Earth Day is that time to revisit and evaluate our environmental habits and how we contribute to a cleaner Truckee and Lake Tahoe. Often overlooked, but one of the biggest contributors to pollution in California is your vehicle. Keeping up on regular maintenance is a driver’s responsibility to the environment and can make a bigger impact than all your other eco-friendly habits combined. An unmaintained, poorly running vehicle omits more pollution into the air, burns more fuel and breaks down more often. Unfortunately, most drivers never consider the environmental effects when they skip maintenance intervals suggested by the manufacturer or drive with the check engine light on. Maintenance intervals are designed to keep your vehicle running efficiently. The check engine light is your warning that the vehicle is not running efficiently and emitting more pollutants into the air than the standard. This is why a vehicle with a check engine light illuminated can never pass a Ca ... read more

Quality Automotive Servicing is now a Certified Auto Repair center. As you venture out on the road headed to your next adventure, count on a 24,000 mile, 24 month coast to coast, nationwide warranty on any part and service performed at Quality Automotive Servicing in Truckee, CA. Plus, just in time for your summer travel season, every customer, including Smog Checks, receive the Certified Auto Repair 24 hour roadside assistance with an 800 number that not only connects you with a tow truck, but reimburses for items such as towing, jump starts, tire change assistance, fuel delivery and even key lock out service. On your next trip in Truckee, Lake Tahoe or across the nation, know you’re covered if you get into trouble. When things happen, call 800-457-0019 day or night and Certified Auto Repair will help you get back on the road. Full details are available on the Quality Automotive Servicing website or keep the brochure handy in your glove box. Just another way Quality Automo ... read more

When the temperatures is in the single digits, you don't think about your vehicle air conditioning system. But your air conditioning system is filled with parts that were meant to move. As with our bodies, if we stop moving for a while muscles start aching, we lose circulation. The same is true for your car. If you don't use your air conditioner for a few months, some components (such as the A/C compressor clutch) may become seized. It's a good idea to get that liquid flowing every now and again and keep those air conditioning components lubricated. Also, bacteria and mold tend to build up in a system that is not regularly used. Ever turn on your A/C after not using it for a while and notice a bad odor? This winter, as part of maintenance, use your car's air conditioning regularly avoid potential repair costs for your air conditioning system. Hi ... read more

Something we hear quite frequently from Truckee and Lake Tahoe drivers is that their fuel economy is down and their four-wheel drive just doesn’t have the pep it used to. When that happens, one of the things we look for is clogged fuel injectors. The engine management computer tells your fuel injectors exactly when to squirt fuel into your engine. It is key that clean fuel injectors spray the right amount of gasoline or diesel fuel in a nice, specific spray pattern. A dirty injector can’t spray enough fuel and it comes out in an uneven, weak pattern. When fuel injectors are dirty or clogged, the fuel burns less efficiently, which causes gas mileage to drop. This result in less power from your Subaru or Toyota. It’s normal for fuel injectors to get dirty over time and possibly more likely on the dirty, dusty roads we drive everyday. Gas and diesel fuel may cause varnish and gum to build up in your fuel injectors, especially if you buy bargain gas in R ... read more

Never heard of it? Lack of familiarity is central to the sometimes emotional debate that erupts when talking about the zipper merge, aka late merging. Say there are two lanes of highway traffic and because of construction a section of one lane is closed, narrowing traffic to one lane. It's rush hour and traffic flow has slowed dramatically. You see the sign well before the merge telling you traffic is reduced to one lane ahead. What's the safest, most polite course of action? A) Put your turn signal on and move from the ending lane to the continuing lane when there's a natural break or another motorist waves you over, or B) Continue in the ending lane all the way to the merge point, then make your way over. Conventional wisdom or common courtesy dictates that you follow procedure A, getting over as early as possible to keep traffic flowing and be fair to everyone. And that presumptuous driver who motors all the way up to the front and then expects someone who got over early and paid t ... read more