San Carlos Auto Repair

How to Keep Your Subaru Around for the Long Haul: 5 Tips from the Subaru Pros Subaru is a reliable car brand known for producing high-quality vehicles suited for everything from city commutes to outdoor excursions. To ensure that your Subaru stands the test of time, proper care and maintenance are essential. Here are five tips from our pros to help you maintain your Subaru and keep it in top condition. Regular Maintenance If servicing Subarus for all these years has taught us anything, it's that one of the most important things you can do to keep your Subaru in top condition is keep up with regular maintenance. This includes oil changes, tire rotations, and brake inspections. Routine maintenance can help you catch problems before they become major issues and save you money in the long run. Check Your Fluids Another important aspect of maintaining your Subaru is checking your fluids.   You'll want to consider your: Engine oil Transmission fluid Brake fluid Power ... read more

By Stockbakers The Importance of Choosing the Right Technician for your Toyota Vehicle  The engine is the heart of your car and choosing the right technician is key to having it running smoothly and efficiently. Like a doctor trains for years to master the complex network of anatomy in your body, trained automotive technicians do too.   Toyota vehicles have unique maintenance needs that require specific knowledge and training. That's why it's important to research technicians who are experienced in working on Toyotas and understand how they function. Moreover, selecting a trained and certified technician will guarantee that they know what they're doing when it comes to servicing or repairing your vehicle.  What are ASE-Certifications? ASE Certifications are a valuable way to recognize individuals for expertise in the automotive service industry. ASE stands for Automotive Service Excellence, and individuals must pass rigorous tests to earn each of the si ... read more

By KM. Photo Common Toyota Problems You Need To Look Out For Toyota vehicles are known for their reliability and durability. However, even the most reliable cars need regular maintenance to keep them running smoothly. Ignoring routine maintenance can lead to more serious issues down the road and, ultimately, more money spent on costly repairs.   Let's discuss some of the most common vehicle problems with Toyota vehicles and how you can avoid them with proper preventative maintenance and a knowledgeable auto repair shop you can rely on.  Engine Oil Leaks  One of Toyota's most common service issues is engine oil leaks. Components become brittle or crack over time due to regular exposure to heat and pressure, causing oil leaks. To catch or prevent this issue from occurring, it's important that you have your vehicle inspected during the engine oil change (roughly every 5 thousand miles). Let’s make sure your vehicle’s seals remain properly lubric ... read more

Photo by Joshua Naidoo on Unsplash   Cracking the Code: Toyota's Codes Have you received diagnostic readers as gifts recently?    These tiny devices attach to your vehicle’s diagnostic system, allowing you to get the service codes behind warning lights on your dashboard. While they don’t have the range and depth of the sophisticated diagnostics we use at A+ Japanese Auto Repair, they can give a clue about what’s going wrong in your vehicle and where to proceed.    Understanding the problem is the beginning of finding an answer   It’s not enough to have the code. You will also need to understand what parts the code corresponds to and how the different codes in play wo ... read more

  Do you own a Lexus? If so, what are you doing to maintain it? Do you pay attention to the manufacturer’s suggested maintenance schedule, or do you wait for your Lexus to tell you it’s in trouble?   Some cars and vehicles are so reliable and smooth that we forget they are a complex system of moving parts capable of breaking down at the slightest provocation. Sooner or later, your Lexus will give you the dreaded dashboard signal, to let you know that the time has come to get it serviced.    A yellow light on the dash doesn’t need to be a scary thing. While an urgent blinking light does indicate a desperate problem, your Lexus also knows to flag you down for repair at specific intervals with a gentle light. This is not meant to drive you into a dealership… the light is just a reminder that you need to schedule different services to safely maintain your Lexus.   When you bring your vehicle to A+ Japanese Auto Repair, a prepared Se ... read more

    Bringing your Honda in for service is decidedly not the same at every repair shop. An individual shop has its unique method and focus. At A+ Japanese, our focus is strong on customer service.   A Honda dealership, for instance, has its way of handling your needs. You may characterize that experience as a friendly counter person relaying, over the phone or in the lobby, what they’ve discovered about your car as they reach each discovery.     At a small independent shop with smaller resources, you might find a mechanic who will take you to your Honda and, over the open engine, try to bring you up to speed with what’s troubling your Honda. In a calm tone, they will convey to you what they will need to put your vehicle right, explaining the situation as best as possible and pointing out issues to you.   At A+ Japanese Auto, we provide the best of both of these things— and more. Our service advisor Seamus Connors will ask all t ... read more

  Hondas: Fairly Reliable, Even at High Mileage counts! At A+ Japanese Auto Repair, we specialize in Honda service and repair and all other Japanese makes and models. Hondas have long been known for their reliability. Given their reputation, when you purchase a pre-owned Honda, that Honda should last you a very long time -- provided that you take proper care of it, based on the factory recommended services.   Honda recommends having their vehicles serviced every 5,000 miles. The services included in regularly scheduled maintenance range from an oil change and tire rotation to air and cabin filter timing belts, replacing spark plugs, draining and filling certain fluids, and flushing certain fluids. How Many More Years Does This Honda Have? If the car has any history of service, that can be useful to determine how fit the car is. Knowing that it has received the manufacturer’s recommended maintenance is a good indicator of the Honda model’s long-term health. Co ... read more

  Honda is big at A+ Japanese Auto Repair We deal in ten different Japanese brands at A+ Japanese Auto Repair. One of the most loved brands is Honda! We find them to be very reliable cars if you keep up with the proper maintenance, which is why we recommend them to first-time Japanese car buyers.       What do the Honda Service Codes mean? Honda’s manufacturer-suggested maintenance is for every 5,000 miles. There are plenty of engine codes to learn surrounding the engine messages of a Honda. Here’s what the service recommendations mean:   Service A is the simple act of replacing the engine oil. Just draining and refilling, nothing more.   Service B is all the little things that can cause trouble when left unchecked: replacing the oil filter, a brake inspection, and anything else your owner’s manual deems to be significant at 5,000 miles.    Service 1 means rotating the tires and verifying the tire pressure and the con ... read more

Photo by vishal bonthapally on Unsplash   A+ Japanese knows, services, and loves Japanese cars. Most people will know by our name alone that A+ Japanese Auto Repair can service your Toyota. But did you know that we also specialize in the Toyota brand?    Our shop has long earned a reputation in San Carlos for Toyota service. Many times, San Carlos has voted our shop the #1 Independent Toyota auto repair and service facility. We have ASE-Certified technicians that specialize in Toyota and know it exceptionally well. We happen to love to work on Toyotas, and it’s a treat for us when we can work on something a little unusual to the domestic ones we see.   Our brand new client Jon recently brought in his JDM ... read more

Photo by A+ Japanese Auto Repair   As we get closer to school being back in session, some of us will see first-time drivers emerging from our own homes. High school seniors will be driving to school for the first time, and some of us will be sending our kids out of the nest and off to a university or a college.    Our kids are young. Some are inexperienced drivers who will be going back to school while our even younger children may be walking or bicycling to school-- sometimes on the same roads. It’s crucial that we send our kids out in safe and reliable cars.   Here are the ten car repairs you shouldn’t put off before school starts:   Check the Brakes - Brakes are number one for a reason. Kids will dart in and out of the road on their way to and from school. Drivers, young and old, need all the reaction time they can get.     Check the Battery - People often forget that batteries have water or a gel solution in them. After a ... read more