Here’s a checklist of just a few things to have checked before putting miles behind you:
1)            Check the oil – cliché and silly, we know, but if you’re close to needing an oil change anyway, you should go ahead and do it.  There’s nothing worse for your engine than putting off that oil change for much too long.
2)            Check the coolant – especially if you’re traveling to or from somewhere warm, your engine will heat up QUICKLY during the summer months, so it’s good to have the right levels of coolant at the start.  Truthfully, check all your fluids, but oil and coolant are the most important for long trips.
3)            Check tire pressure – with gas prices being as incredibly high as they are now, you might want to double and triple check your
tires.  Tires at the improper inflation PSI can wreck your gas mileage, even if you don’t get great gas mileage prior to tire inflation.  Be sure to check your
spare tire as well – while you don’t want to have to use it, it’s a great safety net should you need it.
4)            Emergency kit – it’s not just for hurricane season anymore.  If you’re stuck in the middle of nowhere because your car breaks down, you don’t have cell phone signal, what are you going to do?  Keep a few simple fix-items in your car as well – jumper cables, tire inflator can, tire gauge, rags and work gloves, road flares (in case it’s at night and dark), flashlights, tool kit (nothing huge but think screwdrivers, pliers, fuses, headlight bulb, duct tape, etc).  Also keep personal items for safety – blanket, bottled water, energy bars, car cell phone charger.
5)            Owner’s Manual – sounds redundant, but be sure all your mileage based check-ups are current and you’re not about to hit a milestone while you’re on vacation.  Typically your manual will have some additional points to check out on your particular car.

It’s never a “good” time to have something happen to your car, but it’s even worse if it happens while you’re on vacation.  Be sure to keep your cell phones charged and plan your routes accordingly.  Good luck and have a SAFE and happy vacation season!

The crazy haze in the atmosphere does more than irritate your eyes, nose and throat, it also irritates your car – both the engine and the paint – so it’s important to keep your car maintained during the season.

While pollen isn’t “harmful” to your paint job, you need to wash and wax your car with additional frequency than normal to ensure your car’s paint won’t fade or oxidize.  Be sure to wash or rinse with water.  Some recommendations you may hear include “dry wiping” your car, especially if your town is experiencing a drought like Savannah and the surrounding counties, however, not using water can cause wax removal and paint scratches.

If the paint damage wasn’t enough, the pollen can also cause filtration issues for your car.  Even if you don’t change your automobile filter at every oil change, you should change it at the beginning and at the end of the season to keep pollen from being recycled inside your car.

Changing the air filter also keeps better air flow to your engine which keeps the engine cooler and helps your car perform at its best.  Now is also not a bad time to change your car fluids too, especially if you haven’t done it in the last year.  Spring cleaning is not just about your home, it can be about your car too!

Should you start to see issues with your automobile’s paint job, come visit the experts here at Wards Auto Painting and Bodyworks.  We can help prepare your car now to have a pain free Spring allowing you to enjoy the weather AND the wind in your hair.

Most people would agree drinking and driving is dangerous.  For those of us that drink, and then again those of us that intend to drink this weekend – keep in mind the following:  have a designated driver, take a shuttle or a taxicab, or AAA is hosting their Tow-to-Go program in conjunction with Budweiser this year – 1-800-AAA-HELP and a tow truck will assist you and your car in getting home safe.

How many of us that would never think of getting behind the wheel of a vehicle after a few beers don’t second-guess our ability to text and drive?

Taking a look at Car and Driver Magazine’s unscientific test (no money for research grants, or so they say), they show how at 35 mph their test subjects were closer to their “baseline” stopping distance when drinking that either while reading or typing a text message.

Once you and your vehicle get to 70mph, forget it – neither stopping time is good and while both accidents would potentially cause irreparable damage to your car and the car you hit, the texting stopping time shows the worst stopping distance of all three distractions.

There’s no conversation worth your life – or the life of anyone else on the road.  Wait to send that text message until you are stopped. 

Although at Ward’s, we’re here to help you whenever accidents strike, please take all precautions to ensure it wasn’t an easily preventable incident.  If you drink, have a designated driver – if you text, wait until you are not operating a vehicle. 

Have a safe and happy St. Patrick’s Day celebration, Savannah, GA!

