This blog post was originally published in 2011, but has been updated to reflect the fact that beginning September 1, 2016, BA Auto Care began covering all major repairs for three years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Buying a car at an auction is a very risky business. We have seen very few cases where it has turn out well.

When people have their car alternator replaced, the expectation is that the repair will last at least as long as the expected life of the new alternator, four to five years or anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 miles.

Sometimes knowing a little can get you into big trouble. We have all done it. We start what seems like a small job, like plumbing, and have it turn out to be a major issue –the kind of problem that makes you wish you had called the plumber in the first place.

Daytime running lights have been around for a while, but many people still don’t know exactly how they function as well as the benefits to drivers.

Over the past month or so we had two customers whose vehicle experienced an extreme clutch failure only months after having the clutch replaced. Clutches should last over 100,000 miles, and these two clutches failed in a very dramatic way! They had been entirely burnt out.

We often get questions on handbrakes. Some of our customers aren’t sure when or how to use them. We thought it would be a good idea to do a Q&A on the top 10 questions asked related to the handbrake. Importantly, on some cars the “handbrake” is actually a foot pedal. It’s also called an emergency brake or parking brake.

We have experiences with customers all the time with car problems they try to fix themselves that go horribly wrong. Well that was the case with this Smart car, that had a ‘not-so-smart’ DIY repair.