New Brunswick auto owners sell cars for a lot of different reasons. Maybe they just want something new or maybe they’re selling the car because it has a problem or two. So how do you know what you’re getting into when you sign the papers for a used car in NJ?

When a car comes into Restas Car Care & Rental in Somerset with maintenance records, we can see if the factory maintenance schedule has been followed.

If it doesn’t come with records, Manville and South bound brook used car buyers have to assume the worst. How many New Brunswick people who are turning in a leased vehicle at 36,000 miles will perform the transmission service recommended at 35,000?

So what do you do? At Restas Car Care & Rental, we suggest getting on track with the maintenance schedule and staying on track. Lacking evidence to the contrary, assume it needs an oil change. The thorough Restas Car Care & Rental inspection that comes with a full service oil change will reveal basic problems.

Be sure to bring up any specific concerns with your Restas Car Care & Rental service consultant. When buying an older used vehicle in Somerset, there’s more to be concerned with because there’s been more time for things to go wrong. A used vehicle inspection at Restas Car Care & Rental is a good idea: the peace of mind is well worth the money.

In addition to the scheduled maintenance items, look for uneven wear on the tires. That could be a symptom of an alignment problem, worn shocks, or some other suspension issue. Listen for unusual sounds and pay attention to strange odors. Keep track of any problems you have when driving so you can consult with your honest service advisor at Restas Car Care & Rental in Somerset.

If you just bought a used car in the New Brunswick area, give us a call at 732-873-8900.

At Restas Car Care & Rental in Somerset NJ (08873) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 732-873-8900. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

The Check Engine Light strikes fear into the hearts of some Somerset drivers and is totally ignored by just as many. Just what it means is a mystery to most of us in NJ.

First, if your sedan check engine light is flashing, that means that something is wrong that could cause severe damage to the catalytic converter or other components. Get that taken care of right away. If your check engine light is flashing, you shouldn’t drive at Somerset highway speeds, tow or haul heavy loads. Take it easy all the way to Restas Car Care & Rental in Somerset.

If the light is glowing steadily, you should keep an eye on it for a day or two. If the light doesn’t go off, schedule an appointment with your Somerset service advisor to get it checked out.

Some more information from Restas Car Care & Rental on how the Check Engine Light works may be informative. Most of your sedan engine functions are controlled by a computer, not surprisingly, called an engine control computer. The computer is able to adjust many engine parameters for environmental conditions, engine condition and even the way you drive in Somerset.

In order to make these adjustments, the sedan computer relies on a network of sensors to provide data. The computer knows the proper operating range for each sensor. When a sensor reading is out of range the computer runs some tests and may turn on the Check Engine Light.

The sedan computer will also try to make adjustments to compensate for some readings. If it can do so, it’ll then turn off the Check Engine Light.

If the problem can’t be resolved then the light will remain on and you should get your sedan looked at at Restas Car Care & Rental. Your honest service technician will plug a scanner into the on-board diagnostic port and read the trouble code stored in the computer. The trouble code will give your Restas Car Care & Rental technician a starting place as he diagnoses the cause of the problem.

At Restas Car Care & Rental, we also offer brake service and Maintenance.

Give us a call

Restas Car Care & Rental
732-873-8900
1873 Amwell Road
Somerset, NJ 08873

At Restas Car Care & Rental in Somerset NJ (08873) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 732-873-8900. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

Your minivan cooling system’s job is to keep your engine cool. Coolant (also called antifreeze) mixed with water flows through your engine and absorbs heat. The mixture then flows out to the radiator where it’s cooled by air flowing over the radiator. From there the cooled mix circulates back through the minivan engine to absorb more heat.

Coolant, or antifreeze, is specially formulated to keep your engine safe in a wide range of environmental and operating temperatures in Somerset.

Without coolant, the minivan’s metal engine parts would expand so much that the engine would seize up and stop running.  Expensive parts could be broken or warp so badly they would have to be replaced at Restas Car Care & Rental in Somerset. It could even be so bad that the whole engine is ruined and has to be replaced.

