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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 1998-04-29, Page 17'I- -I" its options 1995 Buick Champagn extra clean 1995 Sunfire 2 cassette, AM/FM with spoiler cert. $10,500. 1994 Chrysler New Yorker, Blue with silver, many luxury options cert. $12,900. 1992 Cadillac Brougham, 4 door, white, top-of-the-line with white leather cert. $11,900. TRUCKS 1992 Ford F150 XLT, 2 tone grey, all options cert. $10,500. 1994 GMC SLE, extended cab, top of line 2 tone, fully loaded cert. $16,900. 1991 Ford F150 Truck, Good farm vehicle, auto., air only $5,900 cert. VANS 1995 Windstar L V n, d loaded with oWlecW..ain's chairs cert. $14,900. 1994 GMC Safari Van SLX, Teal green, 8 passenger, only 83000 km, rear heater, mint condition cert. $12,900. IF WE DON'T HAVE IT, WE WILL GET IT! Brussels (519) 887-9269 CARS 1996 Ford TikirogiVOn GL candy applebM161ffwith cert. $12,900. °tom, dower options, cert. $12,900. Door, Purple, auto, Say Good Bye to the Winter Blahs As well as the salt and grunge & say Hi to Spring with a car care cleaning at Radford Fuels Call Donna & book now to have your car cleaned inside and out, waxed and polished 523-4581 Or do-it-yourself with these fine products from Radford Auto Blyth 523-9681 or Brussels 887-9661 SAVE 10% on the following car care products Blue Diamond - one step glaze 425 ml pt#298 Autosol - metal polish 100 g pt# moo Rain X - glass treatment See better, drive safer 200 ml pt#RX713 Wash 'n Wax - one step, shampoo and waxing system 455 ml pt#851 Armorall - protectant protects and beautifies vinyl, rubber & plastic 500 ml pt# 10500 Spray Nine - multi-purpose germicidal cleaner 700 ml pt#K1 Specials in effect until Wednesday, May 6, 1998 MOTOR VEHICLE INSPECTION STATION • FUEL INJECTION SERVICE • • ELECTRONIC TUNE-UPS • • AIR CONDITIONING SERVICE • BALANCING • • COMPLETE BRAKE SERVICE • GENERAL REPAIRS • SERVICING ALL MAKES AND MODELS Box 309 Blyth, Ont. NOM 1H0 Phone: (519) 523-4424 Jeff Cook Licenced Class 'A' Mechanic Box 608, Clinton, ON JC AUTO REPAIR 238 Albert St. (Hwy. #4 N.) CLINTON (519) 482-1143 - Repairs to all makes of cars and trucks. - THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 1998. PAGE 17. Spring Car Care '98 Study says mechanic trust on the rise A 1997 independent study by the National Quality Institute (NQI) indicates that auto repair is ranked in the top 10 industries, among 21 industries, assessed in the study. More than 80 per cent of customers_ gave a good or excellent rating to the service they received from their auto repair facility. Those number may continue to increase, 15 per cent of customers rate auto repair service as improving over the past three years. But how can you be sure you'll be among the 80 per cent of satisfied customers? How do you fmd a mechanic/automotive service technician, you can trust? Rule number one for finding a good mechanic/technician: don't wait until you're desperate for help. Finding an automotive service technician you trust, is like finding a doctor or a minister — you need to build a relationship based on trust and mutual respect. These things don't happen overnight. Most of the business for a repair garage is from referrals. The only Continued from page 16 need a clamp tightened or replaced. That sound is the exhaust system bouncing against the underside of your car, and it's a good idea to get it fixed before something breaks off. Every time you have your oil changed, make sure the technician checks the exhaust system too. It only takes a few seconds to give it a quick look and a wiggle to make sure everything is firm and tight. Have you ever seen a car driving along the highway trailing a stream of sparks? It looks (and sounds) like the rocket ship from an old Buck Rogers TV show, but it's no joke. If there is any leak in the gas tank, those sparks could make things really interesting for the driver and for other people nearby. Even if there is no leak, there's a chance that the pipe could catch something and turn into a spear, destroying the gas tank or parts of the suspension. way to get referral business is from satisfied customers. So, if you are looking for a new automotive service technician, ask around. Ask your friends, relatives, business associates, church members — anyone you can think of. You'll probably get a more reliable feel for who is good and who is not by getting several opinions instead of just one. If you get a chance, drop in and meet the technicians who will be working on your car. Is the shop tidy and well organized? Do they have the latest computer equipment? Is there evidence that the mechanics, more commonly referred to nowadays as automotive service technicians to reflect the increasingly computer complexity of the profession they practice, are taking regular training courses on the latest automotive and diagnostic technology? The days of the mechanic under the hood with a screwdriver, tuning things until they sing just right, are a distant memory. Now, they have Of course, most problems are less dramatic. Often, it's a mere pinhole in the system. This, too, can be a danger as carbon monoxide — colourless, odourless, and potentially fatal — can leak into the passenger compartment. Exhaust system manufacturers have made a lot of progress, using more stainless steel (which is corrosion resistant) and more integrated systems (so there are fewer parts to separate or break off) to eliminate this problem as much as possible, but corrosion is still a possibility. One of the things that drivers can do to prolong the life of their exhaust system is to reduce the number of short trips they take. If you have several things to do, save them up and make one longer errand out of several smaller ones. That way, your car (and your exhaust system) will warm up, saving fuel, reducing tailpipe emissions, and eliminating the to be computer literate technicians, interpreting the communications between the on-board computer system and the diagnostic computers in the shop. Whether you go to an independent garage, a department store, or a franchised repair centre doesn't matter all that much. In the end, it all comes down to trust. You're looking for somebody who is willing to tell you which repairs should be made immediately, which can be delayed without affecting safety, and which are completely optional for performance upgrades. Car Care Canada notes that you can help your automotive service technician to help you, too. When you take your car in with a problem, tell the technician what the symptoms are (not what you think the problem is). Describe whether it happens when the car is warm or cold, at highway speeds or in the city, stopping or accelerating, etc. Get to know your car, too. Read water in your exhaust that tends to cause corrosion from the inside out. What's in an exhaust system, anyway? It includes a muffler, which feeds the engine noise through a series of baffles to make it quieter, a catalytic converter, which reduces the tailpipe emissions, and piping that connects these elements to the engine. Some through the owner's manual so you know what to expect. Turn off your stereo once in a while and listen to the sound of your car when it's healthy, so you're better able to notice when it needs help. Don't forget, if you want your vehicle to remain in excellent, dependable working order, you have to give it some tender loving care in the form of regular and preventative maintenance. Don't wait until it breaks until you fix it — that could cost you a great deal of money. The average Canadian consumer will spend approximately $800 in 1998 on vehicle maintenance, depending on the age • of the vehicle. By practising regular maintenance you can reduce that amount and prolong the life of your vehicle. The National Quality Institute (NQI) is an independent, not for profit organization established in 1992 as a joint initiative of the private and public sectors. For more information about the NQI or to order a copy of the NQI report, call 1-800-263-9648. 'ystems also contain a resonator, so your car sounds more like a mean muscle machine and less like a sewing machine. Catalytic converters do wear out. Sometimes, they can be destroyed — for example, long periods of idling may "cook the catalyst" because the temperature in the exhaust will rise without any compensating airflow to cool things off. Check exhaust with each oil change