Orinda Auto Repair

Sometimes life will come full circle. When Allen Pennebaker started his job at Orinda Motors in 1976 his duties included pumping gas at the Atlantic Richfield station that is now home of Express Oil Change and Tire Center. The Orinda native and Miramonte graduate went on to work his way through the ranks at Orinda Motors and eventually bought the company with his wife Terry in 1977. The local repair facility has gone through many changes before becoming the establishment known as the community leader that it is today. When Allen found out that the vacant Valero gas station was available he immediately became interested. Looking to expand his business ventures Pennebaker pursued the empty station and went on to become the new owner. He chose the Flying A brand because of the quality of gas and value it represents as well as the connection to the nostalgic connection to the original Flying A station that stood very close to Pennebaker’s new business enterprise. He saw as an opportunit ... read more

This expression means that it is better to try to avoid problems in the first place, rather than trying to fix them once they arise. Our goal is to stay out of the repair shop, right? Sometimes the best way to do that is to actually visit the shop, but do it on your terms and your schedule. If you recognize a weak battery during a routine maintenance service you have the ability to replace it at your convenience, not when you are least expecting it like when you are ready to take the kids to school. The bottom line is that it is absolutely necessary to pay attention to your car, weather you are a do-it-yourselfer or use a trustworthy repair facility. As I say repeatedly, paying attention to the needs of your car is the responsibility of the owner/operator. We expect to go to the doctor once a year for a physical, well your car, truck or SUV needs a physical too. As a matter of fact I personally was able to avoid an increase in health insurance costs by having a physical done ... read more

It is very easy to notice that filling your vehicle with gas costs more these days. Every time I turn around I need to put gas in my guzzler. It made me think of ways that I could be saving fuel and getting more miles out of each tank. I could commute with one of my co-workers. I could get dropped off and walk part of the way. The rest of the time I need to get behind the wheel. Coming from my auto service background I have to start with what I know about basic automotive efficiency. I know that the number one cause of poor fuel mileage on a car is low tire pressure. The rolling resistance of a tire is crucial to good gas mileage. I checked the tire pressures on my Ford Explorer and found that they were all low. Wow, imagine that. When I inspected my tires I noticed that my front tires were wearing down unevenly on the outside edge indicating that I had a wheel alignment problem. When the wheel alignment is out of spec the tires are literally pointing in the wrong direction causing ... read more