Daytona Beach Auto Repair

There are a surprising number of small, inexpensive parts that can lead to expensive engine damage when they fail. It doesn't seem right.Fortunately a lot of those things can be taken care of in routine maintenance. They may not be easy to remember because it is a long list, but your service center at Honest-1 Auto Care can help you know what's scheduled to be taken care of.Some of us in Daytona Beach, FL, really don't look forward to going in for an oil change and then getting a list of the other things the manufacturer recommends.But automotive maintenance is all about prevention and addressing small problems before they get big. Let's take the fuel filter for example.You may not know this but the median age for private vehicles on our Daytona Beach, FL, roads is over nine years. When vehicles get older, five years or so, they've accumulated a lot of dirt and rust in their gas tanks. If that dirt gets into the engine it can cause thousands ... read more

Today's tires and wheels offer a lot of options for every Daytona Beach driver's style, habits and driving conditions.Tires are designed for high-performance in winter or summer and even come in a long-wearing variety for all FL seasons.Daytona Beach off-roaders should be excited about the options available to them as well. The tread on off-road tires is designed to handle the wear from bumps and rocks. The tires' high profile protects rims from damage.But what if you own an SUV but aren't interested in off-roading around FL? You can change out those high-profile beasts for a lower, wider look if it suits your style.Honest-1 Auto Care tire professionals can offer great auto advice on how to choose tires that match your needs and style.If you just need to purchase new tires, a tire professional at Honest-1 Auto Care can also help you select the tires that are best for your driving needs and habits. The right tires will protect you and your vehicle on the road.So personalize y ... read more

A lot of us Daytona Beach drivers like our vehicles to reflect our personalities. We're picky about color and body style. We'll customize anything from floor mats to window tints to license plates. One popular way for FL motorists to customize a vehicle is to get new wheels.Wheels come in thousands of designs. Custom wheels can add personality, style or sass to a vehicle. Many of these customizations involve getting a bigger wheel.Fifteen or 16-inch wheels used to be the factory standard, but today, because a lot of Daytona Beach drivers like the look of larger wheels, many vehicles are available with 17 or 18-inch wheels. Optional wheel packages of 20 inches or more are also available in Daytona Beach.If you want to upsize the wheels on your current vehicle, however, you should know it's not a do-it-yourself project. There are factors involved in ensuring your wheel change doesn't jeopardize the safety of your vehicle.First of all, you need to understand rolling diamet ... read more

At Honest-1 Auto Care we've had a lot of Daytona Beach customers asking how they can make their vehicles last longer. These questions are actually a reflection of a trend that's been building for several years in FL. The median age of personal vehicles is now over nine years. And 33 percent of all vehicles on the road have over 75,000 miles (120,000 km) on them. It looks like it's going to keep heading in that direction for a while. With high fuel prices, a lot of FL folks are putting off buying a new car. So let's say you're one of the average in the Daytona Beach area; you've got a nine-year-old car with 80,000 miles (130,000 km) on the odometer. What can you do to make it last another year or two?Let's start with the premise that there's no reason that a modern car can't run for 200,000 miles (320,000 km) with proper care in Daytona Beach. The engineering and manufacturing quality is there.Of course, some parts will wear out along the way, but there's no r ... read more

Some of us Daytona Beach drivers just love tires. All those little rubber hairs on new tires and the smell is wonderful. We live in a great time for tires. No matter how you drive around FL, where you want to go or the look you're after; there is a tire for you.The same is true about wheels. The hardest part is choosing from the thousands of wheels available at FL tire shops.The team at Honest-1 Auto Care can help you get some things in mind before you make a purchase. Let's start with function and think about how you drive.For example, maybe you have a large SUV but you don't drive off-road around FL, so an off-road tread isn't important. Also, because you are not out bouncing over rocks in the FL backcountry, you don't need a high profile tire to protect your rims. So that means you can probably go with the low-wide look.If you have a winter season with rain and snow or if you find you need better ice and snow performance, they make great, high-performance snow tires that won't ... read more

