Daytona Beach Auto Repair

Since driving requirements and lifestyles differ among Daytona Beach drivers, your vehicle manufacturer publishes two auto maintenance schedules: the regular schedule and the severe service schedule. Which schedule should Daytona Beach drivers follow? Here are some questions to ask yourself:Are most of your trips less than four miles/six kilometers around Daytona Beach?Are most of your trips less than 10 miles/16 kilometers in below-zero FL temps?Are most of your trips off-highway in FL?Do you drive often in dusty Daytona Beach areas?Do you regularly tow a trailer or carry heavy loads around Daytona Beach?Do you drive in very hot or very cold FL weather?Think about your typical week. Do you live by your nearest Daytona Beach on-ramp and enjoy a non-stop commute? Or, do you drive the neighborhood car pool in stop-and-go traffic on Daytona Beach surface streets? Let's suppose your owner's manual says the severe service oil change recommendation is 3,000 miles ... read more

Because 90% of our driving decisions are based on visual information, unobscured vision is paramount. Which brings us to the topic of today's Honest-1 Auto Care article: wiper blades. While this isn't the most exciting automotive subject, it's important. You wouldn't drive at night in Daytona Beach with your headlights off, but a dirty or streaked vehicle windshield can catch the glare of the sun or on-coming headlights and make it just as difficult to see.Most of us in Daytona Beach replace our wiper blades when they no longer do the job. They are so worn, hard or brittle that they can't clean the windshield. They may even be falling apart. In other words, we deal with our wiper blades from a failure perspective. We address them when they no longer function. The theory, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," doesn't apply here. Instead, we should think about wipers blades as an important safety system that we should maintain rather ... read more

The government mandates a lot of equipment on cars in Daytona Beach, FL: emission devices and control computers, safety equipment like airbags and crash worthiness requirements. All of this is great for the Daytona Beach motoring public, but it does add quite a bit to the price of a new vehicle.Because new vehicles are more expensive, people in the Daytona Beach area are driving their old vehicles longer. The average vehicle is now over nine years old. Two thirds of vehicles on the road in FL have more than 75,000 miles (120,000 km) on them. As cars age, their performance drops, they have difficulty idling for long periods and are more sensitive to weather extremes. Fortunately today's cars are up to the challenge – but they need a little help to keep on goin'.Give Honest-1 Auto Care a call at 386.898.0774 to schedule your next maintenance.Some owner's manuals don't specify service requirements at higher mileage. That doesn't mean it doesn't have t ... read more

If you are a driver in Daytona Beach and you aren't currently using synthetic motor oil in your vehicle, maybe now's the time to consider it. Need more information? Well, synthetic motor oil is a substitute for petroleum based oil. Synthetic oil doesn't gel or gum-up like petroleum based oil and it doesn't vaporize as easily. It protects better in severe driving conditions like stop and go driving around Daytona Beach, as well as in very hot or very cold conditions. More and more new vehicles are being delivered with full synthetic motor oil, with the recommendation to use synthetic for the life of the vehicle. Why is this? Synthetic motor oil maximizes engine power and fuel economy. To see why, we'd need a microscope, so we'll have to settle for using our imaginations. The molecules of conventional motor oil are long hydrocarbon chains. Synthetic motor oil, on the other hand, has uniform, round molecules. Which is more slippery, a pile of ... read more

Today in our Honest-1 Auto Care blog, we're going to talk about following recommended service intervals. Your vehicle isn't the only aspect of your life in Daytona Beach with recommended intervals: Let's start with twice yearly dental check-ups and regular physical exams. How about laundry, watering the lawn and paying the bills?Now, what would happen if you didn't follow these intervals? Well, you'd get more cavities. You may not discover health conditions that could be more effectively treated with early detection. And you'd have to wear dirty clothes, be embarrassed by your brown lawn and have your utilities shut off.Clearly, there are some things in life that we have to take care of regularly. If we don't, there are negative consequences. Our quality of life in Daytona Beach takes a hit and it inevitably costs more money.So why is it so hard to remember to follow regular preventive maintenance on our vehicles?Probably a ... read more

