Brake Service At Carolina Tire & Auto In Charlotte

Most Charlotte drivers know that braking means slowing or stopping a vehicle. The mechanical aspects of the brakes themselves are just one issue. There’s also the power brake system and brake fluid. And then there are the tires, which are critical to the effectiveness of the brakes.

Let’s step back. A car or truck rolls brand new off the showroom floor at a local Charlotte dealer. It has brand new brakes with brand new brake pads. The brake lines and the power assist are filled with fresh fluid and are completely clean inside. And the sedan tires are brand new, with full tread. Naturally, braking power is at its peak performance.

Now, as your drive from Charlotte to Charlotte and back, the miles start to add up. Most Charlotte car owners tend to focus on the brake pads. In the Charlotte automotive service community, the pads, and shoes on drum brakes, are called the friction material. That’s because they provide the friction used to stop the sedan. The pads are designed to be effective throughout their useful life – it’s not until they are worn so thin as to be out of spec that they lose stopping effectiveness.

The mechanical parts of the brakes have pistons and springs that get quite a workout while stopping the sedan. Over many miles, these wear and get gummed up. They start to lose effectiveness gradually and could even fail. That’s why a regular brake inspection is important. At Carolina Tire & Auto, we can test the operation of the brakes and see if any parts need cleaning or replacing.

That leads us to brake fluid service at Carolina Tire & Auto. Some of the critical additives in the fluid that lubricate and clean the sedan fluid system are depleted over time. That and moisture building up in the system deteriorate the performance of the brake fluid. Brake fluid replacement at Carolina Tire & Auto includes flushing the brake system to clean out deposits, water and dirt. Then the system is filled up with fresh fluid.

The tires are what connect the sedan to the road. The stopping force is ultimately dependent on the traction provided by the tires. The better they grip the road, the quicker you’ll stop as you drive around Charlotte.

For questions about brakes, brake pads, brake pads, Brembo braking systems, timing belts and water pumps, or tires, talk to Carolina Tire & Auto  manager Jim Seidel.

Give us a call

Carolina Tire & Auto

980-219-8500
3325 Monroe Rd
Charlotte, NC 28205

704-553-9800

10822 Pineville Rd

Pineville, NC 28134

www.carolina-tire.com 

How to DePax your Honda Odyssey in Charlotte NC

2005-2009 Honda Odyssey Touring DePAX Kits from Carolina Tire & Auto

Now you can switch from Honda PAX wheels to conventional wheel and tires. Carolina Tire & Auto offers several different 16" and 17" Honda Alloy Wheels to fit your lifestyle. Please read the documentation we've provided and call us should you have any questions.

Based on Honda's "recommendations" any DePAX conversions, maintenance and safety are the sole responsibility of the vehicle owner. Carolina Tire is willing to supply and offer complete DePAX packages but on an "as is" basis only.

The Carolina Tire & Auto DePAX Kits: With the research you have done online you already know that you can switch from PAX wheels to a conventional wheel and tire. We offer several different 16" and 17" Honda Alloy Wheels to fit your lifestyle. You can reuse lug nuts*, tire pressure sensors^ and center caps~ from the PAX wheels or you may purchase new sets for a more "turn key" installation. Each kit priced below includes 4 wheels and a spare tire kit.

• *Different style lug nuts are required for 2005-2006 models if you choose a 2007 or newer alloy wheel design.
• ^It is highly recommended if you are reusing your sensors that your replace the valve stem assemblies. New tire pressure sensors come with valve assemblies when you order.
• ~Kit5 includes center caps that will match the wheel design and color.
• Only our spare kit includes a tire. You will be responsible for selecting an appropriate tire for your wheels from Carolina Tire & Auto Centers.

Selecting Appropriate Honda Tires: In order to buy safe tires for your Honda Odyssey Carolina Tire & Auto recommends to look for conventional tires that will most closely match the stock PAX specifications. You may match up any brand tire you wish but we have supplied our recommendations below.

Size	Tire	TreadwearRating	Traction/ Temperature	Load/ Speed	Load Rating Per Tire	Tire/ Speed	Overall Diameter
235-710R460A	Michelin PAX	500	A/B	104T	1984	118	28.0"
P235/65 R16	16" Michelin Energy LX4	500	A/B	103T	1929	118	27.9"
P235/65 R16	16" Continental ProContact +	740	A/B	103T	1929	118	28.0"
P235/60 R17	17" Michelin Energy LX4	500	A/B	102T	1874	118	28.0"
P235/60 R17	17" Continental ProContact +	740	A/B	102H	1874	130	28.1"

Proper Load Rating: To figure the tire load rating multiply the rating of the tire by 4. For example a 17" Michelin Energy LX4 has a load rating of 1874 pounds. This number multiplied by 4 gives you a total of 7496 pounds. A 2007 Touring model with PAX tires comes in at a curb weight of 4678 pounds. This will leave you with 2818 pounds of vehicle load which includes passengers, cargo and tongue weight if you are pulling a trailer. The max load limit for the 2007 Touring is 1208 pounds according to the owner's manual. That being said even at full vehicle load you would still have 1610 pounds leftover.

