Amy’s Garage

Recipes for Potholes

Throw in Snow, Ice and Rain. Mix in some sunlight and the Spring Time Freeze & Thaw Cycles and you get a Plethora of Potholes!

I have lived in Vermont for over twenty five years and have never seen such a stellar crop of potholes!

When Vermont receives its Economic Stimulus Money from the federal government, we could put to work anyone and everyone who is unemployed repairing the roads and getting rid of all our potholes. The only problem I foresee is, if all the roads in need of repair are worked on this summer, there would not be any roads left to drive on.

While we are waiting for the roads to be repaired, I have some tips to help you protect your vehicle from the damage of pothole encounters.

Be Aware, be very aware! When your vehicle repeatedly drives into smaller potholes, the damage may not be visible, but the safety of your car may be compromised. Tire damage, bent rims, alignment problems, worn steering and suspension parts are common repairs that result from potholes. If you drive into one that jars your teeth it could cause a tire blow out or a broken shock or strut. If you hit a really big one, you may be able to use your cars accident insurance policy to help pay for the damage.

Slow Down: The faster you drive through potholes the greater the damage and expense. Leave extra space between your car and the one in front of you. When swerving around the potholes, be on the look out for other cars swerving around potholes and running into your car.

Hold the Steering Wheel Firmly: As you bump on down the road your car may lurch out of a pot hole and veer into another vehicle or go off the road. By holding the steering wheel firmly you can keep your car going in your direction of choice.

Check the Tire Pressure: Proper air pressure in your tires gives your vehicle better traction and provides the best cushion between the wheel and the road.

Don’t apply the brakes directly over a pothole: Apply the brakes before your car makes contact then release the brakes before your wheels hits and hang on to the steering wheel firmly while your car glides through the minefield of potholes. If you brake during impact with a pothole, the car’s weight will be shifted to the front of the wheels and could increase any damage.

In reality, your only defense against potholes is avoiding them. If your car does have suspension problems don’t put off the work. Driving around with a bad suspension can be dangerous and more so when driving on a plethora of potholes. Safe Motoring, Amy Mattinat

Do You Have A Good Pothole Stories?

I had to fly from Vermont to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania last month. There were no direct flights so I had to go east to NYC to be able to go west to the Pitt. The planes were small and a bit noisy, but I just love the miracle of traveling up in the air, that I don’t really care how small or large a plane is. I am just in awe of sitting inside a room up in the sky.

It was wicked windy out and the small propeller plane shook all over the place. It settled down for a moment coming into NYC so I snapped this  picture of some of the sky scrapers that cover that island city.

I mean Seriously NYC, if global warming is for real and the water level of the oceans rise… you are so screwed.

Anyways, I never got around to making a reservation for my rental car, and decided to see how bad it would be to walk up to a counter and request a car.

All I can say is OUCH! After being quoted $75.00 a day x 6 days + taxes and other fees, I about fell over.

I decided to put on my blogger hat and ask enough questions to get a good story and enough information to make my procrastination less painful. The young fellow (another unsung hero in my book!) who waited on my was so polite and very helpful.

I already knew that Airport Rental Counters are the most expensive place to rent a car, but have had great luck calling the airport counter directly to make a deal that I assumed that I could wheel and deal at the counter. I totally assumed wrong!

I explained that I had an automotive blog and wrote for www.askpatty.com “The Premier Automotive Site For Women”. How he should give me a great deal so I would write him a fabulous review. I tried to get him to go online to check out my blog and Ask Patty, but it was against company polity.

We concurred I could have set up my laptop and gotten a better deal online, waited 10 min., come back to the counter with a reservation and a savings of about $20.00 per day. My young man decided to save me this trouble and just gave me the discounted price.

He claimed he could not do better because Enterprise pays their employees per hour and they have a set amount they can discount of which he gave me the best deal he could.

I could have gone over to National or Alamo to see if I could get a better deal because their employees are paid a base salary and then a commission on sales. But they tend to be a harder sale on the insurance and extras, plus I felt like I got a good deal and appreciated how much time my young man gave me. He got an A+ in Customer Service!

I ended up renting a Ford Focus. I only had to drive an hour and was not going to be using the car much, so the attractive price of renting a little Focus sold me.

The truck size was really large and the front and back seats were very comfortable.

I loved it that I could plug in my iPod and listen to an Amy Radio show without any commercials.

Plus, I had great fun playing with the control toggles on the steering wheel!

I was pleasantly surprised by how comfortable the little Focus was.

