Brooklyn Auto Repair

Having a safe car to drive is an important part of car ownership, especially proper brake maintenance and care.     What Are Brake Pads? Brake pads are an important part of a safe car and brake maintenance. Brake pads are located between your brake shoe and your brake drum. Here are some helpful tips to know to give you clues on when to schedule changing your brake pads.  Squealing, screeching or whining noises - This can mostly be heard while braking and happens continuously.   Grinding Noises - Some brake pads have small metal ridges placed at the bottom of the pad as a way to make a loud noise and alert you that it’s time to get new brake pads. If you hear this often it’s a sign your brake pads are ready to be changed.  Vibrating Brake Pedal – If you find it difficult to press down on your brakes and stop your car, this is a big sign your brakes are worn out. You will also feel a vibration pressing down on the brake which is ... read more

Struts inevitably wear out, and when they do, it becomes a danger to you and your passengers New struts enable your vehicle to stop as much swiftly, as much as 10 feet's worth The suspension system comprises of wheels, tires, shocks absorbers, springs, and every other part that forms a connection between the car body and the tires. it is necessary to maintain your suspension system some of the most important parts of the suspension system: springs, Dampers/Shock Absorbers, struts, Roll Bars/Anti-sway Springs - one of the most important parts of the suspensions system. In most cars the springs are usually made up of steel because of its incredible elasticity. A spring is the only part of the suspension designed to last a lifetime and is the only thing that needs little or no maintenance. However, it is better to get it checked after some time Dampers or shock absorbers - mechanical components that are designed to limit the oscillat ... read more

The piston rings, on the 2.0 and 1.8 TFSI engines pre-dating 2012 (majority of the reports being from the 2.0), let little oil seep through to the cylinders. Once there, they result in high oil consumption due to burning. As the driver, this issue will come to your attention by way of the ‘add one litre of oil’ notification. If and when this does happen, we recommend that you add a litre of the right grade oil as soon as possible, though you don’t need to stop the vehicle as soon as you see it. If left unattended, this problem will exacerbate. Thick smoke from acceleration, damage to the cylinders, etc. To get out ahead of the problem as an owner of a 2008–2012 2.0 or 1.8 TFSI engine, we suggest that you fill your oil to maximum capacity and then proceed to reset the odometer. The way you will know whether or not you’re affected by this problem will be the ‘add one litre of oil’ notification after having driven your Audi less than 1,200 m ... read more

As a dealer-alternative European auto repair shop serving Bay Ridge Brooklyn, we have over a 25 year track record of exceeding customer expectations. We provide general repairs and maintenance on all domestic and import cars and offer specialization services for BMW, MINI, Volkswagen, Audi, Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar, Mercedes Benz and Porsche vehicles. The three things which set us apart: Unparalleled level of protection Dealer quality service, for less than the dealer price Customer service that goes above and beyond 1. Unparalleled level of protection - 3 Years – 36,000 Miles Nationwide warranty on our service. A job well done in conjunction with a piece of mind. We are one of very few shops in al ... read more

Internal combustion engines depend heavily on robust car batteries, which are still as much of a necessity for a vehicle as they were 80 years ago. Modern day car batteries last longer, need less maintenance and malfunction less frequently. Any battery that goes through multiple charge/discharge cycles (like the battery in your laptop or phone) will begin to weaken and degrade with time. Car battery life can be extended for years. If your battery isn’t at least 2-3 years old, and it seems to have failed, then it might be that it’s not actually dead. Car batteries can lose their charge occasionally, if you don’t drive for a long time, since shorter drives can lead to earlier corrosion and crystalline deposits on the negative terminal of your battery. Cold weather can also be a factor, since most car batteries are less capable of maintaining their charge in these conditions. At a temperature of 20 degrees, a battery can only deliver about 50-60 percent of ... read more

It's that time of the year, when we're all eagerly waiting for our tax refund. The wise among us, once it arrives in the mail, will choose to invest it. The not-so-wise will splurge on frivolous things and then look back shaking their heads with regret (we've all been there). So here's a great place for you to consider allocating your refund dollars for reaping long-term dividends, according to the Car Care Council: your car. By putting your refund towards auto maintenance, however un-sexy as it may be, you will enjoy a better performing car with a longer lifespan, save gas money, and push the major blow to your wallet that is having to purchase a new car further down the road ... read more

As you know, Winter's off to a rough start in 2017/18 and we're not out of the woods yet. With the bomb cyclone (hopefully) behind us, and who knows what else ahead of us, we want to share six valuable tips for our readers to employ in avoiding roadside emergencies this, and any other, Winter. They are as follows: To decrease the odds of moisture forming in the gas lines and potentially freezing, keep your gas tank at least half full. Because tires are prone to losing pressure in cold temperatures, vigilantly check/monitor your tire pressure. Cold weather can obviously forces you to drive with the windows closed. This makes carbon monoxide leaks that much more dangerous. So have your exhaust system checked for carbon monoxide leaks. Freezing temperatures make oil in your engine & transmission longer to circulate, so take longer than usual to warm up the car. Low-viscosity oil flows more easily in cold, so change to it during Win ... read more

Winterizing your car, so it can handle the strain of severe weather that Winter brings, should not be viewed as optional, but rather mandatory. Especially here in the Northeast. Severe winter weather, brings a unique set of challenges for your vehicle that aren’t the case other times of the year. And these issues need attending to in order to have your car properly handle the road conditions of winter. Emergency breakdowns failed batteries exacerbated brake problems tires not gripping slick roads thickened oil preventing car from starting increased risk of windows cracking moisture forming in the gas lines and possibly freezing car is running but you can’t clear your wind-shield sufficiently b ... read more

THE PROBLEM This BMW equipped with the N63 engine had an oil consumption issue where 1qt had to be added every 4 days and was blowing smoke from the tailpipe with a blue tint when accelerating post-warmup. This is caused by the aged rubber on the valve stem seals that hardens and cracks which will lose its ability to seal the valve guide. Bad valve stem seals will cause excessive oil consumption and can be identified by recording the level of oil loss. This is unfortunately a common problem that has carried over from the N62 to the N63 BMW engine. The models affected are vehicles from 2003-2008 with N62 V8 engines such as the  E60 545i, E63 645i, E65 745i, E53 X5 and vehicles from 2009-2013 equipped with N63 engines such as F10 550i, F12 650i, F01 750i, and E70 X5. HOW WE FIXED IT We fixed it the only way you can fix this problem when it arises: by replacing the valve stems with new ones. First and f ... read more

At MINHS, we may be an auto repair shop in Park Slope Brooklyn (specializing in European cars), but we're a repair shop that's been serving this neighborhood for over 25 years. And as such, we have a wealth of knowledge about this amazing community which is going to be very valuable for readers of our blog -- whether you're a resident, thinking about moving here, or just planning a visit. So we've decided to share our intimate knowledge of the community we call home with our readers, as a change of pace from just auto-related content, and as yet another way to be helpful to our Brooklyn residents beyond keeping their cars in peak condition. Included in this guide will be a lot of amazing local businesses, as we encourage you to always support small local businesses. So without further ado, we present the MINHS Automotive guide to Park Slope Brooklyn. Restaurants BRUNCH: Cafe Dada, 57 7th Ave. COFFEE: Café Reg ... read more