Also, if it’s freezing outside in Somerset, the water in your engine could freeze while your vehicle is sitting out in the NJ cold. This is why you check coolant levels frequently and have your cooling system inspected for leaks. Also your manufacturer has a maintenance requirement for draining and replacing your coolant. These recommendations can vary widely, so check your Somerset owner’s manual or ask your service advisor at Restas Car Care & Rental in Somerset.

The reason you need to change the coolant is that it has additives in it to protect the cooling system. As you can imagine, with all the heat, the cooling system’s a pretty harsh environment. The additives keep the fluid from becoming corrosive and damaging the radiator and other Somerset cooling system components. Over time, the additives are depleted and the coolant just has to be replaced. A simple pH test can measure the coolant’s acidity.

You may have noticed that there are different colors of antifreeze at Restas Car Care & Rental: it is very important that you use the correct type.  The different coolant types are different colors so you don’t mix them up.  Manufacturers use different materials to make the cooling system, and they require different types of antifreeze to protect them.

So check with your understanding Restas Car Care & Rental service advisor or owner’s manual for the right kind because using the wrong coolant can void the warranty for your minivan cooling system.

Ask us about fuel system cleaning, winter preparation and shocks and struts.

Give us a call

Restas Car Care & Rental
732-873-8900
1873 Amwell Road
Somerset, NJ 08873

At Restas Car Care & Rental in Somerset NJ (08873) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 732-873-8900. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

Wheel alignment is often overlooked by busy South Plainfield car owners until serious tire damage has been done. One wheel can be knocked out of alignment from the rest by hitting a curb or pothole on South Plainfield roads.

The tires will wear out very quickly and will need to be replaced prematurely. It could also lead to suspension damage. Conversely, worn suspension or steering components can lead to alignment problems for South Plainfield motorists.

But the big issue for South Plainfield motorists is safety. When your minivan wheels are out of alignment, the vehicle will pull to one side, which could lead to an accident. When you’re out of alignment, you should have it taken care of right away at Restas Car Care & Rental.

Signs of alignment problems are: Your car pulls to one side. Also, your steering wheel may not be centered when you’re going straight. If you see the edges of one or more tires rapidly wearing down, you should have your technician at Restas Car Care & Rental look it over.

If you’ve been in an accident in South Plainfield that involved a wheel, you should get your alignment checked. A big jolt can seriously knock things out of alignment, but South Plainfield drivers also need to understand that a series of smaller ones can add up. Worn steering or suspension components can also lead to alignment problems for South Plainfield drivers. That’s why your minivan manufacturer recommends periodic alignment checks.

If your minivan owner’s manual doesn’t specify, once a year might be appropriate. Or check with Restas Car Care Frank Resta or your service advisor at Restas Car Care & Rental in Somerset. He’ll also be able to tell you if your vehicle requires a four wheel alignment or if just the front wheels can be aligned.

One thing’s for sure: the cost of the alignment at Restas Car Care & Rental is cheaper than having to buy a couple of new tires because of neglect.

At Restas Car Care & Rental in Somerset NJ (08873) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 732-873-8900. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

In the automotive world, Warren industry associations and NJ professional licensing organizations are very committed to high ethical standards.

Yet some people are still uncomfortable with automotive service and repair in Warren.

If we understand what’s recommended and the benefits of taking care of the work – and the pitfalls of putting it off – we’ll have more trust in the recommendation. So communication is key. It’s like going to the doctor. If she’s using medical jargon and takes a lot of basic medical knowledge for granted, we have a hard time following her train of thought. We understand It can be like that with your service advisor at Restas Car Care & Rental, too. He’s so familiar with all things automotive, he may forget you don’t know a PCV from an EGT.

If you don’t understand what your doctor’s talking about: ask some questions. If you don’t understand what your Warren automotive advisor at Restas Car Care & Rental is talking about: ask some questions.

