Denver Auto Repair

Doctor, Doctor, Gimme the News … History provides many insights. For instance, consider this prophetic quote from over 50 years ago: “In 1965 [more than 50 years ago], a car mechanic needed to understand 5,000 pages of service manuals to fix any automobile on the road. Today, with the advent of high-tech electronics, that same mechanic must be able to decipher 465,000 pages of technical text--the equivalent of 250 big-city phone books.” — Elizabeth Dole, U.S. Secretary of Labor, October 26, 1989 Finding State-of-the-Art Vehicle Care is a Challenge for Car Owners   It’s now 2018, nearly thirty years later. Most of the automotive service and repair data that was once an old hard copy manual has been supplanted by bits and bytes and is now available electronically. But make no mistake: the volume of repair and service information that an auto mechanic needs to be able to access, navigate, understand, and apply today is astronomical. We call that Prog ... read more

We often take our vehicle’s air conditioning (henceforth, A/C) for granted — until it isn’t working properly or worse, isn’t working at all. Whether Downtown Denver, the greater City of Denver area, or outside the city on a road trip driving vacation — Sometimes that happens because we don’t practice good preventive maintenance or we create our own problems doing things ourselves.   Modern vehicle A/C systems have changed, not only on Domestic and Asian brands, but especially the European vehicle brands we specialize in at Mancinelli’s Auto Repair Center. They’re much more complex, compact and precise in their specifications for type and amount of refrigerant, lubricating oil, and A/C system maintenance procedures. Moreover, if you own a hybrid vehicle, it’s even more complicated because they feature high-voltage electronics, alternating current electricity, and large liquid-cooled battery packs. Your vehicle’s A/C syst ... read more

When vehicles were more a collection of mechanical linkages back in the day, many automotive service and repair facilities used the phrase “good, better or best” with customers to describe an array of options to fix or service a car or truck. Depending on the vehicles usage and driver’s style, the adage provided consumers with a quality-durability-performance array to choose from. Like drum brakes, points and carburetors, that adage is well past its time. If you’ve moved on to drive more modern, software-defined vehicles — especially European makes and models or electrified automobiles — that have advanced technologies onboard, such as direct injection, electronic controls, high-pressure pumps or high voltage components, precision matters. Automobiles are now designed, engineered and built to far more stringent performance tolerances, and specifications are much more exacting. Good or better isn’t close enough for motorists who expect the imp ... read more

Let’s face it: All vehicles age, get tired and develop performance problems over time. This includes conventional gas-guzzlers and electric vehicles (EVs) —which include hybrid, plug-in and all-electric vehicles we see more and more of. Like traditional other vehicles, EV owners face four critical decisions: 1) Do I buy new or used? 2) When should I sell? 3) Is there a better way to know when? 4) Who should I trust to care for my EV and help me find those answers?   EV Ownership Has Pros and Cons During the early years of EV ownership, regular routine maintenance costs are lower than fuel-powered vehicles. In addition, so are the operating costs. In fact, the more gas prices rise, the greater the savings EV owners realize. But all vehicles, even EVs, can get begin to show signs of wear and tear. When high voltage components in EVs begin to wear out, owners may soon face shocking replacement costs. An EV-savvy service and repair shop can make a huge diffe ... read more