So, you own a 4X4. There are some great advantages to having two extra wheels to drive you through mud and snow. They give you additional traction climbing hills and can improve control on ice and snow. Additionally, a 4X4 is F-U-N, fun. As much as a 4X4 offers the potential for driving fun, on McHenry roads or off, it also offers the potential for additional problems. Mechanical systems can break,

Every time Marty Wolf, played by Paul Giamatti in the 2002 movie Big Fat Liar, hit the brakes, the horn honked and continued to honk until he took his foot off the brake pedal. This leads to a fender-bender and to an irate monster truck driver crunching Wolf’s Jaguar XK Leaper convertible. If every time you hit the brakes while driving down Rt 120 in McHenry, the horn honked, you’d find that annoying.

If you’ve driven a car long enough, you’ve probably heard some of these maintenance tips from the grapevine. Some are true, some have a touch of truth and some may be downright wrong. Here, as a means of separating fact from fiction, are some of the more common auto repair maintenance myths debunked. Myth: You need to change your engine oil every 3,000 miles. Truth: You’re better off checking

You weren’t always one of those conscientious auto owners. It was the luck of the draw that you would remember to bring the car in for an oil change within the recommended number of miles or time. And you never bothered to check the oil. But, the last time you had the car in for some work they told you that it was down more than two quarts of oil. The auto repair technician gently, but emphatically,

You turn onto Crystal Lake Road on the way to First Midwest Bank in McHenry when you notice that the car doesn’t seem to have the same pep when you step on the gas pedal. You’re headed South on Green Street on your way to jh Events and Flowers on Municipal Drive when the engine coolant sensor comes on in your dashboard. You’re driving east on Route 120 bringing your pet to Riverside Animal

As with many technical advancements, they’re a blessing and a curse. Key fobs are a wonder when your arms are full and you need to open the car doors, trunk or rear hatch. It’s also nice, on a stormy day when you forgot to lock the car doors that you can lock them while looking out at the car from the warmth and comfort of your home or office. But, they’re a frustration when you find yourself

What if a little reminder in the car could save your child’s life? So far this year, there have been 18 cases in the U.S. where a child died of heatstroke after a parent left their child in the car. It’s June and that’s right on pace for the figures provided by the National Safety Council. The NSC’s figures show that, on average, 37 children die of heatstroke when left in a car each year. It’s

Better shops offer pick-up and drop-off service “I know I have to bring the car into the shop but how am I going to get home when I drop it off?” “If I drop the car off in the morning, how will I get to work?” “I can drop the kids off at school before I take the car in for an oil change, but I don’t have time to wait while they do the work. How will I get back to the office?” These

An article in The Princeton Review makes a profound statement about what you should expect when bringing your car, truck or SUV into an auto repair technician: “The days of uneducated grease monkeys are over.” As the article explains, extensive vocational training is required if an auto repair technician has any hope of keeping up with constantly advancing technology. You don’t really have to

You smile to yourself when you hear someone talking about how hard the miles are on their car, as though the roads around Richmond are really that bad. In fact, with a flurry of road construction the last few years, the roads around here aren’t bad. But, you have a different perspective. When you talk about a rough ride you’re talking about taking your 4X4 off-road where no one expects smooth coats