Spring/Summer

TRICO Products announces the availability of new Exact Fit® Wiper Blades engineered to fit the unique pinch tab arms on current vehicles including the: BMW 5 and 6 Series; Buick Lucerne; Mercedes-Benz ML, R and SLK Class; Pontiac G6; and Volvo S, V and XC Series. The new blades also will accommodate future vehicles such as the 2007: Audi Q7; Cadillac Escalade; Chevrolet Avalanche, Suburban and Tahoe; GMC Yukon; Mercedes-Benz GL Class; and Saturn Aura.

You wouldn’t wear sandals in the snow. And sneakers at a wedding would be quite out of place. Just as proper footwear is critical to your comfort and correct body alignment, appropriate tires are vital to affecting the overall performance and handling of your vehicle.

If you’ve shod your SUV with this weekend’s “four for $99” special, you can expect an underwhelming experience on the roadways. The wrong tire does little to benefit the vehicle wearing it. The good news – optimizing your vehicle’s performance is as simple as shopping for the right shoe.

Properly balanced wheels have long been recognized to help provide improved ride quality, better gas mileage and reduced tire wear, making wheel balancing an important part of car care and maintenance.

For decades wheel weights have largely consisted of chunks of lead clamped to the wheel rim. Lead has traditionally been used to make wheel weights because it is cheap and heavy, allowing the use of relatively small weights to balance wheels. However, the highly toxic metal can cause brain damage and other nervous-system disorders in people.

Most people know that proper tire pressure means better gas mileage and a more comfortable ride. But what about proper wheel balance?

Automobile manufacturers and tire retailers install a weight on the metal rim of each wheel when you purchase a vehicle or new tires. Traditionally made of lead, these small weights are designed to help provide a smoother ride, better gas mileage and more even tire wear.

Maybe you’re not in the market to buy new, but you’d like to change the look of your car, truck or SUV. Or maybe you just bought a new or used vehicle and you’d like to add some personality. It’s easier than you may think.

While drivers are becoming more environmentally conscious by purchasing hybrid vehicles, many may not be aware that washing those automobiles at professional car washes also positively impacts the environment.

Environmental Partners, Inc., Issaquah, Seattle, conducted two tests in 2006 to measure the potential impact of untreated car wash discharges into the storm water system (and thereby to streams and lakes) using fish mortality as a measure.

Pressing down on the brakes and not knowing how well they’ll perform can be an unnerving situation. Given that Americans spend 4.2 billion hours a year constantly using their brakes in traffic, its obvious proactive brake maintenance is important. However, since brake replacement timeframes vary anywhere between 30,000 and 60,000 miles, recognizing brake warning signs is imperative to avoid a complete brake failure.  

As the weather begins to warm up for most of the country, drivers begin thinking of spring and the services needed to maintain their vehicles now that winter has passed. Unfortunately, it’s during this time of year, that automotive myths are often unintentionally perpetuated.  

Knowing which stories are myths and which ones are fact can be difficult. Because of that, NAPA’s 2009 Technician of the Year, Jack Gregory, is dispelling some common myths to keep everyone’s vehicle running smoothly in 2009.  

With gas prices remaining high, some owners of larger vehicles are trading in their gas-guzzlers for smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.  According to the National Automobile Dealers Association, the average price of a new car sold in the United States is $28,400. With new cars costing a pretty penny, more and more consumers are considering used vehicles to save even more money. While many prospective buyers aim to find a car at the right price, it’s important to not forget safety and reliability.     

When it comes to your car's safety, brakes top the list of systems that need monitoring. However, many people are unaware of the signs that indicate a car's brakes may need maintenance or repair.

For routine maintenance, it's important to check the vehicle's braking system at least once a year. A thorough inspection should include brake lining wear, brake fluid level, rotor thickness, condition of hoses and brake lines, brake and dash warning lights, as well as taking the car for a test drive to detect other potential brake system problems.