Don’t you hate it when potholes sneak up on you? There is a lot of money being spent on vehicle damage due to potholes. Do you know what parts of your car could receive the most damage? CME Smog & Auto Repair is the leader in Vacaville, CA for the service and repair of automotive tires. We know the kind of damage that can be done, so if you suspect something is wrong with your car or truck, it’s always a good idea to stop by so we can take a quick look.

Here are 10 steps to keep your car up and running from our team here at CME Smog & Auto Repair! Whether you choose to do the maintenance yourself or take your car to see our professional service technicians, the non-profit Car Care Council recommends 10 basic maintenance procedures to keep your vehicle running its best. 

Your car’s radio and headlights, plus a slew of other important functions, are powered by an electrical current generated by your vehicle’s engine. A vital part of generating electricity is having a place to store it while it’s not being used. This is where your car battery comes into play. The battery of your vehicle holds electrical energy while the car is off in order to help the engine turn over and create a spark to start internal combustion. Without a working battery, your car will not be able to start. If you allow our team here at CME Smog & Auto Repair to perform proper maintenance, an average car battery can start your car reliably for roughly four years.

If your transmission isn’t shifting correctly, you’ll want to be careful about how you choose to proceed. The best thing to do is turn the vehicle off and have a professional take a look at it, but if that isn’t an option, there are some steps you can take to ensure nothing gets damaged. At CME Smog & Auto Repair in Vacaville, CA we can take a look at your issues and also give you some tips on what to do when that option isn't available yet. 

If your transmission isn’t shifting correctly, you’ll want to be careful about how you choose to proceed. The best thing to do is turn the vehicle off and have a professional take a look at it, but if that isn’t an option, there are some steps you can take to ensure nothing gets damaged. At CME Smog & Auto Repair in Vacaville, CA we can take a look at your issues and also give you some tips on what to do when that option isn't available yet. 

At CME Smog & Auto Repair in Vacaville, CA, we see our fair share of warning lights and dashboard notifications. If your ABS light is illuminated, here’s what you need to know.

Once you know what's in your transmission, and what’s connected to it, it’s much easier to understand how it works. Let's take a look at how it all comes together. At CME Smog & Auto Repair in Vacaville, CA, we want to make sure you know how your car works so you can keep it in great condition.

A quality product is only as good as the quality of the installation. You’re dropping some serious money on an engine replacement, on a car that’s worth even more. CME Smog & Auto Repair in Vacaville, CA is here to make sure you get the quality install you need.

At CME Smog & Auto Repair in Vacaville, CA, we pride ourselves on specialty knowledge and ability. Once you’ve settled on a transmission to invest in, it’s important not to cut corners on the homestretch. We’ve got you covered here and you can expect top quality repairs for your top quality product.

At CME Smog & Auto Repair in Vacaville, CA, we know how annoying little quirks and issues can be. A common problem vehicles experience is a cooling fan that doesn’t kick on and off when it’s supposed to. While a fan that won’t kick off is far less troubling than a fan that won’t turn on, it’s still a problem that needs to be fixed for a variety of reasons. Here’s why, and what you should do.

Road trips are a lot of fun, and often unpredictable. For all the miles you will be driving we always recommend preparing for any situation. With this checklist from CME Smog & Auto Repair in Vacaville, you’ll be prepared for whatever comes your way.

Here at CME Smog & Auto Repair in Vacaville we often do diagnostics and sometimes the problem is obvious after hooking the car up to the computer and reading the codes.  However, sometimes it isn't obvious during a test drive or after hooking it up to all those computer programs!  You know there is a problem and a Check Engine Light is on with the fleet customer telling you the car has been having issues starting and the light has been going off and on depending on several factors.  No pattern, no simple answer but the problem becomes obvious when you start following the "threads of the issue" thanks to all that ASE Technician training.

If you drive a performance or luxury vehicle, you know that your precision engineered equipment demands precision tuning. At CME Smog & Auto Repair in Vacaville, CA, we specialize in high-end imports and performance vehicles and keeping them up to par.

Have you ever noticed your dashboard ABS icon lit up? If you have it means there is an issue that needs to be diagnosed, ABS issues don’t need to be ignored long. The anti-lock braking system, or ABS, is an important feature on every modern car, truck, or SUV. It has been legally mandated since 2013 in the US but was standard on almost every vehicle even prior to that. Here’s what you need to know to make sure your ABS system doesn’t fail, from CME Smog & Auto Repair in Vacaville, CA.

At CME Smog & Auto Repair in Vacaville, we know that keeping up with required maintenance schedules is the difference between a truck that lasts a few years and a truck that stays strong for decades.

Automatic transmissions aren’t easily understood outside of specialists like those at CME Smog & Auto Repair in Vacaville, CA. While it would be impossible to teach you enough to make you a transmission expert in a series of articles, what we can do is give you the fundamental knowledge you need to have a good idea of what your transmission is doing, and how it works.

At CME Smog & Auto Repair in Vacaville, cars are our passion, so naturally, we like to keep up with new technology on the market. At the moment, surprisingly the current trend is moving towards a goal you may not expect; self-driving vehicles. You’ve probably heard about self-driving cars a little bit here and there on the news, but it likely still seems somewhere in the realm of science fiction to you. However, the reality is that self-driving cars are on the way and maybe here sooner than you think. Already, almost all major automobile manufacturers are dumping billions of dollars into research and development for self-driving cars, and even companies like Uber are jumping on board. 

Judging by the number of near-rear-endings we witness on our morning commutes, the typical attitude toward brake maintenance appears to be, “Brakes: Don’t let them stop you!” This puzzles us because monitoring your braking system’s health is one of the most straightforward aspects of car ownership. You do have to know what to look for, though, or rather, what to listen and feel for. So let us, uh, break it down for you. Here are the top three signs that your brakes need fixing.

Once you have an idea of how the major components of your transmission operate, it’s time to bring them all together. In its most complex terms, a truck’s automatic transmission takes a lot to understand. However, at CME Smog & Auto Repair in Vacaville, CA, we like to keep things simple when we can. We want you to understand exactly what's going on with your car, truck or SUV. Here’s a rundown of how everything works together.

Transmission slippage can be caused by a variety of factors that are sometimes difficult to pin down. From CME Smog & Auto Repair in Vacaville, CA, here’s a rundown of the more common issues that may cause a transmission to slip. Our highly trained technicians are ready to get you going with a top transmission.