Wilmington Auto Repair

Wilmington drivers may feel intimidated when they take their vehicles to a service center. They have questions but aren't sure how to ask. They don't want to feel embarrassed about their lack of knowledge. They don't want to make the service technician feel that they don't trust him.If your service advisor at PONTE'S AUTOCARE uses a term you don't understand, just ask him to explain. Remember, they are the auto service experts. If they came to your place of work, they probably wouldn't understand the jargon, either. When you take your vehicle in to be serviced, make sure you understand the financial issues up front. Ask about payment policies, warranties and, of course, the cost of the work being done.It helps to understand basic services your vehicle needs. Know the difference between a quick check-up and a thorough inspection, which you are getting and which you are asking for. Understand that diagnosing a problem takes time, and time isn't free. If you have concerns about cost ... read more

Wiper blades are critically important to Wilmington drivers for good driving visibility and safety. When it’s time to replace your wiper blades, there are a number of different wiper blade designs and grades. Wilmington drivers should always use at least the design or grade that came with their vehicle. If you live in Delaware where there is a lot of wet weather, flying insects, or you do a lot of highway driving, you may want to upgrade to a more advanced design or premium quality wiper blade. Your friendly and professional PONTE'S AUTOCARE service advisor can share the options available for your vehicle and help you decide which wiper blades are optimal for you.Give us a call.PONTE'S AUTOCARE2401 Concord PikeWilmington, Delaware 1980330

When your vehicle breaks down in the Wilmington, Delaware, area, or just needs some routine service, it can make you a little nervous. Because your vehicle's so important to your life, you need to be back on the road as soon as possible — with the problem fixed right the first time.We've been checking into some of the training our Wilmington, Delaware, technicians receive, and we're very impressed. It's amazing how much knowledge and skill goes into diagnosing and repairing a modern vehicle. So it's not like when your uncle worked on his hot rod over the weekend.Today there are four-cylinder engines around Wilmington that make more power than the V-8's in luxury cars did 20 years ago. A new V-6 Toyota Camry could beat Sonny Crocket's Ferrari in a race to 60 mph/97 kph.Our engines are more and more powerful. And they're so reliable. This is all due to engineering. But the benefits come to Wilmington drivers at the price of simplicity. Modern cars are so much m ... read more

Your fuel system needs to be clean to do its job properly. When it gets dirty, the results are lower engine performance, reduced fuel economy and impaired safety. It can even lead to costly repair bills for Wilmington drivers. So keep your fuel system clean as part of your routine preventive maintenance.Fuel injectors have replaced carburetors in most of today's vehicles. These injectors deliver better fuel economy than a carburetor, but they can be compromised by rust, dirt and other contaminants. They need to be clean to maintain the correct pressure, spray pattern and volume of delivered fuel so that the vehicle engine can run at peak efficiency.There are products on the market that Wilmington vehicle owners can add to their gas tank that will help keep your fuel injectors clean. These products will keep a clean fuel system clean but have trouble cleaning a system that has already gotten gummed up.If your fuel system needs a major cleaning, PONTE'S AUTOCARE can help ... read more

If you haven't shopped in the Wilmington area for a new vehicle recently, you're likely to experience some sticker shock. It seems everything is costing more these days. And when you consider the price of auto financing in Wilmington, and insurance, the idea of hanging on to your old vehicle for a few more years gets even more attractive.On the plus side, vehicles these days are engineered to last for 150,000 miles (250,000 km) or more. So why don't they? Usually it's because Wilmington drivers don't stay on top of preventive maintenance. Good vehicle care at professional automotive service centers like PONTE'S AUTOCARE in Wilmington is the key to getting the most mileage out of your vehicle.Too often, Wilmington vehicle owners are inclined to wait until their vehicles develop an obvious problem and take them in for repairs instead of maintenance. Repairs can be expensive, but allowing routine vehicle maintenance to ... read more

A lot of us drivers are asking ourselves the same question lately: how can we save on fuel? Wilmington area residents are all cutting back, if not in fuel consumption, then in other areas of our lives. Preventive Maintenance Preventive maintenance is an important way people in Wilmington can conserve fuel by improving fuel economy. And one of the easiest and most effective ways to do that is to keep the oil in our vehicle adequate and clean.Oil lubricates your vehicle engine and keeps it running smoothly. If you're running low, there is increased friction in your engine. Friction creates drag, which means it takes more fuel to keep the vehicle motor running. This all translates to lower fuel economy.Check your oil to make sure the engine is getting all it needs. Your owner's manual and service advisor at PONTE'S AUTOCARE will tell you the proper weight and type of oil for your vehicle. Responsible Car Care Dirty oil grits up your engine, which als ... read more

Night driving in Wilmington is not as safe as daylight driving as evidenced by the increased accident rate at night. Much of that is simply because it's dark outside.Visibility is important to safe driving. Ninety percent of our driving decisions are based on what we see. And at night, we just can't see as much as we can during the day. In fact, if you have 20/20 vision during the day, your night vision is only 20/50. To translate, that means that an object you can clearly see 50 feet away during daylight, only becomes visible to you at 20 feet at night.Reaction time is also related to visibility. Wilmington motorists don't react to a situation until they see it. So at night, we're reacting to situations later just because it takes longer to see them. But we don't have to stop driving at night to stay safe. We just need to practice some preventive maintenance and vehicle care that will maximize our night vision.The most crucial item that helps us ... read more

About 80% of the vehicles on Wilmington roads today are behind on their preventive maintenance schedules. That translates to about 160 million vehicles in the United States that aren't performing as well as they could be - thousands right here in Delaware. Some of the maintenance issues are minor. Others represent serious safety concerns. There are many reasons Wilmington drivers neglect their routine car care. Some of the more common ones are complacency, lack of confidence, lack of trust and budget issues. Modern vehicles are amazingly reliable compared to their older counterparts. They can run for years without any repairs, and we sometimes translate that to mean they don't need any maintenance. The trouble is that without maintenance, parts in the vehicle are gradually wearing out, fluids are getting dirty, oil is developing sludge — a lot of stuff is happening that we can't see, and it is destroying the vehicle. The first time we learn there ... read more

90% of our driving decisions are based on vision. Anything that impedes your vision can affect your driving safety – including a dirty windshield. In that sense, your wiper blades are an important safety system. Most Wilmington drivers will wait until their wipers have failed before they replace them. Then they find themselves in a driving situation around Delaware when they really need forward visibility only to discover that their wipers are worn or maybe even torn and can’t clear snow or rain from the windshield. As an important safety system, wiper blades should be replaced BEFORE they fail. Test your wipers at least once a month. If they are not doing the job, your friendly and professional PONTE'S AUTOCARE service advisor can replace them for you.Give us a call.PONTE'S AUTOCARE2401 Concord PikeWilmington, Delaware 1980330

All modern Wilmington vehicles come with fuel injection systems, so it's a topic Wilmington drivers need to know something about. The mighty fuel injector is a valve that delivers the gas or diesel fuel to the right place, in the right amount at the right time—to be mixed with air and burned in the engine.So how many fuel injectors does your vehicle have? There's one for each cylinder. So four, six or eight for most folks in Wilmington, Delaware. Some vehicles have 10 or 12 cylinders. The engine control computer makes adjustments to the fuel injector as it monitors the engine and other sensors. Fuel injectors are a pretty high-tech.PONTE'S AUTOCARE can help Wilmington drivers with a fuel injector cleaning service. What's the benefit? In order to work right, the fuel injectors have to deliver the fuel at a precise pressure at a very precise time. It's important that the fuel is sprayed in a particular pattern as determined by the engine design.Over time, varn ... read more