Brakes really aren’t optional equipment. And taking care of them isn’t optional either if you drive in Allen or any place in Collin County.
A regular brake inspection is on every car’s maintenance schedule. An inspection will check your brake system and let you know if there are any problems. Of course, if you’re having trouble with your brakes, get your car into a Allen or Allen service center right away. And watch out for these problems:Read more
For more information check out the videos below
Introduction To Your Car And Truck
Something you’re going to be hearing a lot about around the Allen , Texas area is diesel engines. We’re not talking about semi-trucks and buses – We’re talking about diesel engine cars, pick-ups and SUVs
You may have an alignment problem if your car drifts or pulls to one side, your steering wheel’s off center, you have uneven tire wear or your car doesn’t feel like it handles right as you travel around Texas
Do you hear loud noises under the hood when you turn on your air conditioner? Do you only get cool air sporadically? If so, it is time to get your air conditioner checked. It’s real easy to take your car’s air conditioner for granted. Just push the right buttons and out comes cool, dry, clean air. But your air conditioning system needs attention from time to time to help it keep its cool.
read more
What is a cabin air filter? Is it:
1. A filter for a house in the middle of the woods?
2. A fresh, piney scent?
3. A filter for the passenger compartment of your car? Clever you, it’s 3.
September 2011 Ideas to making longer lasting vehicles
New cars cost so much these days. Add financing and insurance and, well a new vehicle may not seem so attractive. A lot of folks in Wylie, Texas are hoping to make their cars last a lot longer.
The good news is that with the current state of automotive engineering and manufacture, there’s no reason a modern vehicle can’t be made to last for a 170,000 miles or more.
What Allen Automotive Service Consumers Should Know October 14th, 2011
There are some things Dallas consumers should know about Allen automotive service and repair. First and foremost, Craigs Car Care cares about you and your family’s safety. And we really appreciate your business. Craigs Car Care in Allen wants to build a trusting relationship that becomes the foundation for a mutually beneficial experience for years to come.Building on that foundation, there are some things that would help you understand the auto service and repair business better. First, it can be really hard to fix cars. The days of shade tree mechanics are long gone. The majority of automotive systems are computerized. It takes a lot of training and very expensive equipment to diagnose and repair modern vehicles. The technicians that work for Craigs Car Care need extensive computer training – not just how to run the diagnostic systems,
Battery Replacement For Your ford vehicles October 15th 2011 by Craig’s Car Care
Modern cars and trucks in and around Wylie run on 12 volt electrical systems. 12 volts is enough to get the job done without having so much power that there is danger of electrocution. But today’s vehicles have more electrical components and do-dads than ever before. This really strains your electrical system, making it hard for the battery to keep up. Think about it: electric seats, seat heaters, power locks, windows and sun roofs. And then we have all the power outlets for our cell phones, computers, and DVD players.
Fuel Saving Tip: Tire Pressure Saves Fuel In Allen October 16th, 2011 by craigs car care
Under-inflated tires waste gas for lots of folks in the Allen area. Think how hard it is to walk in sand – you just have to work harder because of the resistance. When your tires don’t have enough air in them, their rolling resistance is dramatically increased and it simply takes more gas to get from Allen to Allen.
Always check your tire pressure when you gas up at one of our local Allen service stations. If they’re low – even just a little bit – bring them up to proper pressure. There’s a sticker on the inside of your driver’s door that gives
Having trouble with your fuel system? Bring your ford vehicles into Craigs Car Care for a check up. 1005 West Lucas Road Allen, Texas 75002 972-941-6700
Today we’re talking about fuel system cleaning. The first thing to know is how important it is to have a clean fuel system. You need fuel to go, and the cleaner your fuel system, the more efficiently the fuel will burn. That means more power and better fuel economy.
A clean fuel system saves money at the pump. We guess you could say, it all starts and ends at the pump. One of the most important
Economics Of Maintenance For Allen Auto Owners November 18th 2010 bt Craig
Buying a new car in Allen is always a big financial decision. The allure of that new car smell is powerful, to be sure. But what if your current car is still in good shape? How do you decide?
