Today: 9:00AM - 7:00PM
Blog / Waukegan Kia Service

Regular Maintenance at Classic Kia

Car mechanic fixing a car
It's about that time, summer is almost here. Have you started getting yourself ready? Have you gotten your car ready? Spring is the perfect time to shake off the winter and go in for some regular maintenance for your vehicle. It's tempting to wait for a problem before getting your car serviced, but that's a headache you may not need to give yourself. There are a few aspects in particular that need regular attention. Allow us here at Classic Kia in Waukegan, IL, to inform you about them. Oil Change Until some kind of super oil formula is created, if you drive your vehicle regularly, it will eventually get dirty and need to be replaced. It can happen faster than you'd think, which is why the recommended time-frame is about 3 months or 3000 miles. Dirty engine oil can damage the engine, as well as have a negative effect on fuel economy. Keeping your oil clean consistently, on the other hand, can extend your car's longevity. Air Filter Similarly, a dirty air filter can have adverse effects on engine performance as well. The air filter keeps the engine clean of dirt and grime, while still letting air in. When the dirt builds up it begins to block the air flow that the engine needs. This can lead to misfires, decreased fuel economy and soot and backfires from the exhaust. If you smell gasoline when you start your car, it's a sign that your air filter may need to be replaced. These are the major diagnostic checks, but when you come into our Classic Kia Service Center our highly trained technicians will also check your wipers and tires among other things. Should we come across anything that needs to be repaired or replaced, the durable parts from our Kia parts department will help us get your vehicle back into the condition you need it to be in. Even if you don't notice anything wrong with your car, regular maintenance can help that stay the case.
Posted in:

Related Posts

car scratched from the accident

What to Do When Your Car is Scratched

When Kenosha, WI drivers take advantage of our month-long Black Friday Kia car deals, the last thing they want is for their beautiful new car to get scratched or banged up. All the same, life happens. When it does, our dealers at Classic Kia can help to get your vehicle looking its best again. more Depending on where a scratch is located it can be merely a cosmetic issue, or something more serious. Paint scratches are relatively harmless, aside from being difficult to look at. If the scratch is extremely shallow, you may not even need to worry about it. Clear coat scratches only minimally affect the paint (if at all) and can likely be wiped away with little effort. If the paint is scratched, however, you’ll need to bring your vehicle to our Kia service center, where our service professionals can find your matching paint color in our Kia parts department to touch up any of the areas that need attention. When the scratch goes deeper than the paint, things become a bit trickier. In this instance, something will need to be used to recreate a level plane so that the touch-up paint won’t just look like a painted scratch. While scratches are bad, cracks are worse. Paint scratches are not necessarily an immediate issue, whereas windshield cracks are. When you drive with a cracked windshield, not only does it hinder your view, the weakened structure is far more prone to damage. If the crack is small, we can fill it in for you. If it gets bigger, we will have to replace the whole windshield. Acting at the first sign of trouble is your best course of action when it comes to your windshield. Safety is the top concern, but feeling confident about your car matters as well. At Classic Kia we seek to make sure you have both.

Paint a picture of the tablet. check condition.

Making Sure You Pass the Emissions Test

Classic Kia in Waukegan, IL knows how important passing the emissions test is to drivers. Not only does it affect the environment, but your registration as well. That is why your Kia dealer near Kenosha, WI wants to offer a few suggestions on how to maximize your chances of passing the test and saving yourself a lot of grief. more Check Engine Light If your check engine light is on, it’s best not to even bother going in for the test. Something as simple as a loose or cracked gas cap can set off the check engine light. The light alerts you to a problem, but it is less forthcoming about where the problem is or how severe. That is why, if you want to get the light to go out, you should bring your vehicle to us here in our Kia service center so that we can run a full diagnostic on it and address any problems we find. While the light may go out on its own, the issue it was indicating may subsist and still cause your vehicle to fail the test. Catalytic Converter As intimidating as that alliteration might be, and as important as the job it performs definitely is, the catalytic converter is one of the easiest problems to solve. A catalytic converter converts the harmful emissions your car produces so they don’t get out into the environment. The most common problem of the catalytic converter is when oil and gas residue build up and impede its work. However, all you have to do to get rid of that residue is hit relatively high speeds on the highway. The additional heat from the additional energy expenditure will burn away the residue. Try to make a habit of it as you get close to your test day. Classic Kia is here if you need any more help with the emissions test or any other automotive issue!

Young mechanic fixing the brakes of a car at an auto shop

Maintaining Safe Brakes

The importance of brake safety can never be understated. Here at Classic Kia, your Kia dealer serving the Kenosha, WI area, we know that every time you get behind the wheel, you need your brakes to work properly. Regular maintenance is the only way to make that happen. more The basics of the braking system rely upon the friction between your brake pads and brake discs. Where there is friction, there is going to be wear and tear. Certain factors can cause that wear and tear to intensify, such as misaligned components or dramatic quality disparities. Brakes are not parts you want to skimp on. Worn brake pads or discs are not problems that will go away if you ignore them. In fact, deterioration accelerates the worse they get. Brake pads tend to wear out more quickly and thus need to be replaced more often. While brake pads can be replaced without replacing the disc, when replacing discs, both the disc and the pads should be changed out. Furthermore, after your brake pads and discs have been replaced, it is important to allow a period for them to align properly. This involves a bit softer braking than you might be accustomed to until both parts are perfectly synced. There will be plenty of signs that your brakes need work. For example, if you hear a sound when you use your brakes, you should have them looked at. Abnormal vibration is another clear sign. If you do notice any of these signs, don’t hesitate to bring your 2017 Kia Forte into the Kia service center here at Classic Kia in Waukegan, IL. Staying on top of brake safety is vital to safe driving. If you think there’s an issue with your brakes, even if you haven’t noticed any of the symptoms listed here, please have them checked out immediately. Better safe than sorry.