Abigail

It’s getting hot out there – and we’re definitely not complaining! – but that means it’s time to put your car’s air-con to good use. Here are a few tips to make sure you get the most out of it during a heatwave:

Open your doors and windows first

You get in your car on a hot day and it feels like a sauna, so you switch the air-conditioning on full-blast, right? Wrong! To cool your car down fast, first open all the doors and windows to allow the hot air to escape, and cooler air to enter. Once you’ve done this for a couple of minutes, then you can close everything, turn on the AC, and enjoy a cool, comfortable drive.

Tilt the air vents upwards

You may think that angling the air vents towards you when the air-conditioning is on is the best way to cool down; however, this prevents the air circulating, which it needs to in order to work effectively. Instead, tilt the vents upwards so that the air can flow easily around the car’s interior.

Use your air-con regularly

It is recommended that you turn your air-conditioning on regularly – even in winter – to help ensure long-term reliability.

Try and park in a shaded spot

We know that our cars get the most hot when they’re sat in the sun all day. Try and position your car in a shaded spot when parking it to keep it as cool as possible.

Stick to a regular air-conditioning service schedule

The air-conditioning system often gets overlooked when it comes to car maintenance. The last thing you want is to get in your car in hot weather to find the air-conditioning is no longer working. To avoid this, test your air-con regularly to make sure it’s working, and take it to a garage to service if necessary. Most garages include an air-conditioning check as part of their standard service package, so any problems can be identified and fixed. We recommend simply keeping to a regular overall service schedule so you never run into any issues.

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Contact us to book an air-con service, or for more advice. 

As we’re almost completely out of the coronavirus lockdown – hopefully forever – it’s no surprise that this year is expected to set a new record for staycations. Roads are already loaded with cars and people trying to escape to a different part of the UK, most travelling for hours on end to get to summer holiday hotspots.

Nothing could put a kink in your travel plans like having your car break down. To avoid this, make time to fully prepare before you set off. If you do nothing else, check these five things:

1) Fluid Levels
Top up your engine oil, brake fluid, and antifreeze if they are looking low. If you’re not sure how to check your car’s engine oil level, try following the steps in the video below:

2) Lights
Check all your lights are working as they should before a long journey – you may need to ask a family member or friend to help you check your brake or indicator lights.

3) Tyres
Ensure you conduct a thorough check on your tyres, confirming that the tread depth is above the legal requirement (1.6mm) and that they are pumped up. And, most importantly, make sure the spare tyre is pumped up.

4) Brakes
If your vehicle has been standing awhile, be aware that your brakes may be partially seized and/or corroded. If you hear grinding sounds, then it may be best to get them checked out.

5) Air-conditioning
It’s often overlooked, but checking your air-con is important, particularly if you are travelling during the peak of summer. Cars can heat up rapidly, which could make for a very uncomfortable journey. Check your air-con by turning it on and noticing whether it blows out cool, or warm air – if you experience the latter, you will need to get it looked at by a professional.

For further peace of mind, book your car in for a service at your local garage. If after checking your car yourself you notice anything unusual, it’s crucial that you take your car to a mechanic to fix any problems before you travel.

Call us at our Hunstanton garage on 01485 533786, or on 01553 763763 for King’s Lynn to book your car in for a service.

WHY GARAGES MUST BECOME MORE FEMALE-FRIENDLY IN 2021

Going to a garage can be an intimidating, confusing, and anxiety-inducing experience for some women, with many avoiding taking their car in for a service or MOT, regardless of the risk to their safety. There is a selection of garages that work hard to create a safe, comfortable environment for women and all gender identities, but unfortunately, some still aren’t making this a priority.

Why do garages need to better cater to women? 

Car garages should be doing their bit to make every individual, regardless of gender, feel welcome.

As mentioned above, fear of visiting a garage can lead to someone putting off necessary repairs. These repairs could be the difference between being safe or a danger to those on the road.

What makes a female-friendly garage? 

Here’s an example of three qualities that a female-friendly garage should have:

1. Clean and tidy reception/waiting area

The reception or waiting area is usually the only space you’ll see when visiting a garage. If you’re a woman – or man, or someone who identifies as another gender – who has had a bad experience with garages in the past, or is visiting one for the first time, walking into a dark, grubby, cold reception area isn’t going to put you at ease. This space must be kept clean and tidy – it shouldn’t have any bad smells (!) and it should offer somewhere relaxing to sit and wait for your car if you need to.

2. Helpful, understanding staff members

We’re not just talking about the front-of-house team here – although they should be extra smiley! All staff, whether on the reception desk or in the workshop, should treat every customer with respect and compassion. If you don’t know much about cars and how they work, you’re not going to understand the jargon. Both reception staff and mechanics should explain any problems with a car and proposed repairs clearly and in layman’s terms, without being patronising.

3. Good communication with customers, and at the right times

No garage should conduct any work on a car before quoting the cost to the customer. This is just common decency but can go a long way to making women especially feel fairly treated and less anxious at a garage.

You may have heard horror stories about women being taken advantage of when they came to a mechanic for help, perhaps being overcharged for work, or having more work done than was discussed and still being charged for it. In fact, according to a study performed by The Times, women are much more likely to be quoted higher prices for car repairs than men, for the same services. It’s important to note that this isn’t always the case, however.