People in Allen who’ve been used to driving a new car every three to five years may be having second thoughts in this economy. For many, the question is, how does the certainty of a new car payment stack up against uncertain repairs for a car that may be out of warranty?
For purposes of our discussion, let’s assume you live right here in Allen and
People from Allen Texas love their cars. And nothing goes with cars better than a Texas road trip. Freedom from daily schedules, new sights and the open road – it’s great! But there’s nothing like car trouble to bring the fun to a grinding halt.
Now you can’t always avoid problems, but you can take steps to reduce the probability of getting sidelined on your trip.
Heading out on a Texas road trip? Stop by Craigs Car Care before you head out to make sure everything is in good repair. 1005 West Lucas Road, Allen, Texas 75002 Call us at 972-941-6700
At Craigs Car Care we’ve had a lot of people asking how they can make their vehicles last longer. These questions are actually a reflection of a trend that’s been building for several years. The median age of personal vehicles is now over nine years. And 33 percent of all vehicles on the road have over 75,000 miles on them. It looks like it’s going to keep heading in that direction for a while. With high fuel prices a lot of folks are putting off buying a new car. Thanks to AutoNetTV, we can provide you with a video answer to this question.
So let’s say you’re one of the average people in the Dallas area; you’ve got a nine year old car with 80,000 miles on the odometer. What can you to do make it last another year or two?
Bad air quality while you’re driving around Allen is nothing to sneeze at. But seriously, more and more vehicles these days come equipped with a cabin air filter. Since they’re fairly new on the scene, a lot of folks don’t know about them yet.
These filters clean the air in the passenger compartment, or cabin, of your car or truck. They do the same job as the furnace filter you have at home. They can filter out particles as small as thee microns. By contrast, a grain of sand is about 200 microns.
So your cabin air filer can clean out dust, pollution, pollen and
Do you ever shop for shoes in one of our Dallas area shoe stores? When buying a running shoe, is quality important? Does durability matter as long as the shoes look fabulous? Would you rather have one pair of long lasting shoes or two pair of lower quality shoes at the same price?
Is the warranty important when buying tires?
When you choose new tires in Allen, what’s the most important factor for you?
When winter approaches, we break out the sweaters, coats, boots and mittens. We want to be ready for winter conditions. Your vehicle needs to be ready for winter as well. The last thing you want is to get stranded out in the cold. You need your vehicle to be safe and reliable. It’s a good idea to get caught up on any neglected maintenance items anytime – but the stakes are higher in the winter.
There are some specific things that we need to do to have our vehicle ready for winter. The most obvious is having the antifreeze checked. If the antifreeze level is too low, it can’t properly protect your engine, radiator and hoses from freezing. If your car does not seem to be making enough heat to keep you warm, your antifreeze level may be low or you could have a thermostat problem. Get it checked out. If you are due for a
Oil change and when to do it July 24th, 2010 by Craig Allen
Nothing in your engine workers harder than your oil. With hundreds of moving parts, and thousands of explosions every minute, it’s no wonder that engine oil needs to be changed frequently!
You’ve probably heard the old rule of thumb: Change your oil every 3,000 miles/ 5,000 kilometers or 3 months, whichever comes first. But
Did you know that today’s cars carry more computer power than the Apollo 121 Lunar Module that landed on the moon in 1969? New cars have as many as 12 networked computers and over five miles (eight kilometers) of wiring. In fact, for the last decade or so, computers have been controlling about 85% of your vehicle’s functions.
Cars have sensors for manifold air temperature, coolant temperature, manifold air pressure, airflow, throttle position, vehicle speed and oxygen content. All of this electronic wizardry is pretty complicated. So how do you know when there is a problem?
What you should know about car batteries 09/01/2010 Spetember
Today’s report from Craigs Car Care is on car batteries, why they die and what we can do to lengthen their life. Most of us have had a dead battery at one time or another. In fact, it would be very unusual if you hadn’t. You may be surprised to learn that only 30 percent of Allen,Lucas,Fairview,Parker,Wylie vehicle batteries last for 48 months.
