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(619) 403-9426

7447 University Ave, La Mesa, CA 91942

Mon - Fri: 7:00 AM - 6:00 PM

Sat & Sun: Closed

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El Cajon Location

(619) 404-5645

10813 Airport Dr., El Cajon, CA 92020

Mon - Fri: 7:00 AM - 6:00 PM

Sat & Sun: Closed

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Articles:

John's Automotive Care Advice: Don't Overlook These 10 Automotive Services

Organization is the key to managing a busy life in CA. So setting up an annual calendar for vehicle care can keep San Diego residents on top of preventive maintenance. But you can't just write “oil change” every few months on the calendar. Modern vehicles have many systems that are vital to the safe operation of a vehicle, and they all need to be inspected. San Diego residents can't afford to overlook any of them.The following is a list of preventive maintenance services that are often overlooked by vehicle owners in the San Diego area. They are not presented in any particular order.1. John's Automotive Care Power Steering Service. Moisture gradually builds up in your power steering fluid, which can lead to corrosion in your steering system. The fluid also gets dirty, which can gum up your steering system. The fluid needs to be replaced periodically.2. John's Automotive Care Wheel Alignment. Wheels that are out of alignment w ... read more

Used Cars: John's Automotive Care Advice on What to Do After You Buy

Used vehicles are certainly an economical choice for budget-conscious San Diego drivers. But how can we know we're getting a good used vehicle and not just inheriting someone else's problems?There are good used vehicles for sale in the San Diego area. Vehicles are sold when families upsize, when families downsize or even when someone just wants a new ride. So the used vehicle may be just fine. But some San Diego used vehicle owners sell them because they don't want to deal with developing or existing problems.When you're considering buying a used vehicle in San Diego, ask for service records. Check to see if the recommended schedules for preventive maintenance have been followed. If so, you probably have a great used vehicle on your hands. If there aren't any service records, then assume the worst.Check the vehicle for obvious signs of problems. Kick the tires if you want to but definitely check them for uneven tread wear. This can indicate alignment pro ... read more

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Older Vehicles

Technician Training at John's Automotive Care

Your vehicle is important to you, and keeping it running properly is important to your lifestyle. That's why you're smart enough to have it serviced regularly at John's Automotive Care in San Diego. And even though it may just be routine maintenance, you want it done right by automotive professionals.It's also very important to your San Diego service center to keep you happy and on the road. You might be surprised at the amount of money our San Diego auto service center spends annually to make sure our friendly and knowledgeable technicians are properly trained.John's Automotive Care offers a variety of automotive services for many kinds of vehicles. We need to be current on the latest techniques and parts so that we can give you quality service. Our San Diego service centers subscribe to data services that list the high quality parts and fluids recommended by your manufacturer.And each service has a checklist of standard procedures. John's Automotive Care technicians follow thes ... read more

Categories:

Maintenance

Fuel Saving Tip: Tire Pressure Saves Fuel in San Diego

Underinflated tires waste gas for lots of folks in the San Diego 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 here to there.Always check your tire pressure when you gas up at one of our local San Diego 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 the manufacturer's recommended tire pressure.And don't rely on your tire pressure monitoring system to alert you to when you need more air. The TPMS system is set to warn you when pressure drops 20 percent below recommendations. That's severely underinflated and you needed more air a long time ago. And if you have a slow leak – get it fixed right away at John's Automotive Care ... read more

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Tires and Wheels

The Maintenance Free Myth

Sometimes we hear people in San Diego say, "What's up with all this maintenance stuff? Modern cars just don't break down." While it is true that today's vehicles 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 San Diego drivers don't realize how high tech automotive fluids have become,  fluids such as engine oil, transmission fluid, coolant and brake fluid.Did you know that a modern engine would not run for more than a few months using motor oil formulas from 30 years ago? Today's automotive fluids contain a much higher percentage of additives to protect your vehicle's components from premature wear and corrosion. Time and distances march on for all of our cars. Please don't think we're using scare tactics to get you to take care of your maintenance - but here are some personal stories we've heard t ... read more

Categories:

Maintenance

Budget for Maintenance in San Diego

Sometimes busy San Diego residents dream about going back to the “simpler” days of our grandparents. But if you could travel back in time and take a road trip around CA in a Model T, you might change your mind. The improved designs and quality of today's automobiles have significantly reduced the amount of time San Diego residents spend at the side of the road during breakdowns. With proper maintenance, today's vehicles can stay on the road longer than ever before.Some of those improvements, however, have led to higher repair costs. For example, older cars often broke down from vapor lock. Gas vaporized while traveling from the gas tank to the fuel pump. No gas, no power. The car quits going. The solution was simple — you just sat by the road until the car would start up again. Today's San Diego drivers would hardly tolerate that kind of inconvenience, and it's likely that yesterday's San Diego drivers didn't care much for it, either. So on today's vehicles, the ... read more

Categories:

Maintenance

Are Modern Vehicles Maintenance Free?

In our auto video today we'll be talking with Alan Peterson about myths surrounding automotive maintenance. You can lump these myths into the statement that "modern vehicles are so reliable, they are virtually maintenance free."Any good myth has some elements of truth. No offense to San Diego Bigfoot fans, but this maintenance-free myth has more evidence than most. If we look at some isolated areas of auto maintenance, we could conclude that maintenance isn't so important. But other areas would just as easily lead you to believe that maintenance is more important than ever.Here are some examples for our friends in San Diego. Some vehicles in San Diego no longer require chassis lubrication. They're made with self-lubricating materials and have sealed joints. There's literally no way to grease those joints. -Chalk one up for the myth.On the other side, some vehicles come with sophisticated variable valve timing. A lot of complicated parts are up in ... read more

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Maintenance

Considering an Alternative Fuel Vehicle in San Diego?

There is a clear and vocal demand in San Diego and nationally for a reduction in air pollution and our dependence on fossil fuels. This is what is driving the CA market for alternative fuel vehicles. There are a number of these vehicles on San Diego area roads today, and many more being developed. Yet each of these vehicles has its own advantages and disadvantages. San Diego auto owners should learn what these advantages and disadvantages are before running out and purchasing one of these alternative fuel vehicles at your nearest San Diego dealership.San Diego drivers should carefully research the vehicle care before buying an alternative fuel vehicle, as it may or may not coincide with the standards for gasoline vehicles. You should look at costs as well; these vehicles may help save our environment here in San Diego, but that might not represent a savings to your wallet. You'll need to decide what you can afford and what will wor ... read more

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Automotive News

John's Automotive Care Automotive Tips: Diagnostic Service

Imagine waking up one morning with a stomach ache. You pick up the phone, call the doctor’s office and say, “I’ve got a really bad tummy ache. How much will it cost to make me feel better?” Of course you wouldn’t do that. You know that there could be a lot of reasons for your symptoms and that the doctor will have to examine you, ask some questions and probably run some tests before she can tell you what’s wrong and give you treatment options. This same scenario plays out every day at CA auto repair facilities. When the cause of the concern isn’t obvious, the car will need to undergo a diagnostic examination. The typical car has about 30,000 parts, including several networked computers and miles of wiring. Finding exactly what is wrong can be very complicated and take some time. The most experienced technicians at John's Automotive Care in San Diego are the ones who tackle the difficult diagnostic jobs. Once they have determined the cause ... read more

Categories:

Exhaust

Fuel System Cleaning at John's Automotive Care for Better Performance

Hi San Diego residents. Let's talk fuel injectors. A fuel injector is a valve that delivers fuel to a vehicle's engine. It has to deliver the precise amount of fuel to precisely the right place, precisely when the engine needs it. The fuel also has to be mixed with air before it can burn in the engine.Fuel injectors are engineered to spray fuel in a specific pattern into the engine. (The pattern varies by engine type and design.) In order to achieve these spray patterns, the fuel must be pressurized.Vehicles have one fuel injector for each cylinder in the engine. Your vehicle's control computer constantly monitors the engine and various sensors in the vehicle.  It also adjusts the fuel injectors accordingly so that they can deliver the proper amount of fuel to the engine. As you can see, fuel injectors are a sophisticated and vital part of your vehicle's engine. Because fuel injectors are such precision instruments, dirt and contaminants are a serious detrim ... read more

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Fuel System
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