Preparing Your Car for a Road Trip Part II

December 26, 2016
Catch up with Part I here.  When it comes to making sure your vehicle is road-ready before a road trip, it just takes a little time and some careful examination. Ensuring that your vehicle is in peak condition before driving off in to the sunset can save you a headache or two down the road and keep you and your loved ones safe. Check Your Brakes From low or leaking brake fluid to worn brake pads, damaged brakes can lead to an...Read More >

Preparing Your Car for a Road Trip Part I

December 12, 2016
As the weather warms up and our thoughts turn to long road trips, it's important to make sure your car is in good working order--or you may end up at the side of the road. There are some obvious first steps before taking off, like filling up with gas and checking your oil, but read on for the lesser known maintenance checks you should be running before your next trip. Start with Your Owner's Manual Your owner's manual can tell you...Read More >

Road Trip Essentials (Traveling with Kids)

November 26, 2016
Packing for a road trip when you'll be traveling with children can be tough, but this list from Real Simple can make any trip a little easier. Activities 1. Books, magazines, and comics 2. Games, such as the license plate game or travel bingo 3. Sketchbook, washable markers, and colored pencils 4. Pre-stamped blank postcards (find them at the post office), which your kids can decorate, or postcards bought on the road; have your children write to friends, relatives, even pets 5. Doodling doodads: a small dry-erase...Read More >

Car Talk: Winter Driving

November 21, 2016
We love this article from Car Talk about the importance of being safe when driving in the winter. Read the rest of it for a quick brush-up on winter driving tips. If your car needs regular service, get it done now. Nothing's a big deal in the summer. You break down? So what? It's a nice night out. Look at all those stars! But break down when it's minus jaw-freezing outside, and that's a different story. Since bad hoses, belts, water...Read More >

Car Talk: Winter Driving Part II

October 27, 2016
Believe it or not, winter really is coming. Brush up on some winter driving tips from our favorites, Car Talk.    If you're in an area that permits or requires tire chains, they should obviously be in the trunk, too. And be sure you've practiced putting them on before you need them. Trust us - applying tire chains is much harder when you're knee-deep in slush in the dark and other cars are whizzing by you. If chains are too much, you...Read More >

Service: Coolant Reservoir

October 10, 2016
This article covers the most common issues when a customer brings in a vehicle that's "making a funny noise" or smoking. The first place to look (after your oil dipstick) is your coolant. If you think you have a leak, now is the time to bring your vehicle in to a mechanic and see what the problem is. These are usually inexpensive fixes that don't take up too much of your time.   The coolant reservoir is the plastic reservoir mounted in...Read More >

Toyo Tires New Celsius Tire

September 30, 2016
The Perfect Tire for Montana Drivers In the fall of 2015 Toyo Tires introduced the new Toyo Celsius tire. With this introduction, Toyo Tires not only introduced a new tire but created a new tire category they are calling the Variable-Conditions tire. This tire is unique because it combines the technology of a snow tire and an all-season tire to give you a year-round tire suitable for any road conditions Montana can throw at you. What makes the Celsius tire unique...Read More >

Service: Transmission Fluid

September 10, 2016
from Car Talk What is this? Changing automatic transmission fluid is best left to a mechanic equipped with a transmission flusher, which replaces the fluid more thoroughly than you could achieve with gravity alone.Transmission fluid is a slippery liquid that acts as a lubricant for all of the moving parts inside your transmission. In an automatic transmission, this fluid also serves as a coolant and a viscous fluid that transmits power from the engine to the transmission. A variety of fluids are...Read More >

Toyo Tires 101 Playlist

August 31, 2016
These videos from Toyo Tires make learning about tire care fast and easy. Read More >

The Do’s and Don’ts of Tesla’s Autopilot System

August 12, 2016
from Car Connection Recently, we've spent a lot of time writing about Tesla's semi-autonomous driving system, Autopilot. The technology has been linked to a fatal crash in Florida, which has given rise to three separate federal investigations, plenty of high-profile criticism, and several defenses of the system from Tesla. Tesla is working on a major update to Autopilot that may improve its functionality, but whether the update will provide more training for users remains to be seen. One of the major critiques leveled...Read More >