Now that’s an average. How long a battery lasts depends on many factors. You may not know that one of the biggest factors is the temperature where you live and drive around Allen,Lucas,Fairview,Parker,Wylie. You might suppose that cold weather was harder on batteries because it takes more power to crank a cold engine, but the opposite is actually true.For more information.....................
In Case Of Emergency In Lucas,Parker,Fairview or Wylie Texas "ICE" 08/20/2010 cz
Sometimes the unthinkable happens in Lucas/Parker/Fairview or Wylie Texas. A terrible accident and those involved aren’t able to provide rescuers with emergency contact information.
You have people in the Lucas/Parker/Fairview or Wylie Texas area who you’ll want to be contacted to arrange help, give consent to treatment, and inform paramedics of medical conditions, allergies or medications.
Too often, our Texas police and rescue workers must sift through
Protecting Your ford vehicles From Theft In Allen Texas August 12th, 2010
Every car in Allen Texas is at risk for theft. So it’s up to us to make our cars a less appealing target and more of a challenge – hopefully sending potential thieves to look elsewhere.
Lease? Or buy? It’s always a tough question for residents in the Allen area. But here are a few ideas that’ll make the choice more clear.
Either option gives you a choice of how you might finance your car. If you buy, you’ll pay the full cost of the car, with maybe an initial down payment, then monthly payments on the balance that pays down the loan principal, and the finance charge.
Questions to ask your service advisor and techician 07/24/2010
We find that a lot of Allen service and repair at Craigs Car Care are a little tentative when they talk with their automotive advisors. They want to ask questions, but don’t want to be embarrassed or to seem pushy. Cars are very complicated and there’s more to know about them than most of us have the time to learn. Maybe it’s because cars have become so much more reliable that the average person just doesn’t need to know as much to keep their vehicle on the road.
Call Craigs Car Care to make an appointment to check your transmission in Allen. 1005 West Lucas Road Allen, Texas 75002 972-941-6700
Do you have any plans around Allen Texas for the weekend? Maybe you and some friends and are taking the boat up to the lake. Maybe you’ll be having a lot of fun water skiing and doing a little fishing.
You got the boat all ready. It’s all gassed up. You packed lots of snacks and the cooler’s stocked – ready to go.
How about your tow vehicle? It has plenty of gas and you’ve even vacuumed it out, but is your auto maintenance up to date?
If you aren’t currently using synthetic motor oil in your Lucas vehicle, maybe now’s the time to consider it. Need more information? Read More
Safe Driving and no texting while behind the wheel/ 06/19/2010 / Allen/Wylie
We’ve all seen people do crazy things while driving to or from Dallas. A guy shaving in the rear-view mirror, a woman applying makeup, people talking on their phones, texting or drinking from an enormous coffee mug. All of these are an accident waiting to happen.
The truth is everyone in Dallas Texas is distracted when we drive. Traffic, road construction and other things outside the car are beyond our control. But the distractions inside our car are things we can often control.
Here’s some things that’ll give you more control in your car, and help keep your attention on the roads around Dallas Texas.
All modern vehicles come with fuel injection systems, so it’s a topic we all need to know something about. All new cars and trucks sold in Allen, Texas over the last 30 years or so have come with fuel injection systems.
The fuel injector is a valve that delivers the gas or diesel fuel to the right place, in the right amount, at the right time; to be mixed with air and burned in the engine.
We get a lot of questions about servicing your car at AutoNetTV. One that we get asked the most is: Do you have to take your car to the nearest Lucas dealer for service and repair? We’ve all asked ourselves that at one time or another. Of course, any new car dealer in Lucas would like to have your service business, but there are a lot of reasons to turn to the automotive aftermarket for routine maintenance services as well as repairs.
People around the area often ask the question: “Will using premium gas make my car run better?” The answer is simple. But first, let’s talk about what exactly premium gasoline is
Sometimes we hear people say, “What’s up with all this maintenance stuff? Modern cars just don’t break down.” While it is true that today’s cars and trucks are extremely reliable, they are also becoming increasingly complicated and use more exotic materials than ever before. All that complexity demands higher tolerances for everything. For example, most folks don’t realize how high tech automotive fluids have become. Fluids like, engine oil, transmission fluid, coolant and brake fluid.
