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Life tends to get busy and we find ourselves more worried about getting somewhere and less about how we actually get there. But when it comes to tire maintenance, proper tire tread depth is one of the easiest ways to help maximize your safety and performance. SO if you are thinking to yourself I have not looked at my tires in a while you might want to keep reading and then go give those bad boys a looking. You should monitor your tread depth closely once it reaches 4/32 inch deep. If you want to check it yourself, here's how to assess your tread depth: 4/32” or deeper = good 3/32” = replace tire soon 2/32” or fewer = replace tires now There are a couple of ways to measure your tire depth. The first is the penny test, which is very simple to do. Take a penny and insert it in the tires tread groove with Lincoln's head upside down and facing you. If you can see Lincoln’s head you tire’s depth is less than 2/32” which means you need to replace your tires. Another simple test is the quarter test. Insert a quarter into your tread groove, if the tread touches Washington's head you have at least 4/32” so you're good to go! Don’t have any change on you? No problem! Another way to check your tire tread depth is to look at the tread wear indicator bar that’s molded into most tires. The bars are located at the bottom of the tread grooves in several locations around the tire. When these bars become visibly flush with the adjacent ribs the tire has no more than 2/32" of tread remaining. This is a So next time you are unsure if it might be time to replace those tire of yours, use one of the handy tricks I told you about and you should be golden! Remember tire tread is very important, it is what grips the pavements stops your car instead of it sliding all over the place! With the fall/winter months approaching you don’t want to find yourself driving on slippery snow or wet pavement with little to no tread! So check out your tire treads and stop by Loughead Nissan for your tire fix, we’ve got them all! Tips For Keeping Those Tires Rolling

Going on a road trip this summer? Make sure you have everything you’ll need for the journey using a list! I am the worst when it comes to packing, I swear that I have everything I need and then I find myself running up and down the stairs at least ten more times before I actually leave the house! Don’t do that to yourself and use the reminder list below to save you the hassle and stress that comes with packing for vacation! In The Car Blankets and pillows Music Folding chairs Reading material Camera Cash for toll roads GPS Binoculars Wet wipes Puzzle books and quiet toys for kids Pen, pencil, notepad Tissues, paper towels, toilet paper Small bags for garbage Vehicle Emergency Kit Flashlight, roadside signal flares or reflective cones/warning signs First aid kit Booster cables, wrenches, screwdrivers (basic toolkit) A gallon jug of water Extra washer fluid, oil, transmission oil, brake fluid Rags, workshop towels, old blanket Gloves Spare belts (alternator, fan and air conditioner belts) Candle, warm clothes, a heavy blanket (for winter travel) Duct tape and WD40 And, there you have it! A complete list of everything to pack before you’re heading out the door on all your summer road trip adventures! Going On Vacation? Service With Us!

Summer is officially here and there’s no better time to take control of your life! Specifically the part of your life that is your garage. Sure, it’s the place to store all your junk, but imagine this: what if you could park your car in the garage and have it not be super hot from the summer sun? Also what if everything in the garage was neatly organized and you knew where everything was? It’s a great idea and you know it. Check out how to clean and organize your garage so well that you’ll surprise yourself every time you open the door! The very first thing you want to do is to take EVERYTHING out of your garage. Literally everything. Car, junk, trash, stuff you need… get it all outside into the driveway or onto your lawn and leave your garage totally empty. Then you should start to sort everything you’ve just taken out into two piles, one for things that you want to keep and one for things that you’ve been meaning to throw away or just forgot about. Throw those things away right now. Dispose of chemicals like paint safely, but just get it out of there forever. With your garage empty, you should sweep and vacuum the floor and dust the corners. If it’s a nice day, you could even hose down the floor! If you’re feeling super adventurous, consider applying an epoxy garage floor kit. It’s a lot of work and a lot of waiting, but it’s worth it if you’re looking for a really serious makeover. With the space clean, it’s time to take a critical look at your current storage solutions. If you don’t have shelves or wall storage, consider getting some! It’s a great space-saving hack to store things vertically. You can even store bikes on wall racks, which saves a TON of space. Finally, get everything back into your garage, organizing as you go. You’ll probably spot some things that you thought you wanted to keep but are really junk that you can just go ahead and throw away. You don’t need that in your life. When everything’s back in place (or has found a new home), park your car back inside! Give A New Nissan A Clean Home

Spring is here! In my house, we have a totally different name for this time of year, and it’s “Allergy Season.” I have really terrible allergies all year round, but when the warmer weather hits I have to add a couple Benadryl a night and a Flonase spritz in the morning to my allergy medicine routine just to stay alive during the day. So, based on this, you can probably assume that I like to try and keep allergens down in the spaces I occupy on a daily basis. This includes my car! If you’re like me and suffer terribly from the pollen in the air in the spring, I’m sharing my tips for making your car a haven of clean air and very little pollen contamination so that you can breathe easy on your way to wherever you’re headed! The first tip is to vacuum your vehicle frequently. This is the best way to get allergens out of the air! Get all the soft surfaces and air vents really good, and then just go over everything else thoroughly while you’re at it. Wipe down all the hard surfaces in your vehicle with a damp microfiber cloth or automotive dusting wipes to get any accumulated dust and pollen outta there. A good idea is to keep a bottle of allergen-reducing spray in the car. Not only will it keep any particles from floating around as much, but it’ll also make your vehicle smell nice and fresh! Finally, you should take a look at your cabin air filter. Your owner’s manual will have instructions on how to access this, and at any rate we can do it for you! This is important for filtering out dust and pollen that come into your vehicle, and if it hasn’t been changed in a while then it’s probably not doing its best work. Of course, some allergens will always slip through the cracks so keep some tissues handy and some Benadryl in the glove box! Good luck! Why Not Get A New Nissan For Spring?