Touring Model Informational Display: If air pressure in a tire drops significantly on a vehicle designed to use a PAX system, a message appears on the multi-information display telling the driver it is OK to keep driving on the PAX wheel. This is because a PAX tire can be driven on even when it is significantly under inflated or flat. This message will appear even if the vehicle is subsequently outfitted with conventional wheels and tires. Therefore if this message appears after DePAXing you should treat and address the issue as you would a conventional wheel and tire setup. You will no longer be able to drive safely on severely under inflated or flat conventional tires.

Additional information about the PAX system can be found at http://www.michelinman.com/pax.

The most popular Honda wheel option is the slotted wheel: Brand new regular tires, brand new Honda wheels, reusing your old TPMS sensors and reusing your old center caps = $1,500.00 to $1,800.00 depending on your size tire and wheel. These will be 70,000 mile treadwear warranty tires.

Call today to have your Honda Oddyssey "DePaxed" in Charlotte, North Carolina. We have several different options from which you can choose from. 

Carolina Tire and Auto Centers

South Charlotte = 704-553-9800

Uptown and Dilworth Area = 980-219-8500


Carolina Tire & Auto Centers Website - Make an appointment online !

Honda Disclaimer: American Honda Motor Company will not approve and warranty any non-PAX tire/wheel assemblies regardless if you are replacing with Genuine Honda equipment as we are offering below. Their stance and we quote is the following.

"American Honda strongly recommends that you replace the original PAX tires only with new PAX tires of the same size and speed rating. Using any non-PAX tire/wheel assemblies on a vehicle originally designed for PAX tires poses significant safety concerns and is not recommended or approved by American Honda." Woodies, auto, service, repair, tires

Charlotte, Stands up for Small Business

In Charlotte in just the last five months, Buffalo Tire sold out to the Japanese and now we've read that Case Tire is shutting down after 40 years in business. My Carolina Tire & Auto friends, believe in small business. Don't buy into the large international auto chain stores and car dealerships. Carolina Tire & Auto is called Charlotte's Dealership Alternative for many reasons. We do not out on the high pressure sale like others do, we do not try to sell you things you do not need. What we do is we take care of your car like it was our own and only watch out for your best interest.

We know times are tough, that's why Charlotte, NC needs an independently owned place like Carolina Tire & Auto where you actually see and know the owner. That we will look you in your eyes and shake your hand and tell you the God's honest truth about your car's health. "Sometimes people don't like to hear that their car was diagnosed with a particular issue", said Carolina Tire president, Jim Seidel. "But that why we train each associate at Carolina Tire to talk to the customer and take care of the customer's cars like it was their mother's car", added Seidel. We don't set quotas on cars like a Tire Kingdom may do. If your car is alright and just needs oil, then that's what it is. But if it really needs brakes or there's a check engine light on, we're going to inform you about those issues.

Carolina Tire & Auto is an Angie's List Super Service Award Winner for 2010 and 2011. Carolina Tire & Auto is also one of the highest rated auto centers in all of Charlotte on places like Google and CitySearch and Judy's Book. Carolina Tire & Auto has car dealership mechanics and technicians that perform professional repairs, service and maintenance on cars like Mercedes, BMW, Ford, Honda, Land Rover, Aston Martin, Jaguar, BMW, Chrylser, Dodge, Chevy, GMC, Lincoln, Mercury, Buick, Toyota, Kia, Lexus, Infiniti and more. "Many people don't even know that we have the exact same tools, electronic equipment and mechanics as the dealerships do", noted Mr. Seidel. "We're doing the same work, putting on parts right out of the same box that the dealership is using and putting the same replacement repair warranty". "The only thing Carolina Tire & Auto isn't doing is charging the car dealership rates", add Seidel.

Spread the word on Carolina Tire & Auto Charlotte. Show Charlotte that you stand united with small business, this country's and this economy's life blood.


Carolina Tire & Auto has two great locations for Charlotte:

Carolina Tire & Auto (Uptown, Myers Park & Dilworth)
3325 Monroe Rd
Charlotte, NC 28205
980-219-8500


Carolina Tire & Auto (South Charlotte)
10822 Pineville Rd
Pineville, NC 28134
704-553-9800

www.carolina-tire.com - Book your auto repair and tire appointments online.

Buying Tires Online has Become Too Expensive

Remember when buying tires in "the old days of the internet", (2 years ago) was always a good deal? Go to sites like Tire Rack and more times than not, they were less money than your local Charlotte tire dealer. Then sprang up copy cat sites like Tire Buyer, Discount Tire Direct and Tire Monkey. All boasting "free delivery" to your local tire installer.

Tire buyers in Charlotte already know that Carolina Tire is the only place to buy tires. No one has and no one can compete on prices of tires and we're going to prove it to you right now by doing a real world comparison of tire prices at popular online tire sites on very popular sizes and brands like Continental and Michelin brand tires.

We're going to compare the P205/55R16 Continental DWS tires from Tire Rack, Tire Monkey, Tire Buyer and Discount Tire online. All tires were shown delivered to Charlotte zip code 28277.

