Postcard-worthy image plucked from May through August: Five big guys stuffed elbow-to-elbow inside an SUV, heading out on the biggest fishing trip of the year. The storage area is filled to the gills with fishing poles, tackle boxes, “grain-based liquid refreshment” and sandwiches. It’s definitely a tight squeeze.

Don't hope your air-conditioning system works when you need it most. "Keep your cool" with a thorough A/C inspection.

One more thing: It’s about 70 degrees outside, but for some reason, it feels more like 85 inside this vehicle. The driver cranks up the air conditioner and sets the fan speed to max. It’s now a windy 85 degrees.

The trout aren’t going to be the only ones on the hook if this situation persists: The man at the wheel will be lucky if he doesn’t get gaffed by his fellow sportsmen. Y’see, he neglected to pay heed to the warning signs earlier in the year that his A/C was nearly on the fritz.

Cool vs. coolant

Before we get into the nitty gritty, let’s dispel a common misconception: Engine coolant is in no way related to the A/C system. It’s an easy mistake to make given the word “cool” contained in “coolant.” But coolant is key to the cooling system, which prevents the engine from overheating and experiencing a meltdown. Coolant—a 50-50 mixture of water and antifreeze—carries heat away from the engine and into the radiator, where it is cooled by the passing air or the radiator fan.

The A/C system, on the other hand, uses a gas/refrigerant to cool your car’s cabin, occupants and cargo.

Hot time

During extremely hot days, the A/C system is pushing its limits working to keep your vehicle cool. This is evidenced by the system’s inability to cool your car as effectively on an excruciatingly hot day vs. a mildly hot day. Anything working at full capacity during extended periods will be prone to failure, and such hot-as-Hades temperatures can reveal previously dormant A/C system weaknesses.

Don’t wait until those oppressive summer days to gauge how well you’re A/C works. If you notice it’s not churning out ice cold air on a normal day, a small leak might be allowing refrigerant to escape. This should be checked out by your ASE-Certified Star Auto Authority technician because, if the refrigerant becomes too low, the A/C compressor can’t kick on, essentially leaving your car with no cooling capacity.

It’s important to note that the A/C system (unlike other automobile systems) doesn’t require maintenance. It either works or it doesn’t. The only thing an owner can do to prolong its life is to run it periodically during winter months.

Another piece of advice: Don’t be misguided by shops that offer to recharge you’re A/C and send you on your way. This action simply adds more refrigerant to a leaking system. Depending on the size of the leak, the A/C likely will work for awhile—a week or even a summer. Eventually, though, the refrigerant will become depleted and you’ll be smack dab in the middle of Hotsville, USA. A recharge might seem enticing from a dollars-and-cents point of view, but it really doesn’t make long-term sense. Plus, it’s rotten for the environment.

Winter woes

Think you can tough it out and survive the summer with compromised A/C? It’s a—pardon the pun—helluva way to spend the sunny months, but it also could jeopardize your safety when the weather turns cold.

That’s because the defroster engages part of the A/C system to function. If the A/C doesn’t work properly, you could be facing a permanently fogged-up windshield come December. The A/C compressor runs with the defroster to help dehumidify the car, resulting in the windows clearing faster. This activity also works to prevent leaks because “exercising” the system allows the sealing substance to remain soft and pliable.

So if it seemed like your car wasn’t cooling during our March heat wave, don’t be like that driving fisherman who found himself being used as bait. Have your system checked out now by Star Auto Authority to ensure your A/C is A-OK when you really need it.

The warm weather that spring and summer bring means lots of great local activities, whether it’s strolls through the park, kids’ softball games, or tending to the lawn and garden.

Make this dream-like scene a reality: Get a warm-weather checkup.

These bucolic pursuits sure are relaxing, but sometimes you just gotta break free and hit the road. Let’s face it: The road trip is as American as apple pie. Despite torturous gas prices, people still long to experience the open highway. It’s a freedom-filled adventure, for sure. What doesn’t feel so free, though, is having your car conk out in Nowheresville, South Dakota, on the way to Mount Rushmore. It’s enough to make those giant carved presidential heads weep in sympathy.

There is one major step, however, to guard against your excursion turning into an agonizing expenditure featuring lots more images of Washington, Jefferson or Lincoln (in the form of ones, twos and fives.)

Bring that vacation-destined vehicle into Star Auto Authority for an extensive pre-trip inspection. We’ll give it our bumper-to-bumper examination and let you know about any developing situations that might leave you stranded.

Plus, we’ll also review any issues that might be robbing your car of fuel economy and your wallet of crisp, green presidential portraits. You can even use our Fuel Cost Calculator to calculate your estimated annual savings.