If you, like me, have a big family and a lot of sports equipment to tote around, the arrival of spring and inevitable coming of summer mean that whatever gear you’ve been toting around is about to multiply and start to smell. Really, really smell. But there’s a definite art in separating out the smell of whatever’s supposed to be in your vehicle and what might be indicating that you have a problem under the hood. How do you know? Well, first you have to know what the different smells mean. Check it out! You Smell: Rotten eggs What It Is: Your catalytic converter is having some issues and is putting hydrogen sulfide into your exhaust. It could either be a fuel injection problem, or your cat is failing. This is, unfortunately, a pretty expensive repair. But if you smell the rotten eggs when your car is not running, you should probably check for something inside the car. You Smell: Sulfur What It Is: When you smell sulfur in your car all the time, you can assume that it’s gear lubricant leaking from the manual transmission, transfer case, or differential housing. There are sulfur compounds in the oil that serve as extreme-pressure lubricants for the gears in these parts, and after being in use for a few years this substance can get kind of gross. Look for puddles of oily, viscous stuff under your car. If you see this, you should take your vehicle to our service department. You Smell: Maple syrup What It Is: Coolant has ethylene glycol in it, which smells sweet but is definitely toxic. If you’re smelling it, that means there’s a leak somewhere in your system. You should take your vehicle in to get looked at, though this is a pretty easy fix. You Smell: A gas station What It Is: Unless you’re at a gas station, you shouldn’t smell this. It’s straight up gasoline, which should be inside your car and not outside of it. If your car is older (i.e. before 1980) then you might smell this when you turn your car off, but if your car is newer than that, the smell of gas means that you’ve got an issue. This could be a leak from a fuel injection line or a fuel tank vent hose in your engine. You Smell: Hot oil What It Is: The easiest to diagnose, this is hot oil. But the oil is getting hot because it’s leaking onto the exhaust manifold, which is hot when your engine is running. It’s not a pleasant smell by any stretch of the imagination, so take a look around your engine and keep an eye out for smoke. If you can find the leak, try to stem it, then bring your car into our shop, and fast. Need Service? Schedule Online!

If you like to travel, then there are some things that you should have in the car with you at all times. Check out our list of the road trip essentials - this covers not only the things that you should have in case of passenger boredom, but things you should have for emergencies. Pick and choose the things you feel you will need most (or things that aren’t what you already have) and put them in a safe, zipped bag that will live in your trunk or other storage areas until they’re needed. Good luck and happy trails! In The Car Blankets and pillows Music Folding chairs Reading material Camera Cash for toll roads GPS Binoculars Wet wipes Puzzle books and quiet toys for kids Pen, pencil, notepad Tissues, paper towels, toilet paper Small bags for garbage Vehicle Emergency Kit Flashlight, roadside signal flares or reflective cones/warning signs First aid kit Booster cables, wrenches, screwdrivers (basic toolkit) Gallon jug of water Extra washer fluid, oil, transmission oil, brake fluid Rags, workshop towels, old blanket Gloves Spare belts (alternator, fan and air conditioner belts) Candle, warm clothes, heavy blanket (for winter travel) Duct tape and WD40 Stay Safe In A New Car For Less

We’re all trying to get better fuel economy these days. It’s just a fact of life - we want to not spend as much on gas, and we’re also probably a bit more environmentally conscious than we used to be (as a society). So, we’ve put together some tips for increasing your fuel economy. Of course, you will NOT be able to go from getting 20 mpg to getting 75, but if you follow these tips you might see a one or two (or even, like, five) mile per gallon increase! So, check them out! First of all, don’t speed! When you are speeding, you’re also accelerating and decelerating a lot, which can throw off your fuel efficiency. For every 5 mph over 50 you’re going, you’re paying about 10 to 20 cents more per gallon of gas. That adds up over time. Second, use your cruise control. This helps with the speeding thing, and also eliminates extra acceleration and deceleration that happen when you’re on the highway. This can REALLY help with your fuel economy and also help make sure you don’t accidentally end up going 80 in a 40. If you’ve got a storage box (think one of those Thule things) on your roof, consider switching it out for something rear-mounted. The roof boxes increase drag on your vehicle, which in turn decreases your MPG’s. Don’t idle by the side of the road. If you’re parked or waiting for someone and are fully stopped, in Park (or neutral), then turn your car all the way off. Idling wastes a ton of fuel and can damage the environment with the exhaust created. Finally, be patient. Focus on driving safely. When drivers are attentive, they drive better… of course… but this careful driving also saves money on gas. Who knew! Save Money In Our Most Efficient Vehicles