Car maintenance.. Long Island.

[E.intheC]

I have an older car that needs some love.

It's a 2005 Chevy Cobalt. It has 100K miles on it and Im the only owner. (No car payment since 2010! Wooh! :lol2

I'm looking at new brakes, new spark plugs, and I'd like to get it detailed. Does anyone on MR do work like this that's close to Roslyn?

Also, I know these cars dont have a great reliability rating, but so far my car had been great. I'd like to take my car to a mechanic to have them look it over and tell me if they see any problems that might come up. Is this a stupid idea? Are mechanics able to see these sorts of things, and how reliable will this information be? Obviously I'd really need an honest mechanic to even consider doing this.

Thanks....

 

[bigdog1428]

pm sent

 

[CHEMCHEF]

Auto Tech Bethpage. Ask for Rocco.
He's like my brother and will treat you right. 5162932137

 

[NYreefNoob]

e call a dealership and see if there are any open recalls, i know these had a few , dont know if they go back to that year, the only real issue with the colbalts are, ignition cyclender, which was a recall for a few years of them and the lower control arms always go bad early, certain years if it has the electric steering assist motor, biggest thing with them is making sure no more than 3k between oil changes, spend the few extra dollars and get factory brake pads, trust me on this, or send me vin ill check for recalls and get ya my price on the pads... reason i say factory pads is because they have to meet certain criteria by the national highway association, they have to be able to stop a car in a certain amount of distance and hold against brake fade up to a certain temp, all other manufactured pads do not have to meet anything, besides not stopping as well, they are usually higher in metal content which eats rotors up and thats where that brake squeal comes from... btw i work at a chevy dealership

 

[E.intheC]

Thanks Rick. I have to take my car to the dealer for the power steering recall. I can defintely feel it. I need new brakes, too

I'm going to spend some time this weekend on the car. I think the ignition cylinder was replaced under warranty but I need to check.

I hate spending money on this car but it definitely beats a car payment.

 

[JimmyR1rider]

Eric I have a guy. He's going to be building my 383 stroked for my suburban. He cares more about people's safety than money. He's like a brother to me. His shop is out east but he works vampire hours. I usually go there about 10pm and leave at Bout 6 am lol. He's super cheap and does things right. If you go out there with me you'll at first be like where the hell did you bring me but when you leave you'll be happy to went. Let me know if you want.

 

[E.intheC]

Thanks for the offer on the mechanic Jimmy. That's definitely generous. I do have a local mechanic I trust, but I'm wondering more specifically about what the mechanic will be able to tell from a visual inspection.

(I'm also strongly considering a new car.. )

 

[JimmyR1rider]

Ahh ok any decent mechanic should be able to tell from a good once over, scan and test drive what it needs. Hopefully you get it all squared away, best of luck with it.