Automotive News & Information - Jim Van Dyke's Automotive Center

Wheel bearings aren’t a part of maintenance that you regularly think about. At Jim Van Dyke in Washington CH, we know there are a lot of vehicles on the road with failing wheel bearings, with drivers that aren’t even aware there’s a problem. Bearings fail slowly, typically, so it’s entirely possible that your car is making excessive road noise, underperforming, wearing out your tires, and decreasing your ride quality, without you even knowing it. Since they wear out slowly, most of the time you don’t notice how bad a bearing has deteriorated until it’s been replaced, and you’re reminded of the way your car, truck, or SUV is supposed to perform.

The service lights on your dash can illuminate for a variety of reasons. At Jim Van Dyke in Washington CH, we know how to handle them.

Your tires are the only part of your vehicle that ever come in contact with the road (hopefully.) As a result, they also bear the brunt of every pothole and loose nail in the road, not to mention the wear and tear of supporting a moving vehicle that weighs over a ton. At Jim Van Dyke in Washington CH, we offer solutions to your tire problems that avoid replacing them if possible, getting you the most value out of your tires. Why throw an otherwise good tire out, if all it needs is a simple repair?

At Jim Van Dyke in Washington CH, we understand that safety and driving comfort are largely dependent on car maintenance. Driving in the rain can be a hassle, especially if your car isn’t prepared.

At Jim Van Dyke in Washington CH, cars are our passion, so naturally we like to keep up with new technology on the market. At the moment, surprisingly the current trend is moving towards a goal you may not expect; self-driving vehicles. You’ve probably heard about self-driving cars a little bit here and there on the news, but it likely still seems somewhere in the realm of science fiction to you. However, the reality is that self-driving cars are on the way and may be here sooner than you think. Already, almost all major automobile manufacturers are dumping billions of dollars into research and development for self-driving cars, and even companies like Uber are jumping on board. What this says to us, is that self-driving cars are not just some gimmick. When the first automobiles hit the road, people laughed at the idea of them someday becoming a viable source of transportation, much less reshaping the entire global community. Nevertheless, just around two decades after the first automobile hit the streets, Ford’s Model T became widely available to the general public, and the rest is history. It seems likely that we’re facing a similar situation in the present. The automobile, for all its modern bells and whistles, has not fundamentally changed since it was invented over a century ago. Self-driving cars will likely redefine the transportation industry as we know and understand it...and it’s less a question of if, but when it will happen.

At Jim Van Dyke in Washington CH, we understand that driving style affects your vehicle’s performance and reliability. You probably know that frequent, hard acceleration is bad for your engine and transmission, but what about speed?

If you love popcorn, congratulations; today is for you. Popcorn has actually been around for thousands of years - in Mexico, popcorn remnants at least as old as 3600 BC have been discovered. Popcorn gained the popularity it enjoys today much later, however. As a result of the great depression and sugar rationing during WWII, popcorn rapidly became a favorite snack among Americans, and with the invention of the popcorn machine, became the choice movie theater snack as well. So, go on, celebrate, and pop a few kernels.

No matter what type of car, truck, or SUV you drive, old or new, it probably has doors. Those doors are heavy, and they see a lot of use. Naturally, from time to time, parts wear out. If your door doesn’t function as well as it should, here’s why, courtesy of Jim Van Dyke in Washington CH.