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Welcome New Connection magazine readers. Let me introduce myself. My name is Rob Avanti, owner of Rob's Auto Service. Let me start by saying, I am in no way, shape or form a writer. The last thing I probably wrote, other than a birthday card, was a high school English paper. That said, I am going to attempt to write a little something each month automotive related that may be of some interest to the readers of this column.

The first and most important thing you should do if you own any vehicle is find yourself a trustworthy repair shop and stick with them. Ask a friend if they have a repair shop they use and are happy with. Once you find a shop, try to use them religiously for all your service needs. Try not to use the quick lube type shops for your oil changes. The problem with those type of places is that they only sell you the services that they perform. They don't look at important things such as brakes, tires, belts + suspension components. You can leave a quick lube shop, and 2 days later your brakes go metal to metal causing what could have been a very inexpensive job to be a very costly one.

Every car that comes in my shop gets a thorough going over to evaluate the condition of the vehicle. I then advise the customer what I feel needs immediate attention, what they need six months, or a year down the road. If you perform these preventative maintenance services you should save yourself money in the long run, and never worry about breaking down.

For any of you that believe that you have to go to the dealer for service because your car is under warranty, that is not true. As long as you perform the necessary oil changes as per your owners manual, and get receipts, you are fine. One other thing I don't like about the dealers are their so called scheduled services. Lets take a 15k mile service for example. It is an oil change, tire rotation and a list of check, check, check items and they charge $150.00 for what is basically a glorified oil change. Be careful of any of these type services. You are throwing away your money. We perform all of these checks every time the vehicle comes in.

If you have any questions, or comments, feel free to call me, email me or write me. I may even respond to any interesting question in next month's column.

Thanks for taking the time to listen to my opinions.

Robert Avanti

Phone # 631-462-4416. Email [email protected]

Address: 100 Smithtown Blvd. Smithtown, NY 11787