Campbell Auto Repair

Photo by Sam Jotham Sutharson on Unsplash   It can be pretty spooky to hear an unfamiliar noise when driving alone. Some folks turn up their music and tune out the noise because they know that noise indicates they must now spend money they had earmarked for something else. But that’s the worst thing you can do.   Ignoring a strange noise in your car can cause a small, easily repairable problem in your vehicle to escalate into a system-wide breakdown. It’s best to be on your toes and bring your car to a mechanic when you don’t understand the noise you are hearing. Drivers also overlook noises as just a normal part of any driving experience; however, you have to look out for a couple of them if you want to ... read more

Photo by Malachi Brooks on Unsplash   This year has been tumultuous for our state. Wildfires are reaching record size (with the Dixie Fire being the largest in California’s history). More and more areas require evacuation.    Hopefully, the fires will never trouble Campbell, but in case they do, it’s essential to have a plan of action together. In this article, we’ll go over what you need to do to prevent a disaster from happening to you, your car, and your loved ones during the wildfires season.   Here’s a checklist of things you should do BEFORE evacuating:   Remove everything flammable around your windows and the potentially flammable furniture.   Shut off the air conditioni ... read more

Photo by Konner Ottaway on Unsplash   Weekends in California can be truly extraordinary! If you’re looking for a weekend adventure in the Golden State, here are some of the best places to help you make the most of your rest days:   Vision Quest Ranch Safari B&B - Are you looking for a Safari experience without having to leave the U.S.? Well, today’s your lucky day! Vision Quest is a ranch in Salinas, Monterey County, that wants to provide its guests’ some real wilderness experience! Besides the incredible animals (including Zebras, Lions, Tigers, Elephants, and more!), you’ll also be minutes away from some of Monterey’s best restaur ... read more

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash   It’s July, and we’re in our first summer where we can meet in public since COVID-19 hit the U.S. last March. It’s going to be a hectic summer for travel. Our customers are already preparing to take vacations by coming in for check-ups and fluid checks, and we’re gently preparing for more accident-related repairs to arrive in late summer.   Perhaps we haven’t all got the same idea to travel right now, though. Some may not have planned for an escape due to uncertainty or a lack of stability in the available travel options. New variants of COVID-19 have made some folks a bit timid to travel. Or maybe we’re keen to escape but can’t get relatives to agre ... read more

Photo by Karan Shiwalkar on Unsplash   Welcome to our June blog at Autotrend Diagnostics! Looks like summer is here at last, and that means summer trips with the family.   When you were younger, you probably learned the hard way about the importance of who controls the radio on a long trip. If it isn’t you, that means suffering through hours of someone else’s idea of a good time. And that can sure drag out an already-long car trip. Road trips can be a hard place to keep the entire family happy.   Now that you have a family, you have to consider what kind of music they like to enjoy songs with you. You can always just put each kid on a music player of their own, but then you miss the karaoke-like fun of grou ... read more

Photo by Nesha Torres on Unsplash   Welcome to our May blog! Spring is now sprung and is fully in session. With hot days coming to scorch our sitting cars, we’ve got to start preparing for another summertime soon.   Campbell is a great place to live, and to drive a car, too. The summer heat is livable in Campbell, and it’s not a bad spot to own a convertible. When the heat is at its worst, you can put on a fan or turn on the air conditioning and get right back to comfort.    But consider your poor vehicle. It waits for you everywhere you go in the summer heat with little respite when you take it on errands. For you, getting into a hot car is awful, but imagine how it is for the vehicle itself with in ... read more

Welcome to the April blog! With technology becoming cheaper and cheaper, more people are buying their partners home automobile diagnostic machines for their cars, for birthdays and Christmas presents. It’s a great gift for a car enthusiast who wants to go into a shop with some idea of an existing problem. But the trouble with a diagnostic device is that it doesn’t really offer the answers. It’s a part of the question, one that helps the mechanic work out where the issue is. But we frequently see people coming from parts stores who want a specific part changed. If that part is replaced and the problem still exists, that’s not the fault of the auto mechanic; that’s a shortcut that took the car owner twice as long and twice the price. Still, home computer diagnostics are not a bad thing. It’s important that the user understands it doesn’t have the full story on what’s wrong with your car, usually. That’s something that an experienced ... read more

Welcome to March! Spring will soon be sprung. We hope it’s a good season for you and yours and that you have the resources you need to see your way through the next month. The arrival of spring will bring with it certain other problems: the local fauna will wreak havoc on the sinuses of the unprepared. Particularly in dry seasons, the dusting of pollen all over our cars can make life difficult for the sensitive among us who react badly to pollens, whether tree, ragwood, or otherwise. Protecting your car and your passengers against pollen is important. We’d like to recommend a few each steps to helping you save your passengers (or yourself) during the allergy season: Consider your destination. If you’re going somewhere near a big field of flowers or where the parking will put you right where pollen will hit you, rethink your plans. Wash your car regularly. Get your car washed at regular intervals if the season is dry and the rain isn’t washing the pollen away ... read more

It’s Valentine’s Day in the midst of a pandemic! Health concerns will make it difficult to plan out romantic adventures with our sweethearts. It's impossible to predict, over a month away, what the climate for going outside will be. With a new, more contagious variant of Coronavirus on the loose, it is difficult to make any kind of plans right now.  It's also true that we need getaways. Our love relationships need cultivation and stimulation, or they become stagnant. We must do something to shake up norms and get the bonding experiences that keep us together. With the Downtown Campbell Farmers' Market closed due to COVID19 concerns, there's a little less to do in Campbell at the moment. While we'd all like to book a table at Elements Massage for an exciting spa day, the best we can do now is to purchase a gift certificate to help them get through the pandemic, too. There are, however, places where you can step out of your comfort zone and get a l ... read more

Welcome to a new year! As the pandemic carries on into 2021, we’ve had to adjust the way we do everything to keep ourselves and our kids safe. There’s a lot to do every time we go out the door now! Here are some ground rules we should all follow when venturing forth in our cars Know your route. We’re at a stage where we have to consider where we’re headed as where we may potentially break down. So check your route on a navigation device for any detours or obstructions. Be aware of when traffic slows on your way there and back, to avoid high traffic periods.  Keep your calm. This is hard, especially with kids around. Sometimes the kids can get excited or loud during a trip. And sometimes outside events can affect our calm: rude drivers, sudden stops, conflicts. It’s important to stay calm and remember that the objective isn’t winning a race when we drive, it’s to get safely to your next destination. And remember, other people may be tryi ... read more