Grand Rapids Auto Repair

There has been a lot of talk about the automotive technician shortage. If you don’t work in a trade, you may not be aware of how few students currently enter a trade field. The push for a college degree is important but not all high school students need to pursue a degree to achieve their goals. If your son or daughter likes to disassemble items to see how they work, hopefully they'll have the opportunity to use that skill in their job if that's what they enjoy. Being a naturally technical person is a gift. One I don't have but I watch it in action day-after- day. Most of the trades require post high school education. There are very few jobs you can walk into without some type of training in this day and age. We were fortunate to be asked to have a student from a local high school job shadow with us for part of a day. It's a great opportunity for all of us to share what we love about this business as well as give someone the opportunity to see what ‘a day in the life of ... read more

I have a Fitbit that I may be mildly obsessed with. It was charging one day and I left the house and arrived at work without it. Walking anywhere seemed so pointless. No steps counted. No way to tell if I was going to make my 250 steps every hour that day. Did I even sleep well the night before? My Fitbit wasn’t there to tell me. I’d like to admit I’m exaggerating but I’m not. We have several scanners that have the capability to let us know the health of certain parts of your vehicle. One of these that’s very important is your car battery health. I like seeing the printout from a battery test, especially when it’s bad. It shows the voltage and rates the battery’s health. Here’s my reasoning. It’s cold out. Having your battery fail in Michigan in February will probably be miserable. You could have avoided this by having your battery tested periodically. It doesn’t take long and it’s painless. Finding out that your battery is weak is an opportunity to say, “Hey, I ... read more

There was a time when car owners brought their vehicle in for a grease job and an oil change. You also made sure that your car was ‘tuned up’. You might also have needed your carburetor adjusted. Those services are no longer needed on the newer vehicles. Why? There are several reasons. A tune-up consisted of replacing spark plugs, wires and checking the distributor. Today's vehicles no longer have wires or a distributor, thanks to a direct ignition system. The spark plugs that previously had copper tips now have iridium tips, which last thousands more miles than their predecessors. We also have fuel injection which makes the carburetor obsolete. You needed a grease job because some of your suspension parts needed to be greased on a regular basis. That's not true of most anymore. They essentially don't have to be greased because they have more of a closed system that doesn't allow you to insert grease. They're ‘pregreased’. Pre-greased is not an actual ‘automotiv ... read more

Ken joined our team bringing a lot of experience as an ASE certified technician with twenty-four years of experience at dealerships and several years as an independent. Ken is our Volkswagen and Audi go-to guy. He enjoys working on German vehicles the most. I have learned a lot from him as he is very adept at explaining what transpired as a vehicle part was failing. I sat in Ken’s bay and peppered him with questions for this blog post. What is your favorite car – R129 Mercedes Benz SL from the 90’s. Why? They can be purchased reasonably and they are a beautiful car. Favorite thing to do when you’re not working? I sing in ‘Hark Up.’ I’m a bass singer and play bass, acoustic and electric guitar. My family, including my wife Mary, my two sons, and my daughter, enjoy going to Whitecaps baseball games as well. Why did you become a technician? – My first car was a 1972 Chevy Nova SS that was a “hunk of garbage” and I learned to work on that to keep it ... read more

Jeff and I just returned from the south. We drove my dad’s car to Florida and had the distinct pleasure of driving through the aftermath of Storm Helena. I still haven't decided if it was our most intelligent move but, I'll leave that thought alone. I learned several things on this trip. Firstly, windshield wipers, batteries and tires. I've blogged often about these things but the truth is, they really, really mattered on this trip. Secondly, Michigan snowplowers have amazing, incredible road clearing capabilities. Hats off to the plow drivers that keep our roads cleaned. I've always been thankful but have hit a new level of appreciation. I also will (probably) never laugh at a southern storm meme again. They don't have the equipment or driving skills. That's why they live in those states. They don't usually need them. Most of the people wisely stayed off the roads as they were told too. It was us, semitruck drivers, and some diehard Clemson fans with their flags waving ... read more

