If you drive a vehicle with more than a few miles on it, there’s a good chance you’ve noticed an occasional drip underneath it that leaves spots wherever you park. Identifying what is leaking from your car will help you determine whether or not it’s a cause for concern, and what to do about it.

There are seven liquids a car can possibly drip: oil, gas, brake fluid, transmission fluid, gear oil, water, and coolant. How do you tell the difference? This article aims to help your know-how.

Repairs are costly and we all want to avoid them including our team here at TAG Automotive Repair!  It's our job and we take it seriously.  Here, it is all about keeping your car or truck serviced and looking for problems "before" they happen to avoid those high repair costs and ensuring you avoid any breakdowns when it's hot outside or cold outside as either is a problem for our Flagstaff drivers!  Nobody can forsee a flat tire or blowout due to running over a nail, but we can avoid some of the regular issues we see all the time such as....

At TAG Automotive Repair in Flagstaff, AZ, our goal is to help you understand your transmission a little better and keep your car, truck, or SUV reliably on the road. If you ever hit the key and your engine fails to turn over, whether it’s once a month, once a week, or every day, you’ve got the beginnings of an issue worth dealing with.

Something will go wrong with your car, truck, or SUV eventually. The important thing is knowing what to do, and how to deal with it. Just knowing what to do in a situation often means the difference between a quick repair and thousands of dollars worth of work. If you see steam coming from under the hood, it’s important to deal with it appropriately and quickly. Here’s what’s going on, and what to do, from TAG Automotive Repair in Flagstaff, AZ.

Exhaust systems are one of the most neglected aspects of most vehicles. Exhaust pipes, catalytic converters, and mufflers are exposed to heat, emissions, and road damage. While your exhaust system is fairly simple and straightforward, these conditions mean it is inherently prone to rust and damage. As a result, this system is often one of the first systems you will have trouble with on your car.

Exhaust systems are one of the most neglected aspects of most vehicles. Exhaust pipes, catalytic converters, and mufflers are exposed to heat, emissions, and road damage. While your exhaust system is fairly simple and straightforward, these conditions mean it is inherently prone to rust and damage. As a result, this system is often one of the first systems you will have trouble within your car.

We know you’re busy. At TAG Automotive Repair in Flagstaff, AZ, we also know that while there are certain issues with your car, truck, or SUV you can ignore for a while, some of them shouldn’t wait. While serious issues are often obvious, sometimes they aren’t - ball joints are one such case.

At TAG Automotive Repair in Flagstaff, we know that a huge part of the ride quality of your car, truck, or SUV is how well it keeps road and engine noises out of the passenger compartment. Few things are more annoying on a long commute or road trip than the drone of tires on pavement, the constant sound of your car battling the air outside, loud semi-trucks, and so on.

If you drive performance or luxury vehicle (Subaru, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Land Rover, etc.) you’re aware that you have a complex and precision-engineered machine. When things start to go wrong, sometimes they go wrong in a hurry. Here are some things to watch out for, from TAG Automotive Repair in Flagstaff, AZ.

At TAG Automotive Repair in Flagstaff, we know how annoying a dead battery can be. Here’s some information on the subject, that will hopefully help you understand your battery issues a little better.

Do you have a noisy vehicle? If so, you may need a new muffler or exhaust system from our team here at TAG Automotive Repair in Flagstaff. The purpose of your exhaust system is not only to reduce the noise but also to redirect fumes away from your vehicle. Redirecting these fumes protects passengers in the car from toxins created by burning fuel.

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless chemical that can escape from an unsecured exhaust system, and if inhaled can pose very serious health hazards. If you experience an unusually loud sound coming from your vehicle, it is vital to get your exhaust system checked immediately!

Once your transmission has been replaced and you’re shifting smoothly once more, you’ll probably want to keep it running smoothly. Here are some tips from TAG Automotive Repair in Flagstaff, AZ to help keep you reliably on the road.

At TAG Automotive Repair in Flagstaff, AZ, we aim to keep your four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive car, truck, or SUV ready for anything. 4X4 systems are pretty low maintenance, but equally as important to maintain as your engine or transmission. At TAG Automotive Repair our technicians have the tools and knowledge to help keep yours going strong.

If your car has climate control, then it also has a cabin filter. Cabin filters are simply air filters for the interior of your car, truck, or SUV. All air entering circulation through the climate control system first passes through this filter, to prevent your AC or heat systems from accumulating debris or blowing them out of your vents. The result is cleaner, quieter, and longer-lasting climate control systems, which keep the inside of your car as comfortable as possible. 

If you drive a car, truck, or SUV that runs on gasoline, there's a good chance you’ve run it low on fuel a few times (or more than a few times,) and maybe even run out of gas completely a time or two. At TAG Automotive Repair in Flagstaff, AZ, we like to provide information applicable to you. Running a vehicle low on fuel is something we’re all guilty of, and most of us don’t think twice about it. But, can it be bad for your car?

Sometimes it is EASY to see if your car or truck needs to come into our shop for professional repairs! 
1.  You see steam rising from the engine!
2.  The Check Engine Light is on!
3.  The engine starts, but there is an odor that is not right.
4.  You hear grinding or thumping noises.

Do you drive a 4X4 truck or SUV? At TAG Automotive Repair in Flagstaff, our technicians know exactly what your four-wheel drive vehicle needs, to stay reliable both on and off the road.

At TAG Automotive Repair in Flagstaff, AZ, we know the key to making your vehicle last; good maintenance. An overwhelming percentage of the problems we see, especially the really catastrophic ones, are a result of poor maintenance. While properly maintaining a vehicle can seem like a bit of a hassle, it is absolutely worth the payoff. Good maintenance is the only difference between a car that lasts 80,000 miles and a car that lasts 400,000 miles. Preventative maintenance and repair when a problem occurs are your two concerns, and both will keep your car on the road far longer if observed properly.

Just because manual transmissions aren’t as common these days as they used to be, there are still many out there, and at TAG Automotive Repair in Flagstaff, AZ, our certified technicians know how to keep them running at their best.

At TAG Automotive Repair in Flagstaff, AZ, we have seen our fair share of preventable engine failures. Frequently, engine disaster could have been avoided if the driver had known beforehand what the warning lights or gauges on the dashboard indicated. While some dash lights are fairly benign, others indicate imminent trouble. This guide from TAG Automotive Repair in Flagstaff, AZ will prepare you for the next time your vehicle shows you a warning you shouldn’t ignore.