• If you are in the market for a New Car, $15,000 would buy you a brand new Ford Focus.
• Fuel Mileage is 24 mpg city / 35 mpg highway
• To fill a tank full of gas it cost approx. $23.00 for 13.5 gallons of gas, which would take you approx. 340 miles down the road.

I’m still a Honda Girl, but I would rent a Ford Focus from Enterprise Rental Cars again. How about you?

A car’s exhaust system works like human intestines-

removing stinky waste in order for the body (yours or your car’s) to stay healthy.

The automobile’s intestines or in auto talk, the engine’s combustion, produces hot exhaust gases that are not only poisonous, but create pollution that has contributed to the disappearing protective ozone layer around the earth.

This push of waste from the engine also creates very loud vrooooming noises. I’m sure many of you have experienced a muffler falling off and the need to shout at the person sitting beside you because your sweet little car sounds like a motor head’s dream machine.

The exhaust system consists of a series of parts and pieces welded together.

First in line is the Exhaust Manifold. Attached to the engine, this set of cast iron pipes funnel all the exhaust ports into one pipe so you don’t have multiple exhaust pipes sticking out the back of your car. The gases gather here and are pushed by the continuing pressure of incoming gases into the Headpipe or y-pipe, which connects the manifold to the very important Catalytic Converter.

The catalytic converter or “cat’s” main job is to clean up some of the harmful chemicals from the waste gases, so you don’t end up breathing them or having them enter the atmosphere. It is filled with treated ceramic honeycomb or beads that cause a chemical reaction turning the harmful gases into carbon dioxide, nitrogen, oxygen, and water vapors. The Catalytic converter is very expensive to replace, and a lot of big engines can have two or even three of them.

These changed gases next go through various pipes, and in some cars a resonator to help dim the noise, through more pipes into the Muffler. The muffler routes the sound waves through a series of chambers, baffle plates, or other mechanical designs that bounce sound waves off of each other and, eventually, cancel each other out, getting rid of the vroom, vroom the car would make without it.

The Tailpipe is the last stretch of piping that connects to the muffler and stops at the side or back of your vehicle. These pipes usually have bends to curve up and over the rear axle.

Most exhaust systems now have one or more sensors.

The sensors are a computer type gizmo which monitors the air/fuel mixture the engine produces. If the mixture is out of balance, your car may be using more fuel to do it’s job as well as emissions leaking into your exhaust. This sensor will sound the alert and turns on your Check Engine. If the sensor fails, you might feel your car surging or hesitating or you might not notice anything wrong except for that check engine light glowing on your dash. If you ignore the light and don’t replace the sensor, it could damage the catalytic converter, which I will remind you is a very expensive part to replace.

How Often Does An Exhaust Need To Be Replaced?

• The metals used today to make the exhaust parts last longer than they used to: typically it’s about five to seven years before any big pieces need to be replaced.

• BUT if you typically drive very short distances, especially during the winter the muffler and pipes never get hot enough to evaporate any collected water vapors. This short stop and go type of driving can cause the muffler to rust from the inside out.

• Also, mufflers that are mounted far from the catalytic converter or mounted behind the rear axle are at risk of having water vapors puddle inside the mufflers. The water combining with sulfur forms a highly corrosive acid that eats away at the metal.

• Where the various exhaust parts are welded together is called an exhaust gasket or flange. They tend to deteriorate way before any of the pipes. This is bad because the colorless and toxic exhaust gases will leak out and you will be it breathing in. Even a small amount of exhaust gases getting into your car can affect your judgment and perception. That headache you thought was caused by the long drive home may be poisonous gases trickling into the passenger compartment.

Lucky for you: We can sometimes replace the gasket or the flange and this is so much cheaper compared to having two pieces break apart while you are driving down the road resulting in damage not only to the exhaust but to a tire, axle, or other part under your car.

With potholes abounding on the roads, ask your auto technician to do you a big favor by inspecting your car’s exhaust system when you bring it into the shop for service or repair. You want them to tighten those annoying heat shields that continually get loose and rattle, and keep an eye our for any small exhaust leaks before they become a bigger, more expensive problem down the road.

Auto Craftsmen had it’s 2nd Woman’s Car Care Clinic on Saturday March 14th.

With 16 women in attendance we covered the following topics:

How to Communicate Clearly so your Automotive Service provider understands exactly what you want and need done to your car.