January 1, 2017 was the beginning of the new year as well as Arie Nol Auto Center’s 41 st anniversary. When Arie Nol opened his business in 1976, there were very few repair facilities that worked on the imported vehicles that had started to be more prevalent in the American car market. Coming from the Netherlands and working for Porsche in California, Arie had a lot of experience working on European vehicles. The timing was perfect and he could fulfill his dream of opening his own business. He opened his two- bay shop in the same location we currently occupy. Jeff worked part time until 1980 when he joined his Dad full time at the family business. It’s amazing to look back and see where we started and see how the business has grown. Arie laid the ground work for the business that exists today. We still have customers that come in and talk about Arie working on their vehicle. He was known for being blunt with his customers. He took car repairs and maintenance ser ... read more

We repair vehicles here and—on occasion—they need to be towed to us for repairs. Before I started working here, I had never really thought about what a tow truck driver does unless I needed one. I now have a lot more appreciation for them than I did in the past. These are the people that tow you out of the ditch in the worst weather, jump start your vehicle if your battery has failed and clear the road after an accident. I’ve been on the phone with someone that has just hit a curb during a snow storm and they’re waiting for the tow truck to come and bring the vehicle to us. When the driver arrives, they very efficiently handle the situation. To the car owner it may have seemed like a long wait, but in bad weather and with lots of people driving on snowy and icy roads, they’re required to do a lot in a short time frame. Many times they are dropping off a car, grabbing a cup of coffee and they are on their way to the next accident or disabled vehicle. When ... read more

2016 is swiftly coming to an end. This is traditionally the time of year that we look at what we did the past year regarding finances, weight, exercise, attitude, etc. Then we decide whether we need to have a New Year Resolution. If you read the statistics for keeping resolutions, many of us don’t even make it through January. If your car could talk to you, would it ask you to set a New Year resolution for car maintenance? I’m not the car whisperer but I bet some cars would ask you to add “Maintain the car correctly!” to your list. I can hear your car begging you to change the oil on time, have the fluids checked and make sure that you follow the recommended service schedule for your vehicle. Why? Because your car wants to have the longest life span possible, just like you do. Just like you resolve to go to the gym, pass up dessert and have a positive attitude, it will take you making a conscious decision to do these things. When you get an oil change, schedule ... read more

We are thankful for all of the wishes of Merry Christmas, the cards and all of the delicious treats that have been sent our way this holiday season. It's tough to add an unexpected expense to your credit card in December. Cars don't care about the upcoming holidays and they haven't seen your list of Christmas gifts you have to purchase. Coupled with the suddenly cold weather, we've had a lot of breakdowns this month in comparison to maintenance work. We hope that no matter what your month has been like that you enjoy the holiday weekend. Celebrate the people you are with, enjoy their company, and take time to remember those who aren't at the holiday table this year. It really isn't about the presents but being present. All of us at Arie Nol Auto Center wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and wish you and yours the best of the season

I’m getting a thermostat for Christmas. Ok, not really. I don’t often have vehicle issues because Jeff is pretty serious about maintaining our vehicles. I’ve only had one break down in thirty years and that was a bad starter. The vehicle I was driving had 175,000 miles so I couldn’t complain. Last week it was starting to get cold and it seemed like my heat wasn’t very warm. I thought that it was due to how cold it was. The thing is, I really do know better. I had no check engine light or anything indicating something was wrong. So, I chalked it up to the lovely freezing temperatures of Michigan. While driving early this week my check engine light came on. Jeff scanned it when I got to work and I told him, “My car hasn’t been getting very warm when I turn on the heat.” It has been getting very cold this week and a seat heater only does so much. I have learned it won’t warm up the whole car, no matter how high you turn it up. No one ever appreciates having ... read more