Did you know that regular maintenance on your vehicle can get you better gas mileage?  It’s true.  And with gas running near $4 per gallon, you want to get the most miles possible from your automobile.

The top things to have done to get more bang for your energy buck are:

1)     Tire Inflation: check the air pressure in your tires, and check the tire rims for the minimum and maximum you are supposed to have in them – over and under inflation can cause havoc with your mileage.

2)     Oil Changes: when you don’t get your oil changed, the oil becomes sludge like, thick, and hard for your engine to cut through for maximum results – keep your engine running smoothly and your wallet will thank you for it.

3)     Air Filters: changing your oil filter every other oil change will keep air flowing easily throughout your car, the dirtier it gets, the harder your engine has to work to keep cool, taking the focus off of your MPH.

4)     Spark Plugs: similar to the other things you must change, if you don’t keep your spark plugs firing correctly, your engine will slow down, sputter, and consume more gasoline as you try to get from place to place.

5)     Belts: the belts on your car (although most only have one major serpentine belt these days) are important to the performance of your engine – if it starts to fray, or worse break, your engine will not work at top performance, requiring more fuel to stay running.

No matter how small the maintenance seems to be to you at this moment, when these things sit too long they become larger problems, causing bad fuel consumption, bad engine performance, and ultimately bad automobile functionality – it can die!

Before this happens to you, get your car checked, tuned, and fuels changed so you can stay on the road and stay safe!

2012 seems to be picking up where 2011 left off – with alternative fuel concept cars from automakers like:

Chevrolet
Volkswagen
Acura
Lexus
Ford
Dodge
Audi

…and more…

But what was interesting is not just the ability for fuel efficiency but the need to not “look” like a hybrid.  Smaller is in with mid-size taking the buzzword away from SUVs.   A number of the new larger-than-midsize cars boasted a hybrid mixture of either diesel or regular gasoline and electric flex fuel options.  Even those that are familiar with the hybrid culture are taking a new look at the physical body design of these vehicles, they don’t have to LOOK fuel efficient to BE fuel efficient…and with the rising cost of fossil fuels who can blame the auto industry for looking for alternatives.

Regardless of new fuel efficient cars, old hybrid favorites, or gas-guzzlers of the 90s, the Wards Auto Body and Paint team will work with you to fix whatever you need fixed to the exterior of your car.  Are you experiencing fading of your paint job – we’ll help you; bad accident – we’ll work with you and your insurance company to get you what you need; restoration to a new car – we’ve got you there too, just bring your automobile in for an estimate and we’ll get you what you need to get back on the road in no time.

Do you have questions on how to best protect your investment to your car?  Let us work with you to get what you need to keep your car as protected as possible from the elements and looking as new on the outside as when it was driven off the lot.

During this time of year, we know there’s lots of travel on your mind, both short and long distances.  Even if you’re not traveling, chances are you have family members that are and many for hundreds of miles at a time.

Know from our family to yours, we are here for you.  Should a not-so-nice surprise come to you or yours while celebrating this joyous time of year, our family will be happy to help your family get repaired and back on the road as quickly and painlessly as possible.

We also want to take this time to remind you of two nevers while you’re driving:
            1)         NEVER drink and drive – with New Year’s celebrations just around the corner, sometimes it’s tempting to think you can make it just that short distance – don’t do it – even “buzzed” driving is drunk driving and you won’t like the results!
            2)         NEVER text and drive – there is nothing so important that you have to send that message right now, right while you’re driving – it’ll wait.  We know it’s tempting to text your friends or family about the perfect gift you just purchased – please wait until you’re parked.  Texting while driving has been shown to be WORSE than the distraction of drinking and driving, it’s not safe so please, don’t do it!

But know, accidents happen, even if you follow our 2 Never Rules – and when they do, we’ll be here to help.  We want to be your go-to team for getting you back on the road and better than ever.  Let us know if we can help  you put it in reverse.

At Wards, we have taken a look at what’s going on around us and counting our blessings.  We are thankful for one another, we’re thankful for a caring community who continue to support us, and we’re thankful for a future that allows us to continue to serve our customers.

We want to know what you are thankful for – family, friends, your home – even the little things are important – like excellent customer service and great car care.

