult when they become driving age. Most parents have the same thing in mind, “hand me down” vehicles. “As soon as my kid turns sixteen, I’m going to give them my old car and I’m going to get a new one”. Another very common story is the father is going to get there kid a vehicle they wanted or had as a kid. I’m going to get him an old Volkswagen Bug, they are really cool, or that old BMW 2002. Great old cars. There is a very serious thinking flaw happening here. When children reach driving age, they have very little experience behind the wheel. Sometimes they have an attitude of being indestructible added to little driving experience. Nationally teen driving accidents are one the leading causes of death. Cars with anti-lock brakes (ABS) or stability control will even help c ... read more

WINTER DRIVING: If you’re heading over the mountains or into snow area, be ready for the worst. Know your route, keep to major highways. They are plowed and sanded. If you do have a problem, help would be close. Be well rested. Let someone know where you are going and when you’re getting back if you’re planning to go off the beaten path in snowy conditions Always have traction tires or chains. Keep your fuel tank close to full, Carry warm clothes and blanket and some food and water, more if you going off the beaten path. Kitty liter is good to have in the trunk if you should get stuck, pour it on front of the slipping tire to get traction. If you get stuck away from cars and people, stay with your car. It is easier to find, water proof, windproof and can be started for heat. Winter preparations for your vehicle.. 1. Coolant check, 50-50 mixture of antifreeze/water. That will bring it down to ... read more

p>We had an older nice German vehicle that was towed in because of an engine fire this month. The repair bill was well over $2000 to replace the composites that were burned. The sad news was this was so preventable. The valve cover gasket (the gasket on the very top of the engine) was leaking oil. The owner was aware that something was amiss because of a strange odor that was being given off from under the engine compartment. A burning smell, even after the vehicle was shut off. As time progressed, this smell got more and more pungent. The intention was to have this checked out but wasn’t checked and repaired until disaster set in. The pools of oil, heated by the exhaust manifold caught fire. The good news, it was a small fire and didn’t do much damage as fires go. The even better news, no one was injured. Your vehicle is a very complicated piece of machinery, incredible amounts of components all working together to provide you with a safe and comfortable ride with impeccable depen ... read more

If you have read my column much, you know that I love gadgets. I have acquired a 2014 vehicle that has one of the newest gadgets to enter the car market. I believe this forward looking duel camera system will be standard in most vehicles in the future. This system has a camera on each side of the rear view mirror that scans the road ahead for hazards, vehicles and reads the painted lines on the road. The camera’s information is feed into a computer and the outputs include many. This system has the ability to chime a chime, control the throttle, put messages on the display panel, control your cruise control and put on the brakes firmly. In day to day use, I have really enjoyed this. The chime goes off when I get close or over a painted line without using my turn signal is nice. I do need to be reminded to always use my turn signal and that I’m getting close to the painted line on the side of the road. The feature that I really like is the chime ... read more

Click here to play the tip: RODEtip AUTOHAUS Sept 2013 x30

GRODE CarTip AUTOHAUS March2013 x30 George Monthly car tips - He deliver the information in a quick understandable manner

One of the daily challenges that we have at our shops is the diagnosis and repair of intermittent problems – things like noises, poor running, no start conditions, vibrations that don’t happen all the time. In any kind of problem solving in any kind of profession, there are four logical steps to problem solving. The first is to experience the problem. From this you can move to step two which is to theorize what the problem is. Moving to step three, you test, inspect, diagnose to prove or disprove your theory. The forth and most important of the steps is you repair or replace the part in question to make sure your theory is correct. If that fixes the problem; the proof in the pudding, so to speak. If the problem is not there all the time, you can lose two to three of these steps. This is where the challenge exists. We have had vehicles that will crank over but won’t start. One of the first steps is to read the onboard ECU (electronic control unit) t ... read more