You may have found yourself in the following situation: You go to get your oil changed and the service adviser recommends you get a new engine air filter. You say yes, but because you didn’t know what an air filter is or what it does, you were too embarrassed to ask.
You may know that most automotive failures are tire related, but do you know the second most common cause for vehicle failure? Nope, it’s not teenagers. It is the coolant system. But, if you take good care of your coolant system, it will take good care of you
We live in such a disposable society. It’s amazing all the stuff we throw away. New stuff comes out so fast, we just toss the old and move on. In the old days people were real sticklers about taking care of their things. If something got lost or ruined by neglect, tough – they had to do without. Most people couldn’t afford new cars very often, so they had to make them last as long as they could.
Diesel Maintenance For Texas April 28th, 2010 by caz5658
At Craigs Car Care we hear from a lot of people who are excited about the new diesel engines that will soon be available in passenger cars and SUV’s. But our Texas friends are often curious about the preventive maintenance requirements. People may not know that diesel engines have long been used extensively in Europe and Asia. In fact, in some markets, there’re nearly as many diesel powered passenger cars as there are gasoline.
The government mandates a lot of equipment on cars in Lucas Texas: emission devices and control computers, safety equipment like airbags and crash worthiness requirements. All of this is great for the Lucas Texas motoring public, but it does add quite a bit to the price of a new car.
You know you need new tires, but you’re not sure what type. You look at a tire to get the size: 225, 50, R, 16, 92, H. All the way to the service center you keep repeating it over and over. You even say it over in your mind while waiting in line. Then you get to the counter and the manager asks what size you need. Then your mind goes blank.
Let me start by saying that your wheel bearings keep the wheels on your vehicle. Did that get your attention? In this article we’ll discuss more about wheel bearings and how you can keep them doing their very important job while you drive around Allen Texas. Read More
Car alignments / Tire ballancing
So you love our job, and your family life is great: You have achieved balance. But can you the same for your wheels? You can tell if your tires are out of balance by vibrations at higher speeds. If one of the front tires is out, you feel the vibration in the steering wheel. If it’s a back tire, you’ll feel the vibration in your seat.
We all know that under inflated tires wear out more quickly. Under-inflation is also a major cause of tire failure. More flats, blow outs, skids and longer stopping distances are all results of under-inflated tiresRead More
Windshield wipers
About 90% of our Lucas Texas driving decisions are based solely on what we see. So having a good pair of windshield wipers is extremely important.
Like everything automotive, there have been great strides in headlight technology in recent years. We can all drive more safely at night because of it. Read More
Recall
No matter how well they’re made, cars are bound to have problems with their design or manufacturing and be subject to a recall. Read More
Cars belt /engine belt/water pump belt/ alternator belt / ac belt and power steering belt
Don’t you hate it when you hear that squeal from under the hood? It usually means there is a problem with the serpentine belt. Read More
Trip check
You know, at Craigs Car Care we get a lot of people asking about how to prepare their car for a trip. That’s a big deal. You could be driving through mountains and deserts in some pretty lonely areas outside of Lucas and Allen so you may be anxious to know that the car is up to the task and won’t leave you stranded. Read More
More Great Tips And How Your Car Works
Our Free Courtesy Inspections And Real Care For You And your Car Or Truck Is What We Are About.
North Americans love their cars. And nothing goes with cars better than the road trip. Freedom from daily schedules, new sights and the open road – it’s great! But there’s nothing like car trouble to bring the fun to a grinding halt.
The coolant system is a vital part of your vehicle. It is also the second most common cause for vehicle failures. Even though coolant system failure is fairly common, it is easy to prevent
So you’ve bought a used car in the Allen,Wyile area. How do you know what you’re getting? It is hard to know what you’re getting because people in the Lucas area sell cars for different reasons. Think about why you’ve sold cars. Did you just want something new or were there problems that you wanted to run away from. Maybe it was a little of both.