• Give Symptoms: Accurate descriptions of the symptoms will save you dollars and time. Be as literal and precise as possible. NOT: My car is making a funny noise. BETTER: When I first start the car and pull out of the driveway the war makes a noise that sounds like (Make noise) but only when I turn right.
• Don’t Push for an On-The-Spot Diagnosis: Asking the Service Advisor or Technician to second-guess your vehicle’s problem only causes false expectations and creates confusion. You would not want a doctor to guess at what is making you sick.
• Leave Accurate Contract Information: It is very important that you that you leave phone numbers of where you will be that day, so you can be contacted “At A Moments Notice”. Your car is one of many vehicles in for repairs and service. If you can not be contacted to give approval for a job, your car will be pulled out and will have to wait it’s turn to get back in line for work. This could result in your car not being finished by the end of the day.
• Keep Asking Questions if you don’t Understand: Most problems between shops and consumers are a result of faulty communication. Don’t be embarrassed if you don’t understand right away… cars are a complex subject. If necessary, make a trip to the shop and have them show you what is wrong and have them give you an accurate estimate.
• Be Patient: Your repair facility is doing its best to keep every customer happy. They know that an unhappy customer won’t return, so they work very hard to please everyone. But wrong parts, sick employees, emergency repairs, small jobs that turn into bigger ones are major challenges that disrupt a shop’s schedule every day.
• Be Appreciative: The repairs and service on cars is not only hard work but takes a great deal of skill and knowledge. Contrary to belief, Technicians have feeling too! A little appreciation goes a long way, especially if it comes with a plate of cookies!

The ladies found it very interesting being able to look under a vehicle and learn about all the Steering and Suspension parts.

They also learned about what’s under the hood, and how to check the important fluids in their vehicles.

Brakes and Tires were also covered in detail.

The ladies asked great questions and everyone had a lot of fun.

The last clinic we have scheduled is for April 18th. Call 229-2054 if you want to grab the last 2 seats available or email amy@autocraftsmen.com

Join WAYTOGOVT.org in reducing 500,000 pounds (that’s Five Hundred Thousand Pounds) of Greenhouse Gas emissions!

We Challenge you: Leave your car at home from May 4-8, join the fun and be rewarded to help make a huge impact on the air pollution in Vermont!

• WALK: Help relieve traffic congestion and personal stress at the same time! To learn more about the benefits of walking: www.localmotion.com

• Car Pool: on average, by adding just 1 passenger to your commute you will be saving 31 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions for every ride shared. To learn more about carpooling in Vermont: www.connectingcommuters.org

• Take Public Transportation: For every mile you ride public transportation you use about 1/2 of the fuel consumed by the average car. The savings would add up very quickly. PLUS, every $1 invested in public transportation generateds $6 in local economic activity. To learn more about bus routes and service: www.cctaride.org or www.vpta.net,/a>/links/asp

• Bike: A 4 mile bike commute keeps almost 15 pounds of pollutants out of the air. Commute 4 miles for 1 work week and prevent 17 lbs. of pollution. To learn more about cycling: www.localmotion.org

Pollution emitted by just 1 car:

If you would like to learn more about fuel economy go to: click on this link.

A typical Vermont car is driven 17,000 miles per year and produces:

• 13,600 pounds of carbon dioxide
• 935 pounds of carbon monoxide
• 114 pounds of hydrocarbons
• 68 pounds of nitrogen oxides

According to the AskPatty BeGreen Program, to help reduce your environmental impact when driving a car you can:

• Keep your tires properly inflated. Driving with your tires at the proper inflation can improve your efficiency by up to 3%. That’s a savings of $30 to $70 depending on how much you drive, and can reduce greenhouse gasses by 1.42% to 0.69 percent. Under-inflated tires alone cost the country more than $3.5 million gallons of gasoline each day.
• Observe the speed limit. As a general rule, assume that each On average, every one mph increase over 50 mph reduces your fuel mileage by .1 miles per gallon. That’s one mile per gallon less for every 10 mph over the speed limit you drive. Depending on your driving style and how fast you drive, you could waste 20 to 70 cents per gallon.
• Relax. Avoid hard or “jackrabbit” starts and stops. Aggressive driving can reduce your gas mileage by 33 percent on the highway and 5 percent in the city.
• Reduce excess vehicle weight. Avoid keeping unnecessary items in your trunk. Each 100 pounds can reduce your economy by 2%
• Keep your car properly tuned. A well-tuned car can run 4% more efficiently than one that is out or tune or has failed its emissions test.
• Check and replace air filters regularly. Replacing a clogged air filter can improve your fuel economy by as much as 10%
• Don’t idle. Idling for just 10 minutes per day can waste as much as 22 gallons per year. At $3.00 a gallon, that’s $66 in your pocket.

