Many drivers think that an all-wheel drive (AWD) system is better but few can say why or how. Manufacturers have often emphasized when their vehicles are AWD while front-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive rarely gets mentioned. Subaru, long known for its AWD system, was a niche in the industry when AWD wasn’t common with other manufacturers. Nowadays, most manufacturers have some vehicles in their fleet with AWD technology.
Quite often we get calls from clients asking for a tune-up on their car. What many of them think they're asking for is an overall maintenance check, making sure that their engine is running well, etc. What a tune-up means for technicians today is different than what it meant many years ago.
The image you see above is from a 2013 Honda Accord. This car came to our shop recently, and for any of you that drive a Honda or Acura product, you’ll know that the maintenance reminder starts to count down in percentage how much "oil life" your car has. Ever wonder what happens below 5%? It starts counting negatively in mileage! The cluster above is showing that the client was 3,574kms OVERDUE on the oil change.
How much does driving your car cost? Most of us would consider car payments, insurance, and gas in determining the cost of owning the car. Canadian Automobile Association (CAA) has released a Driving Costs Calculator on their website to help Canadians calculate the real cost of owning and operating a vehicle.
Our clients often ask how much they should expect to pay in auto maintenance and repair (on top of other auto-related costs such as finance/lease charges, insurance and fuel). A good rule of thumb that we suggest to set aside is approximately $100 per month. Some years you will only need to do preventative maintenance (such as oil changes or fluid services), other years you may need costly repairs such as brakes, tires, tune-ups or timing belt replacements.
