lifestyle auto car

by Rob Hopp, Cars for Keeps Owner

Sending your child off to college hundreds of miles from home is always an emotional experience.

Sending them with a car adds another level of anxiety.

You get that dreaded phone call. Later than you'd like to hear from them. The wipers don't work. The oil light came on & they kept driving till it stopped. The possibilities are endless.

When your kid and their car are hundreds of miles from home, you don’t have nearly the options that you do with your home shop. The distance factor and not being familiar with the repair facilities in the town where your youngster is going to school puts you (and your child) at a big disadvantage. Hopefully having a game plan for a garage you can feel confident in can help put you at ease.

This is one of the reasons we have taken the steps to become a AAA and Bosch approved auto repair shop. The standards required to get AAA approval help make sure our clients get consistently ethical and qualified service. The internet makes it easy to pare down the choices in a given community. Simply search for AAA Approved auto repair or Bosch service with the zip code or city and you'll find only one or a few in any given locale.

The better shops we’ve dealt with over the years don’t play games on the phone. They don’t toss out a lowball quote they know is not realistic as bait so they can set the hook and reel an unsuspecting client in. They give them a precise quote for parts and labor (if what needs to be replaced is known ), or if they don’t know what’s causing a problem, give some ballpark figures as to what it might cost based on best-case and worst-case scenarios. As a consumer, that’s very reassuring because it empowers you to make a more informed and intelligent repair decision.

by Colette Cooley, Cars for Keeps Office Manager

Summers fly by and winters drag. Why is that? I have a theory about that from a woman’s point of view. Winters are cold and silent with the exception of howling winter winds and those pesky ice pellets hitting the window. Then summer comes flowing into our lives with warmth, like embracing arms. The silence of winter turns into bird song, water rippling, leaves rustling and rain whispering on rooftops. The days are long and languid, inviting us outside to read, have picnics, ride our bikes, jog, swim, tend our gardens and to just listen to the sounds of life being created all around us. Summer lifts our spirits and renews our minds.

It can also be really, really hot and muggy, leaving us with delicious problems like how to get that watermelon cold in a hurry, or which bathing suit do I feel like wearing today, or should I go to the beach or the air conditioned mall for the afternoon? Hhhmmmm! Whatever you decide to do, you are going to end up in your car. More decisions. Air conditioning? Windows open, or the top down?

In this age of instant gratification you expect your decision to be carried out with the touch of a button. It would surely spoil your day if you hit that A/C button and get a blast of more hot air in your face, or worse, nothing happens at all. Hopefully this horrible fate never happens to you, but if it does there is a support group to see you through this trauma. Cars For Keeps will correct your unfortunate malfunction quickly and efficiently.

Better yet, at your next oil change, ask us to check your A/C, the windows and make sure that convertible top is performing as it should. Yes, the dog days of summer are upon us and we are so relaxed and laid back that any upset in our lazy days will not be tolerated. So just enjoy.