If you’ve owned a vehicle long, particularly one with a few miles on it, you have probably encountered a peculiar smell that grabbed your attention. Scents that you encounter while driving (emanating from your vehicle, not the horse farm down the road) are indicators of your vehicle's health and often the first warning that something may be wrong. Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine has assembled this list to prepare for you for the next time you smell something odd, so you’ll know what’s going on next time you notice a funny smell.

While some keys or key fobs can only be obtained from dealerships, most cars can be programmed to accept a new key or key fob without expensive dealer intervention. At Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, we often provide such services, at a fraction of the cost.

At Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, FL, it’s important to us that your car, truck, or SUV is ready for any condition. Coolant flushes are an important part of getting your vehicle ready for winter - here’s why.

Your fleet or commercial vehicles are heavy duty machines that see a lot of wear and tear. When your engine mounts begin to fail, sometimes it feels like the whole vehicle is falling apart. Get your vehicle back into shape with the professional technicians at Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, FL.

Your brakes have a lot to do with how your car drives. Brakes are a frequently neglected item on a lot of people’s checklist, and many drivers on the road have subpar brakes and don’t even know it. A car that brakes well and brakes correctly are just as important as acceleration, handling, or any other aspect of a vehicle’s drivability. A car with brake issues has the potential to be a far more enjoyable ride when fixed.

Obviously, your brakes are essential. However, it’s easy to neglect or ignore brake issues, and even miss them altogether; as long as the car, truck, or SUV still stops, many people don’t see the need to have their brakes serviced. From Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, here are some common brake issues, and why you should fix them.

Your car’s belts and hoses are essential to the cooling, air conditioning, and charging systems, and the engine. Here at Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, our team takes them seriously as we understand that ignoring the routine replacement intervals will result in a costly breakdown that could leave you stranded. There are so many components tied together with your belts & hoses that it isn't just a simple belt or hose requiring repairs when you allow things to progress to the stage where your car or truck has a breakdown due to a faulty belt or hose.

At Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, FL, we enjoy providing you with useful knowledge that pertains to the ownership and maintenance of your car, truck, or SUV. You may have noticed more and more electric cars hitting our roadways over the past few years. With that in mind, here’s a brief, but interesting look at the history of electric cars.

You’ve decided to replace your engine - but what do you replace it with? There are a few different options out there, and Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, FL has the info you need.

The exhaust on your truck is an important series of components, that work together to insure smooth, reliable operation. At Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, FL, we also know that exhaust systems are especially susceptible to damage and rust; pipes, mufflers, and other parts are exposed to hazards on the road, and to the environment. This situation, combined with caustic emissions and extreme heat, create a perfect opportunity for problems to arise.

At Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, we know how irritating an issue with your car, truck, or SUV can be, even if it doesn’t immediately affect your vehicle’s performance. One such problematic issue, the excessively loud radiator cooling fan, is a common plague many automobile owners will experience.

There are many parts and systems outside of the car’s transmission that is equally as important as the parts and systems inside the transmission. Without them, the transmission won’t do much. There’s no way to transfer power from the engine to the shafts, disengage it to shift the gears, or power the differential without them. Just in case you need us, at Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, FL, we can help keep your transmission in top shape, but here’s what you need to know.

Who created the world’s first car is actually a matter of debate; since the invention of the engine, people had been installing them on horse carriages to make them self-propelled. Even when automobiles specifically designed for engines came around, they were hardly recognizable as a car by today’s standards. However, the first patented automobile, a vehicle specifically designed to be propelled by an engine, was built by Karl Benz and completed in 1885.

At Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, we know that some of the most elusive issues with any car, truck, or SUV are often caused by the simplest of malfunctions. While you might consider a gas cap fairly innocuous, it can actually malfunction too, prompting a check engine light on your dashboard.

Good gas mileage is something we all want. In fact, many drivers purchase certain cars solely for gas mileage, and almost all of us at least take it into consideration when purchasing a vehicle. While it is true that gas mileage is by and large determined simply by the type of car, there are actually a variety of things you can do to increase the gas mileage of any automobile. The tips Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine want to provide you here are simple and effective steps you can take to increase your gas mileage, often more considerably than you think.

What condition are your tires in? At Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, FL, we want to make sure you can tell. A simple visual inspection is all you need - it’s easy if you know what to look for.

Tires are what keeps your vehicle rolling, literally. Many people have found that shopping for tires is overwhelming because there are just so many choices. At Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair, we want to break it down for you so that it's easier to understand. There are four main categories of tires, and the right ones for you will depend on the kind of driving you do. Let's talk more about that! 

If your car, truck or SUV is experiencing engine issues and you are concerned about having to purchase a new vehicle, our technicians at Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine have an answer that will save you money and help you maintain the value of your vehicle. Today's vehicles cost more than they ever did and you typically have a loan for a much longer time period - yet the warranty it seems stays relatively short!

Here, we believe in treating your vehicle as if it were ours and if your engine is not reliable we can replace it with a JASPER replacement engine with a nationwide parts and labor warranty! It is what we would do with our car, truck or SUV instead of trading it for a higher payment or a vehicle we didn't like as much as what we had!

Automotive windows are one of those things that you take for granted, until something goes wrong. One of the more irritating issues a window can develop, is dislocating from its track while attempting to roll it up or down. Why does this happen, and how do you fix it? At Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, FL, we’ve got answers to your questions and solutions to your problems.

At Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair in St Augustine, FL, we know that transmissions are witchcraft to most people. More often than not, if major damage has occurred, it’s a lot more time and cost-effective to just replace the entire unit and get a fresh start. Our trained technicians at Melvin's Auto & Truck Repair want to keep you informed so you are aware of what to look out for.