Tire Rack = $116.67 delivered
Tire Monkey = $135.00 delivered
Tire Buyer = $115.19 delivered
Discount Tire = $119.00 delivered

Carolina Tire $115.00 per tire


Now let's try the Michelin LTX M/S2 in the 265/70R17 tire size.


Tire Rack = $267.55 delivered
Tire Monkey = $258.00 delivered
Tire Buyer = $229.56 delivered
Discount Tire = $242.00 delivered

Carolina Tire $228.00 per tire


We could go on and on with examples. These are the exact same tires that you would get from any of these distributors as you would get from Carolina Tire. The fact is as we stated as the headline for this blog post, buying tires online has become too expensive. Buying tires has gone back and in favor to the local tire dealer and that my friends is your # 1 online rated and Angie's List 2010 and 2011 Super Service Award Winning Carolina Tire & Auto. Please remember that if you buy tires any place else than Carolina Tire & Auto, you'll pay way too much.

To buy these inexpensive tires, contact Carolina Tire at any of these locations.

Carolina Tire & Auto - www.carolina-tire.com

South Charlotte

10822 Pineville Rd
Pineville, NC 28134


704-553-9800

Uptown, Myers Park or Dilworth


3325 Monroe Rd
Charlotte, NC 28205


980-219-8500

Every car owner who has taken their car in for an oil change has been told that their engine air filter’s dirty. Here’s what goes into the determination of when to change the filter: First, your sedan owner’s manual will have a recommendation of when to change the filter. Second, a visual inspection by your Charlotte technician may determine that your filter it is visibly dirty and needs to be changed.

So between your sedan owner’s manual and your Charlotte technician’s inspection there’s really no guesswork involved.

Now, most air filters purchased in Charlotte don’t cost a lot to replace. It’s just that NC people hate getting caught with an unexpected expense. On the plus side, though, changing a dirty air filter at Carolina Tire & Auto can often save enough on gas to pay for itself before your next oil change.

Think about a dirty furnace filter in your Charlotte home. When it’s all clogged up, enough clean air can’t get through. In your sedan, that means that your engine can’t get as much air as it needs to burn the fuel efficiently. So it makes do with less air and has to use more gas to move your vehicle around Pineville roads.

Your sedan actually needs about 12,000 gallons of air for every gallon of gas it burns. Engine air filters don’t cost much in Pineville at Carolina Tire & Auto. When it’s time to change yours, just get it done. You’ll save money, have better performance and protect your engine.

Give us a call:

Carolina Tire & Auto
10822 Pineville Rd
Pineville, NC 28134

704-553-9800

3325 Monroe Rd

Charlotte, NC 28205

980-219-8500

http://www.carolina-tire.com

Carolina Tire & Auto to Give Back $17 Million Dollars to Charlotte Drivers

Gas prices continued an upward climb today, settling at an average price of $3.59 a gallon, the U.S. Energy Information Administration announced today.

In some places, Charlotte consumers are already seeing gas prices over $4. Today's weekly gas price average was up 40 cents from a year ago, and up by seven cents from last week.

"I'm expecting the national average to float dangerously close to $4 a gallon," Patrick DeHaan, GasBuddy.com's senior petroleum analyst, recently told ABC News. DeHaan said that following last week's average price per gallon of $3.53, gas prices are very close to "that psychological $4 mark."

So how is Carolina Tire & Auto going to give Charlotte, North Carolina back $17,000,000.00 dollars in gas savings? "Simple math" says Jim Seidel, president of Carolina Tire & Auto.

There are over 1.7 million people living in Charlotte, NC. For every person that comes to a Carolina Tire & Auto location with a paid gas receipt of at least $10 bucks, they give you $10 bucks back. What's the catch? There isn't one really. If you drive a car you need services performed to it. Services like oil changes that save you on gas. Products like Continental tires that manufacture fuel saving tires. So the next time you need an oil change, tires or any auto repair service or general maintenance that totals at least $40.00 at any Carolina Tire & Auto location and you give us your gas receipt, we'll give you $10.00 bucks off your bill right there on the spot.

"We have over 25,000 current customer right now and we'll start with them", added Mr. Seidel. That's $250,000.00 back to just the customers at Carolina Tire & Auto. This promo will stay up as long as gas prices are above $3.00 per gallon or supplies run out.

Auto Repair Charlotte, NC

Carolina Tire & Auto is a locally owned and family run auto repair and service company with locations in South Charlotte and Dilworth/Myers Park/Uptown. Carolina Tire & Auto has consistently been one of the highest rated auto centers in Charlotte, NC as well as an Angie's List Super Service Award Winner two years in a row. Carolina Tire & Auto has also been South Charlotte's Dealership Alternative. Employing ASE Certified technicians and having dealership electronics and diagnostic equipment. From the basic Honda and Ford, to Steve Smith's Bentley Flying Spur. They service all European cars under their Carolina MotorWerks division, including Aston Martin, Porsche and Ferrari.

Carolina Tire & Auto / Carolina MotorWerks

10822 Pineville Rd

Pineville, NC 28134

704-553-9800

3325 Monroe Rd

Charlotte, NC 28205

980-219-8500

http://www.carolina-tire.com

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