DELAWARE & PENNSYLVANIA AUTO REPAIR

Car insurance can take a bite out of your wallet, but it doesn’t need to be as big of a bite as you may think. Before taking the time to read the following tips, make sure to educate yourself about car insurance and what comes with it! Understanding the basics is a huge step in the right direction! So here are 5 tips to save money with car insurance: The Best Way To Save On Car Insurance Is To Compare What do you need in your insurance? For example, as the car ages (or is paid off) people often choose to drop the collision part of the insurance. Usually, this is recommended when the premium you pay is approximately 10% of the re-sell value of the car. Everyone should maintain liability and injury coverage though! All cars in the State of Delaware must have a minimum liability insurance coverage of $15,000/$30,000 bodily injury protection; $10,000 property damage coverage ... read more

Parents have a lot of reasons to worry about teenagers and cars. The CDC reports that, in 2011 alone, over 2,600 teens ages 16-19 died and close to 300,000 required emergency room treatment because of motor vehicle accidents. One factor that increases the risk of crashes is when teens drive with other teens as passengers (but with no supervising adult present). As a group, they also tend towards impulsiveness. On top of that, there’s also the risk posed by distractions, especially mobile devices. Texting while driving is potentially deadly, but many people, teens included, don’t realize this. They overestimate their ability to multitask on the road and react quickly to unexpected events even when they’re looking at, handling, and thinking about the contents of a mobile device. As you consider how to stop your teen from texting while driving, the following five tips may help ... read more

You spend a lot of time in your car, which is why you need to keep it clean, well organized, and in top running condition at all times. Doing so can be time consuming; however, these car tips and tricks can be used by anyone to make the job much easier. Use hand sanitizer to de-ice your locks Place floor mats underneath your windshield wipers during cold weather and you’ll never have to scrape ice and snow. Add sticky pads to your dashboard to keep cell phones in place. A plastic cereal container makes the ideal trash bin for your car. Plastic bags from the grocery story are perfect. Keep a box of crayons in your glove box. In an emergency, you can burn one crayon for around 30 minutes to produce heat and light. Toothpaste can be used to make your headlight plastic trans ... read more

Winter is here and luckily we have not had any bad winter driving so far. Other areas of the country have already seen more than 5 feet of snow, and Mother Nature is not finished. Although many of us would prefer to stay curled up in front of the fire with a warm cup of hot cocoa when the bad weather hits, for many of us, this is not an option. So, how can you stay safe while braving the winter storms? Tire Tread Gives You The Edge Good tire tread will give you an edge over tires that are bald. It won’t help much with black ice but it’ll help in light snow conditions. They are especially important when ice and snow create low friction conditions, any grip your tires can get will be extremely helpful. Don’t risk it, do the penny test. If your tires fail, we can help. Kitty Litter / Salt / Sand In The Trunk Take note of the color of this bag. You can pl ... read more

The next time you go in for a Wilmington DE oil change, you may be asked whether your car takes regular or synthetic motor oil. The first time you are asked this, it can be confusing as you are used to just getting your oil changed without these sorts of questions. Here’s what you need to know about these two types of car oils. Regular motor oil Regular or conventional motor oil is designed to provide the right level of viscosity, fluidity, and heat tolerance to work well in the car and stand the test of time. As such, regular motor oil is formulated to work for most cars. Cars that have more than 75,000 miles on them may be better suited by a high-mileage oil, which is a regular oil formulated for cars with lots of mileage. Synthetic motor oil Developed to provide good engine lubrication in extreme temperatures, synthetic motor oil can help your car opera ... read more

At Paul Campanella’s Auto & Tire Center and Paul Campanella’s Pike Creek Automotive, drivers frequently visit us this time of year to make sure their cars are ready to make their traditional holiday trips. Taking care of your automobile is an important Holiday task to remember, because travel and traffic is heavy! Since 1986, our expert mechanics have enjoyed helping our wonderful customers travel safely to see their friends and families by providing quality and reliable maintenance and auto repair in Wilmington, DE. Make Your Holiday Travel A Little Brighter We thought we’d share some of the interesting facts about holiday travel that we discovered. Check out these 5 facts, and visit the friendly teams at either of our two convenient locations before hitting the road this holiday season. 1. The 3 cities in the US visited most d ... read more

You can’t control when and where you have a blow out, but you can prepare for how you’re going to handle it when it does happen. For instance, if you have to change a tire on a busy road these simple safety tips will get you back on the road in one piece. Safety Tips For Changing A Tire On A Busy RoadTip #1: Get As Far Off The Road As You Can Whether you’re on two-lane blacktop or an 8-lane superhighway, you need to get your car as far out of the way as possible. If you can put the flat tire on the side of the car facing away from traffic then, you’re already much safer than you were moments before. Tip #2: Clearly Mark That There’s An Emergency Putting on your hazard lights will let other drivers know there’s something wrong, but that’s just the start. You should always have road flares in your trunk, along with portab ... read more

If you have not found yourself stranded on the side of the road this winter, consider yourself lucky. Unfortunately, we are only half way through the cold months and a winter-related breakdown is still a very real possibility. Prepare yourself by creating the ultimate car survival kit for your trunk. Here are some things to include: Items To Include In Your Car Survival Kit Flashlight Freeplay Kito is one of the more durable flashlights on the market. Not only can a flashlight come in handy to assess a problem under the hood when stranded on the side of the road, but it can also be used to flag passing motorists in the event of an emergency. Consider purchasing a flashlight that can be charged using the 12V cigarette lighter socket, or a hand crank model. Don’t bother with batteries. Your car goes through extreme temperature throughout the year and that wreaks ha ... read more

The following defensive driving tips will make you a much better driver. We’ve all seen them: the pileups along I-95. Many of us may have even been involved in such a crash, and were fortunate enough to walk away with minimal injuries.While there is no way to guarantee you can avoid being involved in a car accident, there several defensive driving tips that will minimize the risk. Here are the Top 5 Defensive Driving Tips. Speed metal is never a good choice while driving. #1: Be an in-the-moment driver. Paying attention to your surroundings is one of the main ways to keep yourself safe and accident-free. This means not talking on your cell phone or texting, no daydreaming, and no rifling through or purse or fiddling with the radio. Also make sure you are paying attention to more than just the car in front of you. The more plugged in you are, the faster you can iden ... read more

You had your car inspected, and the mechanic cautioned that you might need a Wilmington Delaware alignment soon. What does this mean, and how can you tell when it is time to take your car in for an alignment? We’ll help you out with three surefire signs that the time is right to align. Your tires are wearing unevenly – The biggest indicator that you need to have your car re-aligned is uneven wear and tear on the tires. Periodically inspect the tire treads. If the back tires have more wear and tear on the inside, you either carry too much cargo in your trunk or you need to have the vehicle aligned. Your car is pulling to the left or the right – When your car drifts or pulls to one side or the other, it is out of alignment. For many drivers, this can be one of the primary ways that they tell that their car has a problem. Your steering wheel doesn’t drive straight in the str ... read more