San Carlos & Valley Springs Auto Repair

Servicing your Prius should be a regular affair, both to keep your Prius in top shape, and also to prevent unnecessary repairs. Fortunately, Prius vehicles rarely break down, but regular service is what keeps even those rare repairs at bay. Oil change is, naturally, the most frequent, and some would argue, most important service. Regular oil changes extend engine life. They are doubly important for Prius vehicles, though, because most Prius models tend towards excessive oil consumption. Some of the older Prius vehicles can consume as much as 1 quart per 1000 miles driven. At Toole’s Garage in Valley Springs, we recommend that you check engine oil regularly, and top it off every 1000 – 2000 miles, especially if  your Prius tends to consume engine oil in large quantity ( your vehicle should consume very little engine oil between oil changes – 1 quart over 5000 miles would be considered borderline excessive). Another reason to bring your Prius to our Valley Sprin ... read more

Toole’s Garage in San Carlos is the premier auto repair shop in the area, and provides broad range of automotive services, including Tesla tire rotation. Tire rotation, like the oil change – which you don’t have to worry about if you drive a Tesla - is one of these services we don’t think much about, even though they have huge impact on our wallets. Tire rotation evens out tire wear thus extending tire life. Regular tire rotation is especially important for electric vehicles, since their weight, torque, and in the case of Tesla, the sheer fun of driving it, result in accelerated tire wear. Tire rotation improves handling as well, and it can be done while you wait. At our San Carlos auto care facility we recommend following Tesla guidelines to perform tire rotation every 6250 miles. While we rotate the tires, we will also check tire tread, and adjust tire pressure to Tesla specifications. For conventional cars, 6250 miles roughly coincides with oil changes, so a ... read more

Tune up used to be a ritual for most motorists. These days most cars are self-tuning, in many ways. Onboard sensors monitor various parameters and send the information to the computer which can adjust air intake, can vary the richness of air-fuel mixture, and based on that information, can calculate volume of exhaust, and thus monitor if various subsystems are working correctly. Yet, for all that computing power, there are still plenty of subsystems that need a human to verify that everything is ok. Belts and hoses need a professional to ascertain if they need to be replaced. Tire condition, tread depth, uneven wear, suspension, including shocks/struts, wheel alignment - these are crucial for fall and winter driving, yet they require an experienced professional and alignment equipment to verify that they are in good working order. That's why at Toole's Garage San Carlos we highly recommend Autumn tune-up, a thorough service and inspection, before the rains come.  In addit ... read more

Winter is upon us, and rain is in the forecast. This is the last chance to get your tire services before the rains arrive. So head out to Toole’s Garage in San Carlos or Valley Springs to get your car’s tires checked out.  We recommend following “pre-winter” checks: Tire tread check – bring your vehicle to Toole’s Garage for a tire tread check – we can check the tires and make sure there is enough tread left to drive safely in heavy rain. Tire pressure adjustment – low tire pressure contributes to faster tire wear, and lowers the speed at which your vehicle could hydroplane. We can check and adjust tire pressure to manufacturer specifications. Tire rotation – tires wear out unevenly, so having them regularly rotated evens out the wear and extends tire life. We recommend rotating your vehicle’s tires every time you get oil change – saves you an additional trip to the shop and makes it one less thing to remember ... read more