We know car care is the furthest thing from your mind during the holidays, and we’re not afraid to hear that from more than one of our customers – but know that car care is never far from our mind, and if there’s something you need, touch ups, refurbishing, new paint, the works – know that from our family to yours, we’ll be happy to assist.

Also know if you need great gift ideas, updating your family car’s look is available from Wards – with gift cards for monthly car washes, waxings, the works!  While your car maybe the last thing on your mind, knowing that your car needs to get you and your family to your holiday destinations safely is first on ours.

Happy holidays to you and your family and know we’re here to help if you need us – and we want to thank you again for being a part of our community.

The number of car crashes increases exponentially throughout the holiday season, particularly when talking about Thanksgiving and Christmas, where alcohol related accidents are 40% more likely to occur.

With the holidays right around the corner – Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years, etc – Ward’s wants you to keep in mind that a number of people will be traveling many miles to be with family for the holidays.  The Bureau of Transportation Statistics says on average, people will travel more that 200 miles per holiday to be with family (average 214 for Thanksgiving and 275 for Christmas).

We’re not restating these statistics to scare you – just the opposite.  As we go into this holiday season, Ward’s wants you to know we’re here to help you through your tough time – should you become one of the people affected by a holiday accident.

Your chances of being in an accident during the next few months increases more than 40% just because the calendar counts down another month.  With more people on the road, more people in a hurry, it’s important to keep these things in mind as you start making your own plans to spend time with family.

 Be sure to give you and your family plenty of time to get on the road.  Stop somewhere and rest if you get tired or anxious.  Get rest and be patient – everyone wants to see his or her loved ones – let’s work together to get home safe and unharmed.

But should something happen to your car this holiday season, come see us at Ward’s where getting you back on the road is our specialty!

First and foremost, be sure you perform the regular maintenance on your car as described in your owner’s manual.  Regular oil changes protect your car’s engine, regular system cleaning – flush and fills – maintain the integrity of your car’s performance.

Fall is also a good time to double check the four Bs – belts, blades, battery, and brakes.  Not typically on your radar for regular maintenance, each item gets plenty of wear during the summer, especially here in the south where temperatures are high, and the humidity is even higher.

Windshield wiper blades can become dry rotted and because of the Coastal Empire’s famous hit and miss rainstorms, many times these items need to be replaced as much or more frequently than once per year.

Batteries are pretty obvious when they need changing, but nothing’s worse than going into the mall to do some holiday shopping and coming back to a crowded parking lot and a dead battery.  Have the battery checked BEFORE it goes dead, that way you can replace it before the inevitable happens.

Humidity in the south probably affects your car’s belts and hoses more than any other part of the vehicle.  Excessive moisture and heat cause expansion and contraction of the hoses and belts leading to additional stress shortening normal usability.  When your serpentine belt begins to crack, getting it changed quickly is crucial.

And of course, brakes.  Although a part of your car’s regularly scheduled maintenance, here in Savannah, GA, roads are hotter, humidity is higher, and your vehicle is expected to stop quickly under strained circumstances.   Before your next required brake change, have them inspected, you might be surprised at how quickly they can wear down during the summer – especially if you did any vacation traveling.

Let Wards Auto Paint and Bodyshop help you stay safe and prepared while on the road!

But what love bugs can do to your car is twice as disturbing.

Not only can they, if left on your car after meeting an untimely death, ruin your paint job – love bugs can also cause your car to overheat by clogging radiator air passages, which reduces the cooling of your engine.

Did you know – if left on your car for more than a few hours, love bugs after being smashed on your car, not only become extremely difficult to remove, but their body chemistry becomes acidic if left on the car in the sun for more than a day.  This can result in pits and etches in automotive paint AND chrome if not removed within 24 hours.

What a nightmare!

Remember, paint damage is not only unsightly; it can also lead to rust and other permanent detriment to the body of your automobile and quickly reducing the life expectancy of your automobile.

And should you run into a swarm of these lovely creatures, be sure to wash off your car quickly – even if it’s just a quick rinse.  Leaving the buggy carcasses can really harm your car, and rinsing them off – paying CLOSE attention to your car’s front end – is better than nothing.

Come in to Ward’s Auto Painting and Bodyworks today.  We can install a light screen over your grill to protect your radiator – we can also add an extra coat of wax to protect the exterior of your car as well.