Tips for car repair

1. First and foremost, find someone you trust, and stick with them. If you call 10 places everytime you get something fixed on your car to save a few dollars it can cause you problems you may have never considered. At Brad's Auto Service, we keep a comprehensive list of all repairs done to each vehicle. Before each repair is estimated, we check the history of the vehicle to see if that repair has ever been performed before. Sometimes certain parts carry extended warranties, even after the 12 month 12,000 mile warranty has run out. Also, if you find a facility that performs a repair for significantly less money, this may be due to the use of inferior quality parts or incomplete repair.

2. Keep all your records. Even though we keep histories, computers have a nasty habit of crashing, and sometimes records are lost, so keep your original receipts. It also helps to have all the repair and maintenance records when it comes time to sell your vehicle. We do provide, free of charge, comprehensive history reports upon request, which are useful for resale, or in some cases, tax purposes.

3. Do the scheduled maintenance for your vehicle. When you buy a car, the service manual will usually include recommended service intervals for your car. Keeping up with the maintenance can save costly repairs in the future.

4. Contrary to popular belief, routine maintenance does not have to be done at a dealership to ensure factory warranty. Where we save customers the most money is by doing the 30,000 mile, 60,000 mile and 100,000 mile scheduled maintenance. As long as you have records of the services being done, all factory warranties will still be valid.

5. Ask questions, if you don't fully understand any recommendations made by a service writer. If you still have doubts, ask to see the damaged items and/or have the old parts saved for you.