Grand Rapids Auto Repair

April is Distracted Driver Awareness Month. It could be called ‘Pay attention, you’re driving a giant chunk of metal!’ month. Most people that have a cell phone have done it. You’re driving down the road and your phone notifies you of an incoming text, email or call. You know you shouldn’t respond but you do. I’ve done it. I think I have all my attention on the road. C’mon, I’ve been driving for years! I can multitask. I can handle glancing down at my phone and watching the road. But science and statistics prove we can’t. In my perusing of the vast knowledge base that is Google, one study actually said that the better you think you are at multitasking, the worse you probably are at it. And no, you aren’t the exception. If you are a teenager, you aren’t good at it either. Even though you’ve grown up with cell phones, etc. Your brain still isn’t capable of processing a text and driving at the same time. One of those things will get all of your attention and it’s p ... read more

Sometimes l will be thinking about my blog post content. I will be set on a topic and then something happens here that causes me to change the topic. This week a vehicle came in with a broken ball joint. If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you know I have an unnatural fear of broken suspension parts. I’ve seen too many vehicles towed in and the accompanying story of the sudden stop or loss of control. So, we should discuss the triangle of safety. This is steering, stopping and stability. These all play a part in your ability to control your vehicle in a stopping or maneuvering situation. The other triangle is who it affects. It affects the driver, any passengers and anyone else on the road with you. If your brakes are worn and not operating correctly, you affect everyone on the road around you. If your ball joint breaks, you will come to a sudden stop. If your shocks aren’t operating within certain perimeters, you have less tire-to-road contact. Wor ... read more

Cars and the human body are not that far removed from one another when it comes to our responsibility to them. We know we are supposed to take care of our bodies by eating healthy, getting enough sleep and exercising. We depend on our body to hold young children, carry the groceries and walk up and down stairs. The same goes for our cars. We depend on them to take us to the grocery store, our place of employment and sporting events. Possibly even the mall, if you’re lucky. They take us to the beach or the woods on the weekend, so we can enjoy Michigan’s great outdoors. We know that changing the oil in our cars, getting the brakes replaced when needed, and staying on top of maintenance is necessary to minimize repairs. Delaying an oil change is kind of like eating a doughnut occasionally. It’s not going to hurt you unless you make a habit of it. As you age, your body is less able to handle not being taken care of correctly. Just like your car. An older ca ... read more

I love the commercials that show an actor being grouchy, ornery or annoyed and then eating a Snickers candy bar and reverting to a different person. I’ve occasionally used it as a joke when I’m tired and said, “I need a Snickers bar!”. Coffee is usually the better answer for those moments. Jeff and I were flying out of Ford airport and the flight was repeatedly delayed. The airport is under construction and there is only one restaurant available once you’ve gone through security. There isn’t a lot of space to walk and, if you’re obsessed with your Fitbit like I am, trying to get in a few steps is a challenge. Every hour or so we would be told we would be leaving in a certain amount of time and then the flight was delayed again. Did I mention this was during Spring Break week? We were traveling for business but most of the people on our flight were on vacation. There was a group of kids that were traveling to Ecuador that were going to miss connections. It got so ... read more