Kansas City Auto Repair

Recently, Nissan introduced the latest version of its Leaf, the company's electric car. It has many new features, including something called e-Pedal. It allows the driver to let up on the accelerator and, unlike a gasoline engine car, the Leaf doesn't just slowly lose speed; letting off the throttle pedal brakes the car in a very controlled way, using regenerative and sometimes friction brakes. With practice, a driver can go for a fairly long time without touching the brake pedal. Another system, similar to those found in self-driving vehicles, can steer the car to keep it in the center of the lane using a camera and radar. It literally watches the lane markers and, of course, doesn't work well in snow that obliterates those markers. But the technology is impressive and can greatly reduce fatigue on long trips. In fact, much of this technology has "trickled down" from research on autonomous vehicles, such as adaptive cruise control that slows down your vehicle (even to a stop) if the v ... 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 I - 70 Auto Service article: wiper blades. While this isn't the most exciting automotive subject, it's important. You wouldn't drive at night in Kansas City 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 Kansas City 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 tha ... read more

High gas prices in Kansas City increase the cost of living for Missouri drivers. You've probably budgeted a certain amount for vehicle related expenses. Increased fuel costs now consume a larger portion of our incomes, causing some Kansas City vehicle owners to skimp in other areas – like scheduled maintenance.According to Missouri news reports and automotive industry studies, this is becoming increasingly more common. In fact, nine out of ten personal vehicles on the road have at least one maintenance or repair item that hasn't been done. Some of these items pose serious safety risks. Others are just more likely to make it more expensive to drive. In this area, we can take a lesson from professional Kansas City vehicle owners. I'm talking about fleet owners and operators. You know, Kansas City folks like the trucking companies and delivery services. Because their livelihood depends on it ... read more

When autumn comes around in Kansas City, leaves fall, nights get longer and there's a definite nip in the air. Time to unpack the boots and gloves and fold some extra blankets onto the beds. It's also time for Kansas City drivers to winterize their vehicles.Here is some expert auto advice for Kansas City drivers on what vehicles need to keep everyone safe and rolling throughout the Missouri winter months.1. Check your antifreeze. Top it off or change it if necessary. You don't want your radiator, engine or hoses freezing up. If your vehicle isn't generating enough heat to keep you warm, your antifreeze might be low, or you might have a thermostat problem. Either way, you should get it checked out before the full force of Missouri winter sets in. If you are due for a cooling system service at I - 70 Auto Service in Kansas City, get that done as well.2. Check your brakes. The slushy wet conditions of winter increase stopping distances. Ice exacerbates th ... read more

Today in our I - 70 Auto Service blog, we're going to talk about following recommended service intervals. Your vehicle isn't the only aspect of your life in Kansas City 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 Kansas City 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 cou ... read more

No matter how well they're made, vehicles are bound to have problems with their design or manufacturing. Think of all the moving parts. When the government thinks a problem is really serious, they require the vehicle manufacturer to issue recall notices to Kansas City residents and to fix the affected vehicles free of charge. The they try to contact all Kansas City residents who own that type of car so they can have it taken care of at their Kansas City service center. To find out if your car has any recall issues, give us a call: I - 70 Auto Service3111 Stadium Dr.Kansas City, Missouri 64128816-921-0505http://www.i70autoservice.com These recalls always affect safety, so Kansas City residents would be wise to take them seriously. It's really easy to find out if a vehicle is being recalled. For links to government sites, look in the AutoNetTV website. Other website include: carfax.com; autobytel.com ... read more

Sometimes busy Kansas City residents dream about going back to the “simpler” days of our grandparents. But if you could travel back in time and take a road trip around Missouri in a Model T, you might change your mind. The improved designs and quality of today's automobiles have significantly reduced the amount of time Kansas City residents spend at the side of the road during breakdowns. With proper maintenance, today's vehicles can stay on the road longer than ever before.Some of those improvements, however, have led to higher repair costs. For example, older cars often broke down from vapor lock. Gas vaporized while traveling from the gas tank to the fuel pump. No gas, no power. The car quits going. The solution was simple — you just sat by the road until the car would start up again. Today's Kansas City drivers would hardly tolerate that kind of inconvenience, and it's likely that yesterday's Kansas City drivers didn't care much for it, either. So on today's ... read more

We live in such a disposable society. It's amazing all the stuff we throw away. New stuff comes out so fast, we just toss the old and move on. In the old days, Missouri folks were real sticklers about taking care of their things. If something got lost or ruined by neglect, tough - they had to do without. Most Kansas City drivers couldn't afford new vehicles very often, so they had to make them last as long as they could.It's a good thing that vehicles are more reliable these days. They just don't break down as often. And the good news for us Missouri penny pinchers is that a modern vehicle can easily go 200,000 miles/320,000 km with proper care. The engineering and the manufacturing quality is tremendous. The missing ingredient is us Kansas City vehicle owners making sure we follow the vehicle manufacturer's recommended maintenance schedules.Every time you go a little farther between recommended oil changes, you have created an opportunity for sludge to be for ... read more

Good vehicle care for us Kansas City residents has always meant taking our vehicles in every spring and fall for a check-up. Vehicles needed routine maintenance to prepare them for the changes in weather. Today's vehicles aren't quite as sensitive to seasonal changes. Older vehicles required different weights of oil for summer and winter. But today's engines can run on the same oil all year. Both the engines and the oils have been improved.Antifreeze—or coolant as it's also called—protects the engine from both freezing and hot temperatures and thus is required by the engine year-round. Modern coolants don't have to be changed as often as they did in the past, but your owner's manual has a recommendation for when it should be replaced to extend cooling system life.Getting a spring and fall checkup at I - 70 Auto Service in Kansas City for your vehicle is still good auto advice.First of all, there is a lot of preventive auto maintenance involve ... read more

A generation ago, Kansas City drivers seemed to be more inclined to keep their vehicle's preventive maintenance on schedule. One reason for this may be that vehicles back then were a lot less reliable than they are today. Taking your vehicle in to your Kansas City shop every year or two for repairs seemed to be a good reminder to keep the oil changed.For example, almost everyone in Kansas City used to take their vehicles in for regular tune-ups. Vehicles had mechanical ignition systems, which meant ignition points, spark plugs and coils had to be replaced and the timing adjusted every few years. As long as the vehicle was in for a tune-up at I - 70 Auto Service, the vehicle was inspected and you took care of any needed repairs at the same time.Today's engines have electronic ignition systems and engine control computers. Spark plugs can last for up to 100,000 miles/160,000 km. Vehicle reliability has vastly improved in the last few decades, and surveys repor ... read more