Daytona Beach drivers know that underinflated tires wear out more quickly. Underinflation is also a major cause of tire failure for FL auto owners. More flats, blow outs, skids and longer stopping distances are all results of underinflated tires.It's hard for many Daytona Beach drivers to tell when a radial tire is underinflated. If your owner’s manual recommends 35 pounds of pressure, your tire is considered significantly under-inflated at 26 pounds. The tire may not look low until it gets below 20 pounds.Uncle Sam to the rescue! A recent U.S. federal law required vehicle manufacturer’s to include a Tire Pressure Monitoring System - or TPMS system - in all vehicles. Many Canadian vehicles have them as well.  The system is a dashboard mounted warning light that goes off if one or more of the tires falls 25% below its pressure recommendations.Obviously, all of this doesn't come free for Daytona Beach car ow ... read more

As Daytona Beach consumers, we live in a disposable society. It's amazing all the stuff we throw away.New stuff comes out so fast in FL, and much of it is fairly cheap, so we just toss the old and move on. It seems like when we were kids our parents were real sticklers about taking care of our stuff - especially parents who grew up in the Depression. You know, hang up your clothes, polish your shoes, put away your toys. If something got lost or ruined by neglect, tough; we had to do without.  We couldn't afford new cars very often, so we tried to make them last as long as we could. It's a good thing that cars are more reliable these days. They just don't break down as often. And the good news for us Daytona Beach penny pinchers is that a modern car can easily go 200,000 miles (320,000 km) with proper care. The engineering's there and so is the manufacturing quality. The missing ingredient is us making sure we follow the vehicle manufacturer's maintenance schedules.Is it really tha ... read more

With high fuel prices in Daytona Beach, FL, comes lots of gas saving advice. Some of it, like what you hear on   is great.  When you get one of those e-mails that's going around telling you how to save gas, try to think it through.Does it really make sense? Does it defy the laws of physics?Do some research on the internet or ask your Daytona Beach, FL, service advisor at Honest-1 Auto Care.There aren't any magic pills you can drop in your gas tank, and the government hasn't suppressed a device you can clamp on your fuel line to make your vehicle run on air. Not even in Daytona Beach!So next time you get one of those e-mails, check it out with an automotive professional. You'll get more bang for your buck with an oil change or an engine air filter replacement.We're here for you at Honest-1 Auto Care, so give us a call at 386.898.0774 for good honest advice about your vehicle. Honest-1 Auto Care 2325 S Ridgewood Ave D ... read more

Most vehicles have automatic transmissions, yet a lot of Daytona Beach drivers only have a fuzzy understanding about what a transmission does. Think back to the last time you rode a bike in Daytona Beach. You started out in a lower gear and shifted to higher gears as you went faster. Down shift for hills, stuff like that. Think of your legs as the engine – there's an ideal speed you can pedal and you change gears to leverage the work you're doing.Lower gears for power on hills or for starting out. Higher gears for more speed. That's what the automatic transmission does – it automatically starts in lower gears and shifts up to higher gears to go faster on FL roads. And it automatically shifts back down to climb Daytona Beach hills, pass or start up again.Vehicle automatic transmissions have certainly gotten more sophisticated in recent years. They have more speeds than before: the base is four speeds, five is very common. At Hone ... read more

Lease? Or buy? These are the options for Daytona Beach drivers. It's always a tough question for auto owners, but here is some info that'll help you make an informed decision.If you buy, you'll pay the full cost of the vehicle, maybe an initial down payment, monthly payments on the balance that pays down the loan principal, and the finance charge.Daytona Beach drivers who lease finance the portion of the cost of the vehicle that's used up during the term of the lease. You'll pay some money up front: fees, security deposit, first month's payment and maybe a capital reduction. The monthly payments include a depreciation cost and a finance charge. When the lease is up, you return the vehicle to your local Daytona Beach area dealership. So how do Daytona Beach drivers decide?First, how much do you have for a down payment? A lease usually requires a smaller down payment.How much monthly payment can you afford? Again, lease pa ... read more