Category Archives: Mechanical

“Just an Oil Change Please.” Is that what you really want?

Today’s prescribed service intervals happen between 7,000 and 16,000 miles, or once a year. Quick oil change places only look at a small number of areas and employ techs with little or no experience of modern vehicles.  They only focus on the limited services they offer, not on the overall health of your vehicle. Just like going to the doctor for an annual physical, your car needs that same physical.

At Brazelton Auto, our service includes an oil change and a “Vehicle Health Report” complete with pictures of potential problems. We pull the wheels off, rotate the tires, check the brakes, belts, hoses, battery, cooling system, all the fluid conditions, wiper blades, lights, and many other things on our 130-point inspection. This gives you peace of mind when you get your car back.

We have trained technicians and service advisors that understand which factory prescribed service interval is correct for your vehicle. Will our service cost a little more? Probably, but it will save you money in the long run. I could give you many examples of people trying to save money and it cost them time or damage to their car.

We know our oil-change service takes longer. That’s why we started our Concierge Service. After joining, you receive a nice, late model loaner car while your vehicle is being serviced or repaired.  Just recently we started our “Lifetime Oil Change” service. For a set price, your oil service is done along with our 130-point Health Inspection for as long as you own the vehicle. Call our trained staff for all the details.

Why We Stopped Changing Oil

When I started working on cars I was changing oil every 3,000 miles, belts were changed every 2 years, tune ups every 12,000 to 15,000 miles (if the parts lasted that long). There was always something that needed attention. Your hood was opened 3 to 4 times a year. That gave us many opportunities to find problems you might have. Today oil changes happen between 7,000 and 12,000 miles, about once a year. Drive belts last 50,000 to 80,000 miles, and the first tune up is around 100,000 miles. Your hood is now only opened about once a year.  Just like going to the doctor for an annual physical, your car needs the same physical. When we raise the hood on your car for its annual oil service, we look at everything we can. Our “Vehicle Health Report” gives you peace of mind when you get in your car. Our goal for your vehicle is to be problem free for the next year.  We could change the oil and filter, check the fluid levels and add washer fluid. It would cost less but that would be an injustice to you. We pull the wheels, rotate the tires, check the brakes, belts, hoses, battery, cooling system, all the fluid conditions, wiper blades, lights, and many other things on our 130 point inspection.  We won’t just do an oil change because I never want you to ask me “why didn’t you see a problem? You just worked on my car.”

The Complexities of the Driver’s Seat

Last week a customer came in with his driver’s seat not working. We checked the problem and found a seat motor not working. Upon further inspection we found water damage from the Harvey flood. This car had less than one inch of water on the rear seat floor board. The large amount of moisture in the air damaged the electric motor. So one gallon or so of water did thousands of dollars in damage one year later! As we were taking the seat apart I noticed how much stuff you are sitting on.  Four electric motors, air bag on the left side, seat heater, seat cooler, wires from top to bottom, seat switch to move the seat where you want it, a computer to operate the comfort system and remember what settings you like. To think when I started all you had a lever that moved the seat forward and backward.