Carolina Tire to Open New Store in Uptown Charlotte

Family-owned and operated Carolina Tire & Auto Service Centers, based in Fort Mill, SC, has opened a new full service auto repair facility in Uptown Charlotte near Myers Park and CMC Main.

The company has grown to two locations throughout the Charlotte metro area. The South Charlotte store is located on Pineville, NC near Ballantyne. The new store is in the Myers Park/Randolph Rd area on Monroe Rd near Uptown Charlotte. The building is the former Buffalo Tire center and has a large swanky waiting area with wood floors, refreshments, Wi-Fi, leather couch and  HD-TV.

The facility boasts 5,500 square feet of floor space with eight full service repair bays featuring state of the art equipment, including environmentally friendly lifts, and will offer all of Carolina Tire’s current selection of tire brands like Continental and Michelin and services, according to the business.

“We have a passion for service and go out of our way to serve all of our customer’s automotive needs,” said company President Jim Seidel, who is also known as Charlotte's Tire King. “We are proud to provide the Seidel standard of professional tire and auto service, and are excited to bring this quality automotive care to the Uptown Charlotte, NC, area.”

The new address is:

Carolina Tire & Auto
3325 Monroe Rd
Charlotte, NC 28205
980-219-8500

Spark Plugs

In Pineville NC, the days when you changed your spark plugs every couple of years has ended. Back in the day, spark plugs really did wear out that often. A couple of things are different now…

First, spark plugs are made of better materials that last longer and they’re designed better. The second reason why spark plugs used to have to be changed in pickups and other autos was that they were fouled up with carbon deposits. The deposits built up when fuel wasn’t burned completely. With modern engine management controls that just doesn’t happen as often.

Engine control computers precisely time when fuel is injected into the engine and when spark plugs fire. Unless something’s wrong, spark plugs just don’t foul like they used to.

Electricity from the battery goes into a coil that allows power to build up to anywhere from 12,000 to 45,000 volts, depending on the vehicle. The engine management computer tells the coil when to release the power to the spark plug. The electricity travels through a wire from the coil to the spark plug. At the tip of the plug, a spark jumps between two electrodes and ignites the gas in the combustion chamber.

Some engines have more than one coil. Coils wear out and need to be replaced occasionally. Also, spark plug wires can wear out and need to be replaced.

Modern engines used around Pineville are delivering more power and better fuel economy all the time. That’s largely credited to fast engine control computers, advanced sensors, electronic ignition and improvements to the lowly spark plug.

It’ll be interesting to see where future developments take us. One last thought: it’s critically important to have theright kind of spark plug for your vehicle. Because engines are designed to run with different internal temperatures, spark plugs have different designs to work properly within those temperatures. Your Pineville NC service advisor at Carolina Tire & Auto will be able to get the right plugs for your vehicle. And he’ll be able to advise you on when you should replace your spark plugs as well.

At Carolina Tire & Auto in Pineville NC we install quality NAPA replacement parts. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

You can reach us in Pineville NC at: 704.553.9800, or online at http://www.carolina-tire.com/.

Auto Repairs on the Rise

The decline in new-vehicle sales during the recession is belatedly helping the auto repair and parts business as vehicles on the road are aging.

Carolina Tire & Auto experts say sales of auto repair parts and labor flattened or fell during the recession; while people bought fewer new cars, they also tended to neglect the ones they had. Doug Faulhaber, sales manager at the Carolina Tire & Auto in Pineville, N.C., recalls people coming in with brakes badly worn. "They were overdue," he said.

Now, with new-vehicle sales still well below pre-recession levels and the average vehicle on the road nationwide about a decade old, neglect is catching up with vehicle owners, says Jim Seidel, who tracks the market from the Indian Land office of XL Tire, Inc.

"For a lot of the routine maintenance that makes up the bulk of the products and services in the aftermarket, you've seen deferred maintenance taking place," Seidel said. "Now, people are circling back around, having made the decision to keep their cars a few more years."

Tom Beagan, Charlotte area manager for NAPA, said Tuesday at the Carolina Tire store that high gasoline prices have spurred sales of items that increase fuel efficiency, such as engine air cleaners. "Customers are more interested in their maintenance now," he said.

Ron Rossi, director of research for the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association in Bethesda, Md., says industry revenues totaled about $210 billion in 2007, stayed flat in 2008 and fell in 2009 to about $207 billion. They rose to $215 billion last year and are forcast $224 billion for this year.

AutoZone, the repair and parts chain based in Memphis, reported May 24 that its earnings rose by 12 percent in its third fiscal quarter ended May 7, to $227.4 million — exceeding analysts estimates. AutoZone has more than 4,000 locations in 48 states, including 13 on Long Island, according to its website.

In April, Atlanta-based Genuine Parts said its first-quarter profits rose 26 percent from a year earlier, to $126 million. Genuine Parts is majority owner of the National Automotive Parts Association (NAPA), a trade group that distributes auto parts nationwide to about 6,000 stores.

As consumers continue to invest their money into their vehicles, they are very interested in what other people say about their auto repair business. Internet search engines and websites like Google and Angie's List allow consumers to post reviews of their experiences at businesses they patronize. Seidel believes that this is the holy grail as it pertains to acquiring new customers. "Our online reputation is second to none in Charlotte for auto repair facilities, which include all the car dealerships." Seidel noted. Carolina Tire & Auto has over 200 positive reviews online and are well on their way to 300 positive reviews. They appear to have discovered the way to work together with customers to help their reviews and business grow in auto repair and tires sales in Charlotte. According to Angie's List website, Carolina Tire & Auto had a perfect score with over 20 customer reviews and is an Angie's List "Super Service Award Winner".