Hitting a pothole always hurts - you may not be sure exactly what happens when you hit a pothole, but you can tell it’s not good for your car, truck, or SUV. Here are issues caused by potholes, and what to watch out for if you hit a really rough one, from South Mountain Collision & Auto Center in Middletown, MD.

Everyone knows to get routine tire care every so often. Tire rotations, alignments, and even replacements are necessary to ensure your tires stay in competent condition and don’t pose any harm when you’re driving. At South Mountain Collision & Auto Center, it’s important to us that your tires perform well and are safe to be on the road. Routine maintenance is sometimes not enough to get the most out of your tires. Here are just a few tips and steps to extending the lifespan of your tires, so they can continue to take you wherever you need for as long as you need.

As your vehicle ages, it not only gains sentimental value but a number of maintenance measures arise as well. Vehicles from previous decades have the potential to keep their value and functionality for many years. But how can you make that possible? Here are some tips from South Mountain Collision & Auto Center to keep your older vehicle running and on the road for a long time!

Is your Cummins, Powerstroke, or Duramax diesel a four-wheel drive? At South Mountain Collision & Auto Center in Middletown, MD, our goal is to help you maintain your four-wheel drive so that it can last you for years to come. Our professional technicians at South Mountain Collision & Auto Center are here to make sure your truck stays ready for anything.

If you want to avoid nasty and unexpected surprise maintenance costs, sticking to a regimented schedule of preventative maintenance is something you are going to want to get used to. The reason being is simple – frequent maintenance will keep your vehicle in good health, ensuring you get the most out of all those expensive-to-replace parts. While it might sound counterintuitive, the best way to reduce maintenance costs is to stick to a prescribed maintenance schedule.

If you drive a performance or luxury vehicle, there are important points to remember in preserving not only your car or SUV, but it's resale value as well. Luxury and performance vehicles depreciate more quickly than other cars. Many who own these cars like to have the newest and the best of the best. In that way, the odds are stacked against you when trying to get a good price for your car. Fortunately, South Mountain Collision & Auto Center has some steps you can take to ensure you get the most for your car when it’s time to sell. 

Ride quality is an essential part of your driving experience. At South Mountain Collision & Auto Center in Middletown, we strive to keep your car, truck, or SUV as smooth and comfortable to drive as the day it came off the lot. Your shock absorbers play a huge role in ride quality; here’s what you should know.

At some point or another, it’ll happen to you. You leave your headlights on, your battery finally fails, or for some other reason, you don’t have enough juice to start your car. Don’t call a tow truck just yet, though...South Mountain Collision & Auto Center in Middletown has the info you need to properly jump start your car.

If you own or operate any type of vehicle, you understand the importance of resale value. Some owners keep the same vehicle until it’s time for the scrap yard, but by and large it makes more sense to sell a vehicle and replace it at a certain point. From South Mountain Collision & Auto Center in Middletown, MD, here’s how to make sure you get the most cash possible when it’s time for your vehicles to hit the auction block or when you're ready to sell it to its next owner.

At South Mountain Collision & Auto Center in Middletown, MD, we understand that driving style affects your vehicle’s performance and reliability. You probably know that frequent, hard acceleration is bad for your engine and transmission, but what about speed?

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.

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.

If you own or operate a fleet or commercial truck, you know it’s hard to keep everything working perfectly all the time. You have to choose what types of maintenance to give priority to, and what can wait. However, some small problems are indicators that a bigger issue is on the way. At South Mountain Collision & Auto Center in Middletown, MD, our goal is to keep your fleet going.

At South Mountain Collision & Auto Center in Middletown, we see a lot of dirty filters. Oil filters typically get replaced with each oil change, but air, fuel, and cabin filters last a long time. As such, they are often neglected until well after they’ve run their course. Here’s why you should care:

You don’t have to buy a new, fuel-efficient car to get great fuel efficiency. No one wants to trade a fuel bill for a car payment, so take a look at our top 5 ways to save on fuel and you may just be able to pocket a little extra money at the end of the month.

1. Change Your Driving Style- If you’re the kind of person who enjoys the rush of hard acceleration, typically runs 10 mph over the speed limit and brakes abruptly, we’ve got bad news: you’re hurting your vehicle’s fuel economy, and your wallet, in a big way. Depending on the kind of vehicle you drive and just how extreme you are with the throttle and brake, tempering your driving style can up your vehicle’s fuel economy by more than 5 mpg. That’s a serious bump. Scaling back the speed by just 5 mph means you’ll also see an increase in fuel economy.

The time to know if your brakes are going bad is NOT when you go to stop at that red light or on the parkway when someone suddenly swerves in front of you.  It's not always "just" brake pads either, your brake master cylinder could be an issue. How do you recognize the signs that you have a real problem with your brake master cylinder and just what is it?   Here atSouth Mountain Collision & Auto Center in Middletown, MD we not only have the answers, but we also put together a service schedule for you and keep an eye on issues based on your driving habits, vehicle type and your description of issues you are having.  We treat your car, truck or SUV as if it were ours keeping you informed of issues we find so you can get them fixed "before" there are larger repair bills so you can keep your vehicle Newer - Longer!   Below is everything you need to look for and tips on your brake master cylinder.

If you drive a performance car or SUV, you want to take every measure possible to ensure it stays in good shape and running well. For many drivers of precision-engineered vehicles like BMW, Audi, Porsche, Subaru, etc., warming up the engine is a part of taking care of your vehicle. But is it necessary?

With temperatures dropping around the country, it’s understandably tempting to let your car or SUV idle to stay warm. At South Mountain Collision & Auto Center in Middletown, MD, one of our goals is to keep you informed on how to best care for your performance and luxury vehicles. 

These days, it seems like the oil options for your oil changes are limitless - full synthetic, blends, conventional, high mileage, and the list goes on and on. We are frequently asked if it's okay to switch between oils, and how you know what is okay to use? At South Mountain Collision & Auto Center in Middletown, MD we're here to help you answer that question. When it comes to engine oil, the answer to this question can be as complicated or as simple as you want it to be!