To Learn more about the Way To Go Commuter Challenge, You can sign up at www.waytogovt.org or call 802-660-4071 x 14

When a teenager gets behind the wheel of a car, they have entered a new chapter of their life and as a parent, you are going down that road with them whether you like it or not.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

• New drivers are more likely to have an accident in the first two years of driving then at any other time in their lives.
• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15 to 20 year olds. This accounts for 40% of all teen deaths.
• Only about 20% of 16 to 19 year olds drive at night, but 50% of the fatal accidents occur during these hours.
• 43% of teen motor vehicle deaths occur between the hours of 9:00 pm and 6:00 am.
• 54% of teen motor vehicle deaths occur on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
• About 36% of crashes that kill young people involve alcohol.

Does this scare you?

Well it should. It’s the parents job to make sure their child learns the driving skills and awareness of sharing the road with others so they will not kill themselves or others when they get their driver’s license.

Want some help?

My favorite automotive website www.askpatty.com has created a global PATTI Road Safety Program - Parents Actively Teaching Teens Initiative and teamed up with The Survival Group to take the stress out of the whole process by showing you how to coach your teen drivers like professionals.

The “Coach A Rookie Guide” will give you the tools to actively teach your teen drivers vital road survival techniques. It will show you what to teach and how to teach it.

There are Three Main Sections in the CaR Guide

Section 1 - The Basic Coaching Kit

Section 1 gives you the practical tools necessary to teach your Learner when out on the road.  They will help you generate the road survival skills you must instill into the new driver (and yourself) until they automatically form part of your rookie’s driving regime.

Section 2 - The Advanced Coaching Kit

This Section builds on the Basics and includes vital survival tips, strategies and techniques for Suburban Driving, Freeway Driving, Country Driving and driving in different weather conditions.

Section 3 - The Practical CaR Guide

This segment contains all that stuff that every one should know about how to change a wheel, how to check the oil and generally about how cars work.

The “Coach A Rookie Guide” comes to you as a downloadable PDF that is sent to your email for only $20. But because AskPatty.com is sooooo awesome Half the proceeds of sales of Coach a Rookie go directly to the United Spinal Association a group that supports victims of road crashes.

YES I purchased it, and will print it out and have it at my shop Auto Craftsmen if you would like to check it out.

Do You Have Any Tips For Teenage Drivers or Their Parents?

The answer is YES, dealer, independent, tire center, quick lube…. they can all work on your car and maintain the manufacturer’s warranty.

I am always amazed and distressed to hear folks tell me they miss their regular auto repair shop, but since they bought a “new car” they have to go to the dealer for all the service or repairs to keep it under warranty.

They think that they must go to the dealer for the first 36,000 miles to 60,000 miles of ownership depending on the make, model and warranty of their new car. Well, I am here to tell you: “You don’t have to take your vehicle to the dealer to maintain any kind of automotive warranty.”

If someone has told you that your new car’s warranty will be rendered invalid if anyone other than the dealer’s service department does the work, or if any product other then manufacturer brand-name parts are used… they are telling you an un-truth!

In 1975 the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act was created by the Federal Trade Commission. It was passed to “improve the adequacy of information available to consumers to prevent deception, and improve competition.” The only way the manufacturer can require you to use their brand of filter, or any other specific part is for the manufacturer to provide the item free of charge under the terms of the warranty, and I have yet to see any of the new car manufactures doing this.

So rest assure, you can have your favorite repair shop do all your oil changes, tune-ups, fluid flushes, etc., and any repairs needed using name brand, quality; spark plugs, filter, oil, belts, hoses, brakes, wiper blades, etc. and keep your new car’s warranty valid.

You just need to be sure to go to a shop that keeps proper records.

Each invoice needs:

• The date of service and what service or repair was completed.

• Your name, the year, make and model of your car,

• The car’s VIN (vehicle identification number),

• The name and parts number of the parts used

• The mileage of your vehicle at the time of the service or repair.

Having your trusted auto technician to look over your car on a regular basis is the best warranty for your vehicle. Here at Auto Craftsmen if we find a repair that would be covered under warranty, we take pictures and write up a good report for our clients to take with them to the dealer to get the repair made as easily and quickly as possible. We are their advocates, and they greatly appreciate this.

If you receive a recall notice in the mail or need a repair that is covered under the manufacturers warranty, then you have to go to the dealer to get the work done.

