Tag: Seattle Auto Body Shop

Your vehicle’s brake system is the single most vital to the safety of you and the passengers in your car. It is important to have your brakes inspected at least once every year. This is why August has been designated as Brake Safety Awareness Month. Take this time to have your brake system professionally inspected to assure that they remain at peak performance as you prepare to start a new school year and take on the cold winter months.

A proper inspection of your brakes should include taking a look at your brake lining, your brake fluid levels, the condition of your hoses and brake lines, your rotor thickness, and your warning lights. Take your car for a test drive and try out your brakes; if your car pulls to the side, if you hear unusual noises whenever you apply your brakes, or if your brake pedal otherwise doesn’t behave normally, you will want to bring it in to our auto body shop in Seattle as soon as you can.

When a police car lights up its emergency lights behind you, it is important to pull over to the right side of the road as soon as it is safe to do so. Once you have done this, consider the following tips:

• If it is dark out, turn on your interior light.
• Keep your hands where they are readily visible to the officer. Resting them on your steering wheel is a good option. Avoid reaching under your seat or into your glove box unless you need to.
• Be prepared to show your license and registration. Keep your registration where you can always know where it is and retrieve it easily.
• Remain calm and be polite. Many officers deal with difficult people all day, and are frequently receptive to people who are willing to be civil and admit to making mistakes.
• Don’t attempt to bribe the officer.
• Should you feel that you have been unfairly treated, make your case to the traffic court.

In the event that your car troubles go beyond the legal, contact our auto body shop in Seattle for quick and reliable repairs.

We often hear about how safe it is to be in a car during a lightning storm. Indeed, if a bolt of lightning were to strike your car, it is true that you could very well walk away entirely unscathed. However, the full truth is not quite this easy.

The first thing to understand is that some vehicles are safer than others. A fully-enclosed vehicle with a metal frame is the safest, while a convertible or fiberglass vehicle are considerably less secure.

If you are in your vehicle during a lightning storm, there are several steps you should take to improve your chances of staying safe. Firstly, you should roll up your windows. Secondly, you should avoid making contact with any interior metal objects in your car. You may want to pull off the road, turn off the engine, and wait out the storm, since even your steering wheel may give you a bad shock.

Should the worst happen and your car ever become damaged by a freak lightning strike, bring it in to our auto body shop in Seattle.

Going green with your car means keeping it for as long as you can without buying a new vehicle. You can extend the life of a car dramatically with a rebuilt engine. More than just a simple engine repair, a rebuilt engine entails completely dismantling your existing engine, machining and cleaning all components, replacing key parts as needed, and putting it back together according to prescribed standards. Properly maintained, your remanufactured engine should last as long as a new engine.

Having your engine rebuilt can come with a high price tag, but the benefits are great. Since rebuilding involves less energy and resources than manufacturing a new engine, it is both ecologically sound and more affordable than buying a new car. Depending on your vehicle model and the particulars of your situation, you can expect to pay between $2,500 and $5,000 on average, which comes out to roughly ten to fifteen percent of the cost of buying a new vehicle.

Talk to our auto body shop in Seattle for more ways to extend the life of your car.

Often times, when you wash your car, the bugs that have gathered on your windshield are the most stubborn part of the job. Thick wads of insect guts don’t respond easily to a bit of soap and a squeegee. When you find yourself struggling with bug stains, try one of the following solutions:

A bit of undiluted car wash solution may serve well to pre-treat the stain before washing your car.
Mix three tablespoons of a common household cleaner with a quart of hot water. The hotter the water, the better, but don’t use anything that is too hot for you to comfortably handle.
Soak a rag in extra virgin olive oil, then rub it into the stain with a circular motion. This is an effective method, but you will need to wash the oil away with soap afterward.
Mix baking soda with water so that it forms a paste. Apply this paste with a paper towel or disposable rag, then allow it to dry over the stain before washing it away with hot water.
For particularly tough stains, a degreaser may be in order.

When your car’s problems go beyond simple stains, bring it to our auto body shop in Seattle.