It doesn’t matter if the car you’re driving is new or old, big or small. There are preventive maintenance steps every vehicle owner can take to make sure their car is as “green” or environmentally friendly as possible, according to the Car Care Council.  By following a few simple preventive maintenance steps, you can help protect the environment by improving gas mileage, which in turn saves money at the pump.

Keep your car properly tuned for optimum performance- Regular tune-ups, maintenance and having clean air filters will help your car pollute less and burn less gas. Getting a tune-up can improve gas mileage by an average of 4 percent. Simply changing the car’s air filter can improve efficiency by 10 percent. Fixing a serious maintenance problem, such as a faulty oxygen sensor, can improve gas mileage by as much as 40 percent.

When do you need to schedule maintenance for your diesel engine and what is needed each time?  For your convenience, we've added the preferred maintenance listing.  

Fall driving can be unpredictable because of weather changes and the end of daylight saving time.  We are all driving and enjoying the beautiful fall colors and need to be safe and aware on the roads this fall.  Some great tips for safe fall driving include:

Watch out for leaves: Once leaves become wet, they can present slippery and dangerous driving conditions. Be sure to watch for patches of wet leaves on the road or on road lines. Dry leaves can also present a problem to your vehicle. Avoid parking your vehicle near leaf piles to prevent fires that could start from your vehicle's catalytic converter. 

With gas prices high, our drivers are asking, "What can I do to improve gas mileage?"  Our answer is that there are quite a few standard maintenance tips that will help you increase gas mileage and your vehicle safety. 

One of the first things you should check is tire pressure.  There is no one size fits all and it is a pretty easy thing to check at home and fix.  On the inside of the driver’s door or door jam is a plate that indicates the correct tire pressure. Careful – there might be a different pressure for the front and rear tires. Check them at least once a month. 

We’ve all heard a car or truck in our neighborhood that needs a new muffler. But there’s more to the exhaust system than just the muffler.   The exhaust system has three main functions:

• To safely get hot exhaust gas from the engine out the tailpipe
• Treats the exhaust to remove harmful pollutants
• Muffle the engine noise