The manufacturers will rarely reimburse your money if the warranty work was done at an independent shop, other than in emergency situations where a dealer was not available to do the work. If you are in an emergency situation and there is no dealer around… then call the manufacturer ahead of time to get their approval for an independent shop or a different manufacture’s dealership to do the work for you.

by Amy Mattinat

A workshop for women about cars

MONTPELIER: TIMES ARGUS NEWSPAPER – After Kathryn Bramman’s husband died last year, she became responsible for her vehicle’s maintenance for the first time.

On Saturday, Bramman joined about 12 other women for the first Women’s Car Care Clinic at Auto Craftsmen.

Amy Mattinat, who owns the garage on outer State Street, has wanted to put on a workshop for women for at least five years. Four men who work at the garage were at the first scheduled, two-hour clinic to help answer questions and demonstrate repairs and maintenance.

“This is great for a lady who is in charge of her own car right now and doesn’t know a lot about it,” said Bramman of Barre.

“One of our goals in doing this is to give them a little more information so they feel empowered,” said Marc Yakubosky, service manager for the garage. “Sixty-five percent of our clientele are women and they don’t want to know the number to the tow truck by heart.”

In order to give each of the women who attended a more thorough understanding of their vehicles, they were divided into three different groups. One focused on general maintenance regarding fluids, air filter, belts and what to look for when purchasing a used vehicle. Another focused on the underbody components, such as CV – constant velocity – shafts and wheel bearings. The third station, hosted by Mattinat and Mark LaFleche, focused on tires and brakes.

“I am a huge advocate on good tires,” said Mattinat, who is a member of the national Women’s Car Care Council and the Woman Automotive Association International. “Tires number one on my list – tires first, brakes second and then everything else.”

Mattinat is also considered an expert on the website, AskPatty.com where women seek auto advice, for buying a used vehicle. Auto Craftsmen was the first repair garage in Vermont to be , Ask Patty certified according to Yakubosky.

“If you only take away two things to make your car safer and more reliable – remember to check your oil and your tire pressure,” she said to three women in her station during the last rotation of the clinic. “Checking the air pressure on a tire can be a scary thing for some people. When they hear the hissing of air as they put the gauge on the tire stem, they worry they’re letting all the air out of the tire.”

She and LaFleche demonstrated the proper technique before letting each of the women have a try. They also explained where on the car you can find the proper air pressure for your tires. Ignore the numbers on the tires, Mattinat told the group, the owners manual or the sticker on the inside of the driver’s door will provide the correct air pressure for your vehicle.

“I’ve had this very wide range of opinion of how to check my tire pressure, which unfortunately I have to do pretty often,” said Kimberly Jessup of Middlesex.

“You need to check the air pressure before you drive the car,” said Mattinat about the optimum time to take a reading.

Throughout the clinic, that ran a little longer than scheduled, Mattinat and her technicians explained anti-lock brake systems, how to maneuver a steep, slippery incline, how to check the oil, what to look for with a vehicle’s fluids, how to measure tires and their treads, why jump-starting a frozen battery is dangerous, when to replace an air filter, what to check for with a dead battery and which noises to pay attention to.

“So, you should drive with your radio down all the time?” said Bramman joked after one of the technicians explained the clicking noise of a broken CV joint. “I’m learning so much.”

Patricia LaRose had a simple explanation for why she attended the clinic. “I’m a girl, most shops are owned by guys, I don’t want to get screwed over,” she said after listening to the tire demonstration.

The clinic Saturday was so well received during the sign-up period that Mattinat has scheduled two more, one in March and another in April. To find out more, call Amy Mattinat at Auto Craftsmen at 229-2054, go to autocraftsmen.com or email her at amy@autocraftsmen.com

sarah.hinckley@timesargus.com.

Carver 3 Wheeled Car

One wheel in the front the leans waaaaaaaaaaaay over like a motorcycle, with 2 wheels in the back that stay on the ground. 11 feet long, 4 feet wide x 4.5 feet high. You sit in a cockpit with a regular steering wheel, accelerator pedal, 5 speed transmission with clutch and a brake. Easy to drive… Goes 1 to 60 mph in 8 seconds. Wee hee hee… Top speed is 115 mph. ZOOOOOM!

Hasn’t made it to the states yet. I hear that by early 2010 it may arrive. Sad to say the price tag is like $40K. I have high hopes that in 3 years the price with drop considerably, because everyone wants one.

I found 4 dealerships in Germany. I will try and find one when I head there this Sept. for a wedding.

The Carver 3 wheeled rig looks so very cool!
Check Out this Video