The Big 6
While we leave “no stone unturned” during our inspections, it’s a good idea for drivers to know and understand the six systems most prone to failure in hot weather:

• Cooling system. More likely to fail than any other mechanical system, typically due to neglect. Flushing is mandatory maintenance for this system because contaminated or sludgy coolant can’t properly cool the engine, leading to overheating.
• Car battery. Summer heat is a bigger killer of batteries than winter cold. Add vibration to the list, too, which can be countered by securely mounting batteries. Car batteries usually last 4 to 5 years. If yours is older than 3, get it tested by your ASE-Certified Star Auto Authority technician, who’ll help determine how much life it has left.
• Ignition system. The insulation surrounding ignition wires and spark plugs often crack and weaken with age, allowing electrical current to stray from its intended path. This situation can lead to engine misfire, rough idling and acceleration hesitation. The problem is compounded by humid or rainy days, which makes it easier for current to stray.
• Tires. Under-inflated tires not only impair handling and braking, they’re prime candidates for highly hazardous blowouts. Hot road temperatures compound the problem.
• Air-conditioning system. Nobody wants to have a sunny day road trip ruined by sweltering cabin temperatures. The A/C system works super-hard to keep a car cool when it’s like an oven outside. If you’ve noticed that even normal-temp days are challenging your A/C, a small leak might be allowing refrigerant to escape.
• Fuel pump. Pumps put out plenty of heat all the time, which is exacerbated on those red-filled thermometer days. To combat this effect, keep your gas tank at least one-quarter full. When the tank dips below that level, not enough fuel is available to cool the pump. It’s also a smart idea to keep the tank as full as possible on vacations in case those directions aren’t quite accurate or you take a wrong turn at Albuquerque.

Learn more about “The Big 6″

Last-minute details
The last-minute details are: DON’T WAIT TIL THE LAST MINUTE! (Ha, gotcha.)

Seriously, it’s best to schedule your pre-trip inspection at least a week—preferably two—in advance. Should a major concern arise or repair be required, it provides our technicians plenty of time to ensure a repair is completed before you head off into vacationland. Otherwise, you might face the not-so-relaxing choice of driving the vehicle in compromised condition, delaying your trip or driving an alternate vehicle.

You’ll also appreciate the extra lead time so you can test drive your vehicle near home following the repair. This helps ensure all systems truly are “go.” The best technicians can make an occasional mistake and the highest quality parts do fail once in awhile.

Safety. Peace of mind. Star Auto Authority can help you achieve both during your time away.

(Make your trip complete with the right tunes: Check out our list of rad road songs.)

Tinted windows aren’t just for young hoods or Mr. Big anymore.

That juvenile-delinquent or crime-syndicate stigma is fading fast when it comes to tinted windows … and for good reason. For starters, they can counter the sunlight’s damaging rays and ease the burden on your vehicle’s air-conditioning system.

Tinted windows can counter the sunlight’s damaging rays and ease the burden on a vehicle’s air conditioner.

With unseasonably warm weather dodging in and out of the forecast, there’s no better time to think about what some added shade could do for your vehicle when the mercury stays elevated in the coming weeks.

• Vehicles with tinted windows offer passengers increased coolness (temperature- and style-wise), by getting the car cabin to a comfortable temperature faster.
• Air-conditioning systems operate more efficiently because window tint blocks out a significant amount of sunlight-generated heat.
• Your eyes will feel a whole lot better due to reduced glare from sun, snow or other driver’s headlights. Plus, tinted windows help block damaging UV rays, which are linked to many health hazards.
• Interior fabric will be better protected from fading while leather surfaces will be more resistant to cracking.
• Tinted windows look cool.

Don’t let that hot sun do a number on your vehicle. Spend the summer in the “shade” by having your windows tinted today. (While this is not a service we offer, there are a number of service providers in the area. Contact us and we can point you in the right direction.)

“You get what you pay for.” It’s about as tired a cliché as you’re likely to hear, but at the same time, it’s usually true.

Take your typical oil change, for instance. You always can find a shop advertising a $9 oil change to our $35 version. But here at Star Auto Authority, our oil changes are anything but typical. To better understand how and why our oil changes are truly better for you, let’s see how “ours” stack up against “theirs.”

First, let’s look who’s actually doing the oil change. For your sawbuck, you’ll often get a minimally trained high schooler, who’s probably more concerned with upcoming final exams or Saturday night fun than ensuring your drain plug is not over-tightened. S/he knows to try and sell you an air filter but doesn’t have the training or experience to detect a ball joint that’s about to fall off the car or a suspension problem that’s chewing up your $200-a-pop tires.

This is a cutaway of the top-of-the-line oil filter Star Auto Authority installs on your vehicle. Compare this to the cheaper version below.

Our team, on the other hand, is comprised of ASE-certified Master Technicians. Our pros possess the skills and experience to identify developing issues, and they know the difference between major and minor concerns—such as a fluid leak—that might confuse a rookie with a wrench.

