Tangent and Albany Auto Repair

Your car may have a rattle due to a loose heat shield on the exhaust. This heat shield protects your car from the heat radiating off the exhaust. Your heat shield is made of metal and over time where it is held on can become damaged and it can come loose. When this happens it will cause a rattle from the heat shield laying on your exhaust. Typically this is something that can be repaired easily, but the only way to know is for our technicians to look at it first.  Give us a call and let us take care of you. 541-791-2886 Happy Adventures,  Heather

This is most likely due to an issue with one or both of your brake calipers. If you brake caliper sticks or seizes then it can cause your brakes to get very hot and if it is ignored then worst case they could catch on fire. We do free brake inspections. Give us a call and let us take care of you.  Happy Adventures,  Heather

Buying a new car should be fun, and the last thing you need to worry about is wondering if it's a good and/or safe vehicle. This vehicle is going to have your family in it and it should be in good working order and safe to give you piece of mind. During a pre-purchase inspection we look over all the vehicle, from top to bottom, bumper to bumper, we make sure the engine is in good working order along with all the other fluids, steering and suspension components. We also check for accident damage and we make sure it's up to date on services. No one likes the surprise of thinking they got an awesome vehicle to find out that it needs a lot of repairs or to be caught up on maintenance. You wouldn't buy a house without an inspection, why would you do anything different with a vehicle. Give us a call and let us take care of you. 541-791-2886 Happy Adventures,  Heather

Your car could be shaking at an idle due to a misfire in your engine. Your engine can misfire for reasons beyond worn out spark plugs. You could have an ignition coil that is isn't functioning properly and that will also cause a misfire. When your engine has a misfire it will not run correctly and it can cause long term damage to your engine and your emissions systems.  Give us a call and let us take care of you. 541-791-2886 Happy Adventures,  Heather

Because Jason says so.  All kidding aside it's always a good idea to give your engine a few moments to warm up before driving. This period of time allows all of your components to be properly lubricated before you put a load on them. This can be just a few moments or up to 15 minutes, this depends on you and your timeline. After sitting overnight I try to let mine warm up for at least 5 minutes, sometimes that's possible other times it is not. When I am in a hurry and I forget I will get in start my car then put on my seat belt, plug in my phone and turn on my music. Don't tell Jason...... Give us a call and let us take care of you. 541-791-2886 Happy Adventures,  Heather

There are few things that are scarier than when you apply the brakes and nothing happens. My first thought is oh crap or some version of that. If you're ever in that situation you can use your transmission to slow down and your emergency brake. Your emergency brake is not part of the same system as your other brakes so it should still work. Your brakes could go out for so many reasons and many of those depend on the type of vehicle you're driving. The most common reason we see is that the master fails and leaks. This will cause your brake calipers and/or wheel cylinders to not work properly causing your brakes to not work. Give us a call and let us take care of you 541-791-2886 Happy Adventures,  Heather

When your car makes any noise or sound that is out of it's normal then it should be checked to make sure you and your family are safe. A noise can be anything from a steering or suspension component to an issue with your engine or transmission. Give us a call and let us take care of you 541-791-2886. Happy Adventures,  Heather

Today I bring you another tail of the Civic that we see on a regular basis. Today she has 601,645 miles. Yes that is correct. The reason she has that many miles is due to an amazing owner who has taken such good care of her car. We see her every 3,000 miles and we do all of her factory scheduled recommended services when they're needed.  Today she brought her in for her 3,000 mile service and inspection. Today was an easy day, she just needed an oil change and a turn signal bulb replaced. We talked with the owner and let her know that in another 15,000 miles she would be due for her struts and then in 30,000 miles she would need a tune up. We always let her know what's coming up next so it's not a surprise for her.  Are you ready for a maintenance schedule? Are you ready to know what's coming up next so you're not surprised by what it takes to take care of your car. Give us a call and let us take care of you. We will make you a customized maintenanc ... read more

This is entirely up to you. Sometimes it is time for a new vehicle and other times you can keep going. This all depends on the condition of your current vehicle. If you have done all your scheduled maintenance on time or close to it and you've taken good care of your vehicle then keep it unless you're ready for a car payment plus the expense of the maintenance that it will need on top of it. Now maybe your vehicle is a little behind on it's maintenance, it can be caught up and it will still run great. This will depend on what you want to invest in your vehicle. I have two options I tell people. Option one is your car is in great shape and it may need a bit of maintenance to keep it going or option two of it's time for a new vehicle. Just so you know my daily driver is not new, she's a 2004 and I love her. She has only left me stranded once with no fault of her own - the water pump died on the way home from work one day. Other than that she runs beautiful and s ... read more

It's happened to me and it's one of the worst feelings ever when your car stops running while you're driving down the road. I expect my car to get me from point A to point B and when it doesn't it's not a great feeling. Some of this can be prevented with regular maintenance and some of it is just unexpected. The last time it happened to me my fuel pump died while I was headed home. This isn't something that you can plan ahead like a tune up or timing belt or even fluid services, this is just a breakdown. Fortunately fuel pumps do not go out often and they last for many years. I replaced the one in my current vehicle when it had over 200K miles on it. When your fuel pump stops working, your car will die and will not start. You can turn the key but nothing will happen. At this point you will need to have your vehicle towed and then repaired.  Give us a call and let us take care of you 541-791-2886 Happy Adventures,  Heather