Let’s go back to those ethical standards. When we hear a repair recommendation, we always ask ourselves, “Is this really necessary?” Well, here’s the industry standard:

If a Warren auto technician tells you that a repair or replacement is required, it must meet one of the following criteria:

1. The part no longer performs its intended purpose;
2. The part does not meet a design specification;
3. The part is missing.

For example, it you take your car in for a grinding noise when you step on the brakes, you may just think you need new brake pads. After the inspection, the technician says that you have a cracked rotor and need to replace it. If you tried to get him to just put new pads on, he would say that if you didn’t want to replace the rotor, he would ethically have to refuse the repair. To just put pads on a cracked rotor would have been very wrong. The brakes could’ve failed at anytime: they needed to be repaired – not just have a band-aid slapped on them.

Now, looking at something not so serious, Restas Car Care & Rental may suggest repair or replacement if:

1. The part is close to the end of its useful life – just above discard specifications or likely to fail soon;
2. To address a customer need or request – like for better ride or increased performance;
3. To comply with maintenance recommended by the vehicle’s manufacturer;
4. Based on the technician’s informed experience.

Of course, Restas Car Care & Rental has the burden of making ethical recommendations and properly educating their customers. For the customer, if you are uncomfortable with a recommendation, ask some questions. More information is always a good thing.

At Restas Car Care & Rental in Somerset NJ (08873) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 732-873-8900. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

Let’s focus on stopping in wet Somerset conditions. In order for a tire to have good contact with the road, it has to move the water out of the way. If it can’t move the water, the tire will actually ride on top of a thin film of water.

That’s called hydroplaning. At Restas Car Care & Rental we want our customers to know that if it’s really bad, you can actually spin out of control. At best, you won’t stop as fast.

So how does a tire move water? It has channels for water to flow through. Look at a tire and you’ll see channels: channels that run around the tire and channels that flow across the tire. They’re designed to direct water away from the tire so it can contact the road better.

And the deeper the channel, the more water it can move. A brand new tire has very deep channels and can easily move a lot of water. As the tire wears down, the channels become shallower and can move less water. When it wears down enough, it can seriously affect your ability to stop on wet Somerset roads.

So that’s why it’s so important for Somerset drivers to replace the tires on their minivans when they get worn. Consumer Reports and other advocate groups call for a standard of 3/32 of an inch and they have the studies to prove it.

By comparison, you’ve probably seen the wear indicator that’s molded into tires. When tires are worn 3/32 of an inch, the tread wear bar is visible. So the recommended standard has twice the tread depth as a completely worn out tire.

And that little bit of additional tread makes a big difference. Stopping distances are cut dramatically on wet roads. A safe stop from NJ freeway speeds with 4/32 of an inch of tread would result in a crash with worn out tires.

There’s an easy way to tell when a tire’s worn to 4/32 of an inch. Just insert a quarter into the tread. Put it in upside down. If the tread doesn’t cover George Washington’s hairline, it’s time to replace your tires. With a Canadian quarter, the tread should cover the numbers in the year stamp.

You’ve probably heard of this technique using a penny and Abe Lincoln’s head. That measure gives you 2/32 of an inch – half the suggested amount.

Of course, tires are a big ticket item for Somerset car owners. Most of us want to get as many miles out of them as we can. But there’s a real safety trade-off. It’s your choice.

At Restas Car Care & Rental in Somerset NJ (08873) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 732-873-8900. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

At Restas Car Care & Rental in Somerset, a big part of the service we provide for our customers is education. We want you to feel confident with your service decisions. And we’re always open to questions. Even though we try to be proactive in our education, we sometimes get busy fixing cars and need a reminder. Please, just ask.

We’ve found our Somerset customers like the service reminders. This is especially true of our returning customers. They’ve grown to trust that our recommendations are based on the minivan manufacturer’s published maintenance schedules and that we’re not just pulling them out of the air.

We know that you live a busy life in Somerset with a lot more to think about than wondering if it’s time to replace your PCV valve. Part of our process when you come in to Restas Car Care & Rental is checking the manufacturer’s schedule to make sure we don’t overlook an important service for your minivan.