Many Daytona Beach car owners have probably wondered: "What's the harm in putting off replacing an engine air filter? The answer is that not replacing it could cause your Mass Air Flow (MAF) sensor to fail. This expensive sensor is situated between your engine air filter and your engine. Dirty air filters are a leading cause of mass air flow sensor failure – and these babies can cost several hundred dollars to replace in Daytona Beach.Change your vehicle air filter at Honest-1 Auto Care when it's dirty. Your vehicle engine will thank you.Give us a call. Honest-1 Auto Care2325 S Ridgewood AveDaytona Beach, FL 32119386.898.0774    

Ask any Daytona Beach man or woman if they've taken their vehicle in for preventive maintenance lately, and the answer may well be “no.” Surveys indicate that over 80% of vehicles on the road today are in need of some kind of repair or maintenance. Now, ask that same person why he hasn't taken his car in for care. The answer will probably be that he forgot or that he just didn't think about it. Most Daytona Beach residents seem to have a hard time remembering about scheduled maintenance for their vehicles.Funny, because most of us in Daytona Beach have no trouble remembering to wash our clothes, mow our lawns or brush our teeth. It isn't that we can't remember to take our vehicles for service; it's a matter of making it a priority.When it comes to our vehicles, Daytona Beach drivers like myself, need to be a little more maintenance-minded. The fact is, we can choose to do it, or we might find ourselves being compelled to do it.For example ... read more

Hey Daytona Beach - this is something really amazing: Your vehicle uses 12,000 times as much air as fuel when you drive it. All of that air has to be filtered to keep your engine clean.That's like 100 gallons (380 liters) of air every block! The engine air filter is just another example of a very important but inexpensive part that has to do a tremendous amount of work. And when it works, everything goes well. But, when it doesn't, well, it can lead to problems. Of course, your vehicle manufacturer recommends how often to change your air filter. But like most service intervals, where and how you drive your vehicle in FL affects when your filter needs to be changed.Dusty conditions around Daytona Beach or polluted city driving means you'll need to change your filter more often. Our trained professionals at Honest-1 Auto Care can check your filter for you. In fact, it's often a routine part of an oil change.When you think about it, a clogged air ... read more

  Today we're going to be talking about serpentine belts for our Daytona Beach, FL, customers. Let's start by talking about the accessories that are driven by the serpentine belt. First is the alternator. That's the device that makes electricity to power the vehicle and recharge the battery. Then there's the air conditioning compressor that makes cool air for you while you're driving around FL in the summer.The power steering and power brake pumps are driven by the serpentine belt in most Daytona Beach residents' vehicles. Those pumps provide pressure that assists your steering and braking.In many vehicles, the water pump is driven by the serpentine belt. The water pump is what circulates the coolant that protects your engine. In some cars around Daytona Beach, FL, the water pump is driven by the timing belt.The radiator cooling fans on some vehicles are also driven by the serpentine belt. Some have separate electric motors. That's really a lot of work f ... read more

We live such busy lives nowadays: work, social events, running the kids all over Daytona Beach. Some days it's all we can do to keep track of everywhere we need to be. That's why you've gotta be organized. Smartphones, calendar apps - we have to keep track of it all.So let's talk about schedules. Specifically, automotive service schedules. And particularly, the scheduled services that are sometimes forgotten.Here is a list of 10 service items that are often overlooked by Daytona Beach residents. They're all very important and need appropriate attention. So here we go, in no particular order.1. Power Steering ServiceBe honest; have you ever thought of this on your own? Your power steering fluid gets dirty and builds-up moisture over time. Cleaning out your power steering system means that dirt and gum are removed and your power steering parts are protected from corrosion. Next time you're in for an oil change, ask your Honest-1 Auto Care service advisor if it ... read more