Plus, at Star, we conduct a complete bumper-to-bumper vehicle inspection and a road test, the details of which are stored electronically in your Star service history. To put it in marketing terms: We conduct a 100-point inspection vs. the 20-point checks conducted by the other guys. (View our inspection checklist here.)

Our inspection begins with a road test, during which we make sure your brakes, steering and suspension are performing solidly. Then, we put the car on the rack and inspection everything under the vehicle. We visually check for fluid leaks, evaluate your steering and suspension (in addition to the road test), and examine the brakes, tires, and exhaust system. Under the hood, we inspect for maintenance needs, worn belts and hoses, and for signs of any developing issues. We ensure all the lights work—brake lights, head lights, tail lights and turn signals—and we check all fluid levels. Tire pressure is inspected and corrected when needed. We even take on the extras, such as lubing door hinges and securing loose license plates.

After all this, we hand-wash and vacuum your vehicle for a  spic-and-span appearance. That has a $19.95 value, and we suspect you enjoy that a lot more than you do fresh oil in the engine.

Did we mention you’ll also find a $5 coupon on your windshield for savings on your next oil change?

And while many of our oil change competitors like to talk about convenience, do they offer free loaner cars, complimentary shuttle van rides, or vehicle pickup and drop-off? Nah, we didn’t think so. And yes, at Star, we are happy to offer all of these conveniences even when you only need an oil change.

Now that we’ve discussed our superior service and attention to detail, let’s talk parts. Specifically, let’s look at the oil filter, which protects your engine from being polluted with gook, glop and crud. OK, those aren’t technical terms, but they do describe the situation best.

Compare for yourself: This is a cutaway of a low cost, lower quality oil filter that we purchased and disassembled. Which filter do you want protecting your engine?

Oil filters come in three quality levels. Star uses only the top-of-the-line filters. Care to guess what you’re getting for a $9 or even a $19 oil change? Yep, the lower quality filters.

Lower quality filters simply can’t perform as effectively as the top-of-the-line versions. They aren’t as good at keeping debris from entering the engine and shortening its lifespan, and they don’t last as long as the better-built versions. (Learn more about the quality differences among oil filters.)

This can prove problematic for drivers who tend to let more than 3,000 miles slip by between oil changes. We know some of you prefer to extend your oil change intervals to 4,000, 5,000 miles or more. That’s OK, but then a quality oil filter becomes even more important for you.

You can see how a so-called “budget” filter can become a real budget-buster if it fails to do its job, leading to premature engine wear and costly repairs.

We’ve done the math. We invite you to do the same. From the skill level of the technicians to the convenience offerings to the quality of the filter, we truly believe our oil change is the most cost-effective, long-term maintenance choice.

We’ve all taken day-long road trips. Besides the depleted gas tank at the journey’s end, dust typically powders the hood and gook (formerly insects) glops across the windshield.

Guess what? Those particles and winged things also have been sucked under the hood via your vehicle’s air-filtration system.

An air filter being removed from its housing.

The first line of defense for your engine’s innards—the air filter—hopefully has been doing its job by catching these potentially clogging contaminants. But why simply cross your fingers, when a simple—and we do mean “simple”—air-filter check will do the trick? Did we mention the gas-robbing characteristics of a dirty air filter? It’s about 2 miles per gallon. (For more info, click here.)

Many auto experts say drivers living in non-Sahara conditions should swap their air filters for new ones annually or at the 15K-to-20K-mile mark. Others say do it more often based on visual inspection, which is easily accomplished by even the most techno-phobic individuals.

First, locate the air-filter housing, sometimes known in carspeak as the “cold air collector box.” On most newer fuel-injected vehicles, this will be a rectangular unit located under the hood near a fender or the radiator. It probably will be secured via several easily removed clips or, in some cases, wing nuts. Older cars (fuel-injected or carbureted) typically house a larger, round filter within the air cleaner, which is situated on top of the engine. These usually require removal of a screw to access. You always can check your owner’s manual for the precise location. In either case, the filter will consist of either pleated paper or plastic surrounded by a rubber rim.

Open the housing and simply lift out the air filter. A less-than-pristine appearance isn’t necessarily the mark of a malfunctioning unit, so take the following steps to ensure a proper assessment. Hold it up to sunlight or another source of powerful illumination. If light is visible through the filter, then it’s still doing its job and can simply be put back into the housing. If the light is obscured, you can try dropping it top-side up onto a hard surface. This might shake some soil loose. It could take several tries to get it to work.

If light is visible after this procedure, then the filter still is functional. If not, it’s time to pop for a new one. Simply place the old filter back in the car and head to the nearest auto-parts retailer for a replacement.

Remember, when attempting to dislodge contaminants, do not blow through the filter. This is a sure way to wreck it. Also, never—we repeat, never—run or drive a vehicle with the air filter removed.