Planning Ahead Protects Your Summer
Don’t wait for the last minute to check out your vehicle!
Updated 5/9/2023
If you’re still planning a road trip this summer then this article is for you! It may be impossible to avoid bad weather, annoying family, or expensive tourist traps, but there is one thing you can do RIGHT NOW to insure safe, fun, and smooth summer driving. Whether you’re planning to drive in the city, around the state, or across the country, you should have your vehicle checked for safety and reliability before you go. Bring it in for service and checkout well BEFORE you plan on heading out, because NOTHING ruins a road trip faster and more completely than a vehicle that dies on the road. Sometimes people put off this all-important vehicle check until the day before they leave, but here are some reasons this practice can put your trip in jeopardy…
ALWAYS get your vehicle checked out before a long trip!
A consistently maintained should be ready for travel but you should still have it checked. There might be some developing issue that hasn’t shown symptoms yet, and it’s much better to catch it now than when it leaves you stranded. Even if nothing major is about to fail, a check of fluids, brakes, tire treads and pressures, lights, and other critical systems gives you extra confidence.
If for some reason you just weren’t able to get your vehicle in to us for a checkup and it starts doing something that makes you nervous right before you hit the road, PLEASE still call us! We can’t always squeeze in break-downs and emergencies without appointment, but we’ll do our absolute best to get you going in time for your trip. Even if there’s not enough time to fix your issue we may be able to give advice to keep you from actually breaking down, or there may still be time to get you into a rental car instead.
BUT DON’T WAIT TILL THE LAST MINUTE TO DO IT!
In the busiest parts of the summer our “next available appointment” may be several days from the day you call, which can cause real problems if you have a short window of availability or an impending departure date. For example, last year a client called on Wednesday to schedule service on Thursday for a trip on Friday, but we were already full for the week and there was absolutely no way to get him in. We try not to ever say “no” to our clients, but if we don’t have availability then we just don’t have a choice.
Another reason to schedule with as much leeway as possible is that short repair timelines leave no margin for error if something unexpected pops up. For instance, some engine leaks can take two days to repair. We can’t fix it, much less fix it right, if you drop it on a Friday and need to leave Saturday. Or, suppose your vehicle’s problem would be a quick and easy fix but the only part to do it comes from a supplier in Orlando? Little glitches like this are all the more frustrating because they’re completely avoidable with a little advance planning, so please, PLEASE call us with enough time to give you the quality service you expect and deserve!
You should even allow a few days AFTER your service before your trip.
The only way to be sure repairs were successful is to drive long enough to make sure they hold up in the real world, so always leave a couple days for a shakedown period before you head out of town. Repairs can fail for many reasons- parts may be faulty, the Technician may have made a mistake, the original diagnosis may have been wrong, problems can develop in related systems after the first repair, or the original problem may have masked another problem no one knew about. If you leave enough time, we can still get things fixed properly before you leave.
Rely on us if you DO run in to problems on the road.
If you’re our client then we will help you any way we can, anywhere you are. We can’t send a Technician to Minnesota to fix you up, but we can give you advice over the phone that might be helpful. If you find yourself broken down and have to use a local shop we can still be useful by sending the shop complete repair records, or by offering a second opinion if you’re not sure they’re giving you good advice. Also, all our work carries a 24-month-24-thousand-mile nationwide warranty that can be extremely useful. If you are out-of-town and have a problem, or if you can’t reach our shop at 503-230-2300, call 877-252-4609 and explain what’s happening. They’ll refer you to a local shop that will take care of you.
Give us a call if you have ANY questions.
Don’t wait until things actually break down to call us… many questions can be solved with a quick call to 503-230-2300 or email to tomdwyer@tomdwyer.com. Our salaried Service Advisors will be glad to discuss any vehicle concerns you might have. If you’re in doubt about anything, a quick call could save a lot of vacation headaches!
