Happy February, the month we celebrate Love. At John’s Automotive Care in La Mesa, we feel it is important to celebrate our customers, and their vehicles, so during the month of February; we have red roses to give away to every custom alignment if it is found necessary. When we are proactive, we end up with a more peaceful life, with less unexpected breakdowns and repairs. Preventive maintenance is a term we use to refer to regular maintenance items such as oil changes, tire rotations, topping off your fluids, checking your brakes, or possibly even a wheel.   Regular Inspections When you bring your vehicle in for regularly scheduled maintenance, not only does your car get a thorough inspection by trained professional ASE-Certified mechanics, but it also prolongs the life of your vehicle and keeps it in good condition mechanically. Plus, you get peak performance out of your car when it is running well and tuned up. When your car or truck struggles for air because of a dirt ... read more

Happy New Year from the team at John’s Automotive Care in La Mesa! January is a good time to talk about money-saving tips while you drive to kick off the new year. Let’s be kind to our wallets!   Steady speeds Did you know that driving smooth and steady, avoiding sudden braking or acceleration, can save you money? Although it is fun to drive fast and accelerate quickly, it becomes costly. If you want to become an economical driver, practice driving just below the speed limit and avoid quickly accelerating. Driving this way also reduces the wear on your engine, suspension, and tires.   Turning off your engine Running your car while waiting can get costly at the pump. If you park your car so someone can run back into the house or a store, and you might be idling your vehicle for over 1 minute, turn off your engine. Not only will you save fuel, but you will also be saving the environment one minute at a time.   Oil Check Proper oil for your vehicle. Wo ... read more

What is the Importance of an Oil Change?   We all hear time and time again that the most important service you can schedule for your car, but why? Well, oil is the most critical part of your cooling system and is the primary lubricant for the internal components of your engine. Neglecting to have regular oil change services can ultimately lead to expensive, otherwise avoidable repairs.   Fundamentally, an oil change consists of draining and refilling your engine oil and installing a new replacement filter. Here is the process. First, we remove the sump plug to drain the oil, remove the old filter, replace the drain plug and add oil, refilling to the correct amount based on factory specifications.   What does an Oil and Filter Change Do for my Car? Oil goes bad. No matter how well you drive, dirt and debris end up in your engine oil. The quality of oil you run in your car prevents or increases friction, which causes avoidable stress and wears on the internal compon ... read more

As we prepare for the first days of school, we think about the congestion on our roads: We have school buses picking up passengers, kiddos on bikes hurrying to get to school on time, with rushed parents trying to drop their kids off before work. Now is the most important time for drivers to slow down and pay attention when kids are on the road – especially before and after school.   When Dropping Off Most often, schools have precise drop-off procedures for each school year. Please make sure you are familiar with them for the safety of all kids. Remember in all school zones: Avoid double parking; it blocks visibility for other children and vehicles. Only load and unload children on the same street from the school Create a carpool community to reduce the number of vehicles at the school. Sharing the Road with Youth  According to research by the National Safety Council, most of the children who lose their lives in bus-related incidents are 4 to 7 years old, and they ... read more

  Happy April to our John's Automotive Care Family!  With the new month of April, our team decided this was the perfect time to inspire our wonderful customers & give some road trip ideas for Spring. Our team hopes you find some inspiration for your next California adventure, from day trips to long weekends or weeklong getaways!    Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is a must for a road trip & is the largest state park in California. Just under a two-hour drive from our shop, this park consists of over five hundred miles of dirt roads, with 12 wilderness areas with many miles of hiking trails. California's largest state park provides visitors with an unparalleled opportunity to experience the wonders of the California Desert. The park's name comes from Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza, mixed with Borrego, or bighorn sheep. Find camping reservations here.&nb ... read more

  Happy February from John's Automotive Care!  For this month's blog, we are highlighting our tips & guidelines for driving in the snow safely! If a winter adventure is calling your name, this blog is for you. Even if you love to play in the snow, your vehicle doesn't. According to the U.S Department of Transportation, "Over 1,300 people are killed, and more than 116,800 people are injured in vehicle crashes on snowy, slushy or icy pavement annually." Here are John's Automotive Care's tips for driving in the snow to help make your winter adventure easier & safer.    The prep begins before the driving; always remember to check roadway conditions, including chain controls, before you leave the comfort of your home with Caltrans QuickMap. Another at-home step is ensuring you have the right supplies for your adven ... read more

  Happy November to our John's Automotive Care La Mesa customers; pardon us for saying a well-used phrase, but Winter Is Coming. Given our past knowledge of what winter road conditions can bring, there is no better time like a November blog to talk about all the ways you can protect & prep your vehicle for the upcoming winter months. Winter-proofing one's vehicle is key to saving you money and time in the long run! We present our top five ways to prepare your vehicle for winter.    Light Cleaning  Take a walk around the exterior of your vehicle. Check to make sure that all your headlights and taillights are clear and sturdy and the bulbs put out plenty of light. As we head into the darker months, visibility is critical. The polycarbonate material that makes up most headlights is often sun-damaged from the hot summer months. From scratches to UV rays beating down. Having your headlights or taillights cloudy significantly impacts your visibility on the ... read more

Happy October JAC La Mesa family!  With October comes a new blog for you! And what better way to tackle the "spookiest" month, by talking about all the scary sounds that can come from your vehicle. We will go through different haunting and intimidating sounds that can come from one's vehicle to prepare you for this spooky month! And to prepare you on how to tackle and handle them with the help of our auto repair experts at John's Automotive Care La Mesa. We now present our October blog, The scariest automotive sounds we've heard in a car! Please stop in and have one of our amazing customer service specialists go for a ride with you so we can pinpoint the noise that you are hearing.   Screeching- If you hear ear-piercing screeches that sound like nails on a chalkboard, there are a couple of things to do. First, it's crucial to determine where the screeches are coming from. Are they from the wheels and tires? It may be your brake pads, a wearable pa ... read more

Extended warranties are a kind of service that drivers can purchase when their car's original manufacturer's warranty expires. It is not an extension of the manufacturer's warranty. This type of warranty is an optional type of warranty you pay into that will be used for future auto repairs to a vehicle's major systems. Extended car warranties, in the end, can save you major money if you ever run into significant car problems. While they can do this, about half of drivers see themselves never using their extended warranty or having a repair cost less than the warranty. In this case, it would make sense to just set aside money yourself for potential auto repair needs. But before making any decisions, it is crucial to understand the pros and cons of extended car warranties.    Pros 1.     Save Money  If you do need a costly repair, extended warranties could cover the repair. So, instead of paying the entire bill, you would only need to pay ... read more

    At JAC La Mesa, we know our California summers can get unbearably hot. We all know how the temperatures can go well beyond 100 degrees in the middle of the summer. With that being said, it's essential to have proper coolant and cooling running correctly in your vehicle for most, if not all, of the year! We wanted to discuss coolant and cooling so you can be prepared to get it fixed before that first unbearable summer heatwave.    First off, a well-maintained cooling system is critical for the engine of your vehicle for multiple reasons. The most important is keeping your engine operating safely and efficiently. With engine problems related to cooling, if they fail, it will lead to costly repairs. There are multiple reasons to do a pre-summer check for your cooling systems—one maintaining the hoses and connections and checking the fans and water pumps. We perform complete checks of your vehicle's cooling system to ensure everything is in tip-top ... read more