Definite and potential costs should be laid out and explained to the customer before work on their car commences, and no work should be undertaken unless the customer has given consent. And, of course, all customers should be treated equally, particularly when it comes to costs.

A lot of changes need to be made to ensure all garages are safe spaces for all gender identities but thankfully, there are already a lot of businesses, such as ourselves, that consider this a priority. As a family-owned business run by a male and female team, Keith and Tamsin Brown, we have always treated all our customers with the same courtesy and care, regardless of their gender.

Chat to our all-female reception team to book your car in today and experience our friendly garages and MOT test centres for yourself.

With totally honest advice and completely transparent pricing, K Brown Auto Repairs offers the service you and your car deserve.

For over 25 years, people have been bringing their cars to K Brown Auto Repairs time after time for all their servicing and MOT needs – and for a very good reason. Because Keith and Tamsin Brown have always been comitted to ensuring their centres at King’s Lynn and Hunstanton are welcoming and reassuring – and full of friendly and approachable staff. Which makes a refreshing change to an experience that can often be intimidating.

“We recently had to make a special journey to help my daughter because she had a puncture and was too nervous to visit a garage,” says Tamsin. ”Even though her parents own two repair centres and she’s used to that environment, she felt she couldn’t do that alone as a woman. I think that says a lot about the industry’s general approach to customer service”

At K Brown Auto Repairs, you won’t have to worry about being taken advantage of by mechanical ‘experts’ with some sort of ‘superior’ knowledge. No one will tell you that you need a new tyre. brakes or part of your suspension if the reality is that they can last a bit longer. And you’ll never have to be concerned with receiving the bill for work that’s driven by sales targets rather than honest recommendations.

“Our success has been built on completely honest and trustworthy advice,” says Tamsin. “If your brakes are starting to wear, for example, we’ll give you a realistic idea of when they’ll need some attention. What we certainly won’t do is tell you they need replacing immediately – which is the kind of ‘service’ that gives the industry such a bad name.”

At K Brown Auto Repairs, there’s no need to feel unnerved about having your car serviced or feel worried about taking recommendations ‘on faith’ – becasue a team of trained staff will be happy to reassure you and explain any technical details in helpful, simple terminology.

It’s the honest and reliable service that you and your car deserve. “It’s our job to establish the root cause of the code in question rather than doing unnecessary and costly work,” says Keith. “We’ve invested heavily in diagnostic equipment over the last few years, and it maintains our dealer-level facilities for the most popular makes of vehicle – and our independent status.”

With a famously friendly service and a totally open pricing policy, K Brown Auto Repairs is everything you and your car has been looking for.

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If you would like more information about servicing options click here.

The KL Magazine are a local magazine based around celebrating and supporting all things Norfolk. We feature in the magazine every month, whether in advert form or as an informative editorial. Next month’s read is all about those worry-inducing warning lights that pop up on the dashboard of your car…

Just because your car displays a warning light doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road, as Keith Brown of K Brown Auto Repairs explains…

We’ve all been there. A mysterious symbol lights up on your dashboard telling you there’s a problem with your car somewhere, and the obvious solution is to take it to the nearest garage, have them scan the vehicle and fix the problem as quickly as possible. In many cases, however, it’s not quite as straightforward as that.

Turn the clock back 20 years, and your car would have had very limited computerised memory, and would only have had one or two electronic control units (ECUs). The car you’re driving now will have much more than that – some luxury models on the road today have over 20 separate ECUs and they can store as many as 30,000 different codes.

“Lots of people are aware of ECU codes, and will happily buy their own code reader for less than £10 on Amazon – but it’s important to realise that a simple bulb warning could be due to any number of reasons,” says Keith Brown of K Brown Auto Repairs in King’s Lynn and Hunstanton. “Some of them are very easy to remedy, but some of them are very serious and will require expert diagnosis.”

It’s surprising how many people ignore warning lights and codes – especially as new 2018 regulations meant that many of these could ultimately result in MOT failure and (at worst) breakdown. It’s also essential to realise that these mysterious codes are symptoms of a problem rather than the cause – and that’s where K Brown Auto Repairs come in.

“It’s our job to establish the root cause of the code in question rather than doing unnecessary and costly work,” says Keith. “We’ve invested heavily in diagnostic equipment over the last few years, and it maintains our dealer-level facilities for the most popular makes of vehicle – and our independent status.”

Through a logical testing procedure, K Brown Auto Repairs will fully scan the vehicle, interpret the possible causes and follow a diagnostic procedure to pinpoint the actual cause – and not the assumed or Googled cause. This saves fitting expensive parts unnecessarily, costing you time and money. It also gives K Brown Auto Repairs the confidence to guarantee their work and offer you the peace of mind that the problem is solved first time.

“There’s no legal requirement for frequent diagnostic checks,” says Keith, “but scanning your car can help identify minor issues before they become major problems – and can minimise the risk of you breaking down.”

With a famously friendly service and a totally open pricing policy, K Brown Auto Repairs is everything you and your car has been looking for.

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Have you got a warning light on your dashboard you’d like to get to the bottom of? Contact us today to book your expert diagnosis.