First Landing Auto Care

Groceries, gas, etc.

andertonm — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 02:17:40 +0000

We’ve got two things going on with Kroger grocery stores. First, get yourself a Kroger Plus loyalty card and USE IT. When you spend $100 on groceries, you can put your Kroger Plus card in our gas pumps and get 10 cents off per gallon of gas! Spend another $100 and do it again, and again, and, well, you get it. Second, we will have a coupon on the back of Kroger receipt tapes for a discount oil change and tire rotation. It’s meant to celebrate the opening of our new location on Thoroughgood Road, but we’ll honor the coupon at our Shore Drive Shell location, too.

High water!

andertonm — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 23:53:31 +0000

Last Thursday’s rain was impressive. At the Shore Drive Shell intersection, the water backs up and creates a lake that brings traffic to a near stand-still. But there are those who, for whatever reason, feel that they need to try to forge on through the water. Those who try to do it at high speed create a wave that flows over their hood. Some make it, some don’t. If you’re lucky, it just drowns the ignition and the car dies, then lives to run another day. But Thursday afternoon we ended up with three cars that had actually ingested water through the intake. When that happens, the rapidly moving piston slams into the non-compressible water and it’s like a sledge hammer hits the relatively fragile metal parts. If you are very lucky, we can take out the spark plugs, crank the starter to remove the water and the motor struggles back to life. In the case of two of these cars, however, the damage was extreme. After we removed the water from a Ford Taurus, it started up with a terrible metallic clatter and ended up tossing a connecting rod through the block. I don’t know how to tell you when the water is too deep. Some cars are more susceptible to high water than others, but you should consider the possible consequences before you dive in.

Chick’s Beach Elex Re-visited

andertonm — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 01:50:11 +0000

At the risk of being redundant, I can’t say enough about Chick’s Beach Electric. It’s CRAZY right now, moving into our new location. Turns out you need power here, 220V there, power to a vehicle lift, power to a tire machine – you name it. Randy and Mark jumped on it; conduit flying around, masonry bits screaming and, before you know it, it’s done – and done right! These guys are no muss, no fuss, get the job done.

Hybrid victory

andertonm — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 00:08:56 +0000

Ms. G brought us her 2003 Honda Civic hybrid with a check engine light on. When we scanned it, the problem was a wimpy battery – the big battery that makes the car go! The dealer said it would cost $3000 for a new battery plus labor to remove and install it. Sounded like a challenge to us, so we found an outfit in New York that fixes these batteries. Long story short, Ms. G is now back on the road with no check engine light, and a battery that is guaranteed for less than half the price the dealer quoted. Many of the first hybrids that were sold are going to be facing battery problems soon. We’re ready!

New Pumps!

andertonm — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 01:02:50 +0000

Finally, it’s pump change-out day! Our eight old pumps, actually “dispensers,” have been out there in the salt air and elements for about fifteen years, pumping gas through twenty four hoses, reading credit cards and most of the time spitting out little paper receipts. Months ago we made a sort of forced decision to replace the dispensers and our inside point of sale system, but it doesn’t happen overnight and the old pumps have been sinking fast. Printers ($800 apiece) and keypads quit working. A couple of the dispensers just sent a message to the cashier that said “ERR” and quit working! What the heck does that mean? But today the new dispensers arrived. A team showed up at 0630 and worked like dogs in the 100 degree heat and, voila, we are state-of-the-art. Big advantages: readable displays, eight hoses and nozzles instead of twenty four, diesel on the island, touch screen for the cashiers to ring up your smokes and beer, and a real cash drawer TO REPLACE THE ONE THAT WAS STOLEN LAST YEAR! If you drop by and ask me, I’ll tell you what four new “dispensers” and a new POS cost. Think high-end Lexus…

Thoroughgood!

andertonm — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 23:12:01 +0000

If you have driven past Shore Drive Shell recently, you know we have a “good news – bad news” situation; We are fortunate to have LOTS of folks who entrust their cars to us, but our little lot looks crazy sometimes! Some folks have told us they didn’t come in because it looked like we were too busy. First, let me tell you that we can ALWAYS get you in, and we’re glad to see you, but we have been looking for a second location that will let us serve a larger segment of the VB population. At long last, we have found it at 2114 Thoroughgood Rd. This spacious six-bay facility is a little bit off of the beaten path, but it gives us the room to do what we do best – friendly, neighborhood-oriented service, with the same NAPA Autocare “peace of mind” warranty that we have offered for years. At both locations our primary focus is customer satisfaction. Tell your friends and neighbors!

Customer comments

andertonm — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 01:19:19 +0000

Folks have been great about filling out our customer satisfaction survey on our website. Just about all of the comments are positive. When we do get one that expresses some dissatisfaction, we get in touch and try to make it right. Thanks to Matt and AEIDataworks, we can now scroll these comments on our homepage. Nothing means more to us than satisfied customers. We use the best parts, continually train our great tech staff, and we warranty all of our work. Then we work very hard to create a friendly, relaxed environment for our customers. It makes us feel good – hope it does the same for you.

Chill Out!

andertonm — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:28:35 +0000

Man! We are doing a LOT of AC service – and we do it right! Could be minor – just a recharge. We put in leak detector dye so we can spot future problems. Maybe it’s major, like a compressor replacement. If so, we use only the best components and do the job right. Let us cool you off.

News update

andertonm — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 00:45:32 +0000

Our shop is open on Saturday now. Hours: 8 to well, mid-afternoon. Call Chris Carney at 481-6549 to set up an appointment.

The FLAC Wagon

andertonm — Wed, 26 May 2010 00:51:44 +0000

The FLAC wagon is our 1969 Morris Minor utility van. It started life as a parks vehicle in New Zealand and became the mascot for Kiwi Bikes, a specialty bicycle shop. A car dealer in South Carolina imported it and we got it from them. It’s little and it’s happiest at about 45 mph, but it carries a lot of tools and stock for the store, etc.