We hope you appreciate your courtesy inspection when you come in to Restas Car Care & Rental for service. If we find something unexpected, it’s good to know and if we don’t find anything wrong, you get a little peace of mind.

You know, customer satisfaction is very important to us at Restas Car Care & Rental. We want to run a understanding and professional Somerset automotive service operation. If we do, you’ll keep coming back and recommend us to your friends.

At Restas Car Care & Rental in Somerset NJ (08873) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 732-873-8900. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

Let’s focus on stopping in wet conditions. In order for a tire to have good contact with the road, it has to move the water out of the way. If it can’t move the water, the tire will actually ride on top of a thin film of water.

To move water out of the way so the tire has channels for water to flow through. Look at a tire and you’ll see channels that run around and across the tire. They’re designed to direct water away from the tire so it can contact the road better.

The deeper the channel, the more water it can move. A brand new tire has very deep channels and can easily move a lot of water. As the tire wears down, the channels become shallower and can move less water. When it wears down enough, it can seriously affect your ability to stop on wet roads.

Consumer Reports and other advocate groups think that a good standard of replacing tires when the tread is worn down to four-thirty-seconds of an inch. That’s 3.2 millimeters.

When tires are worn to two-thirty-seconds of an inch, the tread wear bar is visible. So the recommended standard has twice the tread depth as a completely worn out tire – and that little bit of additional tread makes a big difference. Stopping distances are cut dramatically on wet roads. A safe stop from freeway speeds with four-thirty-seconds of an inch of tread could result in a crash with worn out tires.

There’s an easy way to tell when a tire’s worn to four-thirty-seconds of an inch. Just insert a quarter into the tread. Put it in upside down. If the tread doesn’t cover George Washington’s hairline; it’s time to replace your tires. With a Canadian quarter, the tread should cover the numbers in the year stamp.

At Restas Car Care & Rental in Somerset NJ (08873) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 732-873-8900. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

First, adjust your rear view mirror to give the best possible view directly to the rear of your minivan or other vehicle type. You don’t need it to get a better view of either side of the car, the kids in the back seat or your dazzling smile. The rear view mirror should look to the rear.

Next, lean your head until it almost touches the driver’s side window. Adjust your side mirror so that you can just barely see the side of your car.

Now, lean your head to the middle of the car and adjust the outside mirror so that you can barely see the right side of the car.

With your minivan mirrors adjusted this way, you’ll have maximum coverage. Of course driving in Somerset is a dynamic process – things change every second. So it’s wise to take a quick look to the side when passing to make sure that another vehicle hasn’t moved into an area you couldn’t see in your mirrors.

As you drive in the Warren area, avoid staying in other diver’s blind spots. You can’t count on them to be watching their mirrors and looking out for you. Pass large trucks and buses on the left whenever possible. A trucks’ blind spot is much larger on the right.

Be attentive and wear your seat belts, and thank you for reading!

At Restas Car Care & Rental in Somerset NJ (08873) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 732-873-8900. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

Too often, Warren police and rescue workers must sift through pockets, glove compartments, wallets, purses and cell phone directories for clues – often wasting precious time.

A brilliantly simple solution is now spreading around the globe: ICE. ICE – standing for ‘In Case of Emergency’, is a way of identifying emergency contacts in your cell phone directory.

Simply put ‘ICE’ before a contact name, like ‘ICE – Dad’, ‘ICE – Nancy’, or ‘ICE – Doctor Roberts’. Rescuers will be able to quickly identify your emergency contacts, saving valuable time.

It’s easy and just takes a few minutes to designate some ICE contacts in your cell phone. Remember to keep the listings current.

From your friends at Restas Car Care & Rental in Somerset NJ, we’d like you to be as safe as possible while out on the road. Give us a call any time for great automotive advice.

At Restas Car Care & Rental in Somerset NJ (08873) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 732-873-8900. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.