Santa Cruz Auto Repair

This is no an April Fool’s joke - Goodyear is partnering up with the US Department of Defense to make tires out of dandelions. More specifically, a variety of dandelion that was originally discovered in 1932 in Kazakhstan, and is known as TK. Apparently, it’s a pretty good substitute for a rubber tree. During the World War II, when supplies from South East Asia and South America were threatened, it was cultivated as a rubber tree substitute in the United States, the Soviet Union, England and Germany. If you remember your high school chemistry or biology lessons, when you pick a dandelion off your lawn, the milky white sap that comes out of the stems is latex – same stuff that comes out of the rubber tree and is used to make rubber. Yes, you need a lot of dandelions, or you need to find dandelion species with more latex. Or you could genetically engineer one – according to Mental Floss, German scientists came up with a genetically modified dandelion that produce ... read more

When it’s time for a professional brake inspection and repairs, there are usually warning signs, here is an abbreviated list: “Spongy” brake pedal - if you press the brake pedal and it feels “spongy” or soft, it can indicate brake problems – time to get the brake system checked out by a professional mechanic. Brakes that squeak – usually a sign that something is wrong with the brakes, time to get your vehicle to a repair shop asap. Car shakes during braking – shaking or strong vibrations during braking usually indicate problems with warped rotors. Rotor replacement is the likely solution. Modern rotors tend to be too thin to allow for rotor resurfacing. “ABS” warning light – anti-lock brake warning light indicates a problem with the ABS / anti-lock braking system. We recommend visiting a professional mechanic to diagnose and repair this problem. Good ... read more

Goodyear Tires and Auto Repair in Santa Cruz offers comprehensive auto maintenance, diagnostics, and auto repair services. Our nationally ASE certified technicians use the latest digital tools to diagnose your vehicle, and to make sure they get to the root cause of all problems it may exhibit. Only then we start the repair process, and once the repairs are completed, we test our work to make sure your vehicle works flawlessly. For your peace of mine, repairs performed at our Santa Cruz auto repair garage are covered by 2 year / 24,000 miles warranty. In the olden days, car repair used to be pretty simple. But today cars are full of computer technology, with dozens of embedded computers in every modern vehicle. At Goodyear Tires and Auto Repair we employ highly skilled technicians, and no repair is too big or too small. Whether your Toyota needs a new fuel cap to clear the check engine light, or your Honda requires new brake pads because old ones are squeaking we are h ... read more

Goodyear Tires and Auto Repair in Santa Cruz offers superior wheel alignment service at our family-owned Santa Cruz auto repair facility. Our equipment allows us to correct wheel alignment problems whether you drive a sedan, subcompact, pickup truck, SUV or a minivan. Majority of the wheel alignments are done when new tires are purchased, but all vehicles should have a yearly wheel alignment check, as the Santa Cruz streets, and the Bay Area roads all offer plenty of potholes that can throw the wheels out of alignment. Bumping into a curb, even at low speed, can also result in wheels out of alignment. Our family-owned Santa Cruz auto repair facility offers convenient alignment check and alignment services. If you want to learn more about symptoms that indicate need for wheel alignment, click through to the wheel alignment page.

Welcome to Goodyear Tires and Auto Repair – we are the premier Ford F-150 service and repair shop in Santa Cruz. Whether your F150 needs regular oil service, brake service, or major engine repairs, our nationally ASE certified technicians will take good care of your truck, and will get you back on the road. Our technicians have extensive Ford repair experience, including dealing with F-150 limp mode, transmission problems, or electrical problems. Naturally, they can handle routine jobs like brake pad replacement, check engine light diagnostics and repairs, and we can also get your F-150 a full set of new tires – and not just Goodyear – we also carry Continental, Toyo, Michelin, Yokohama, and Doral tires, just to name a few. Your truck can also get wheel alignment at the same time. If you own a fleet of F-150 pickup trucks, we understand that your trucks need to be on the road, not parked in a repair shop – so we can offer ... read more

Professional Brake Repair in Santa Cruz Brake inspection and brake repair is probably the most important work we do at the full-service Goodyear Tires and Auto Repair shop in Santa Cruz. When it comes to safely stop your vehicle – there is no substitute. That’s why we provide top brake repair and service in Santa Cruz. Brake failure is a scary and dangerous experience – don’t let that happen to you. At our Santa Cruz auto repair shop we can inspect the brakes and repair whatever may be amiss – from worn-out brake pads to warped rotors, sticky calipers, brake lines, brake fluid, and whatever else may ail your vehicle. Whether you drive Nissan Titan, or a little Honda Fit, keeping its brakes in excellent working condition should always be your priority.  Reasons to Have the Brakes Checked Out: Going on a Long Trip Before going on a long trip, brake check is a must. In general, we recommend full oil service and over ... read more

JD Powers ranked Hyundai highest in the Technology Innovation for the mass market segment. Long gone are the days when Hyundai competed primarily on price. Over time Hyundai improved quality of their vehicles, and provided customers with a full line to choose from - from compacts, to sedans, to SUVs, including the all-electric Kona SUV.  JD Powers just crowed Hyundai the Technology Innovation leader among mass market vehicles. Ranking high in the execution scores as well, Hyundai is proving that its strategy is working and it is producing modern, highly desirable vehicles. At Goodyear Tires & Auto Repair we have been serving Hyundai owners for decades, and will continue to do so in the future. Our full service Santa Cruz auto repair shop offers full range of Hyundai maintenance and repair services. When you bring your Hyundai to Goodyear Tires & Auto Repair in Santa Cruz, your vehicle will be in great hands. Our nationally ASE certified ... read more

August 2020 Volkswagen just announced that it will expand its Chattanooga factory to add battery pack production. The factory is already slated to assemble electric vehicles, but now VW will add electric vehicle cell and battery production. Volkswagen plans to have cell and battery pack testing lab completed and fully operational by Spring 2021. At Goodyear Tires & Auto Repair in Santa Cruz we applaud Volkswagen for its commitment to electric vehicle production in the US. Naturally when these vehicles appear in Santa Cruz, our technicians will be fully trained and equipped to provide full maintenance and repair services. In the meantime, we can service and repair your current Volkswagen. So whether you gasoline powered Volkswagen needs oil service, brake pad replacement, or major repairs, bring it to our full service Santa Cruz auto repair shop – we will take great care of your vehicle. Call us to schedule an appointment

How Often Do I Need Wheel Alignment in Santa Cruz? Given the sorry state of our roads, your car should have an alignment check once a year. While Santa Cruz is not as bad as some other cities in the Bay Area, there are still plenty of potholes, road work and other opportunities for the wheels to get out of alignment. This in turn leads to less comfortable ride, and accelerated tire wear – misaligned wheels cost you comfort and money.  Wheel alignment benefits The benefits for wheel alignment include, smoother ride, better handling, improved mileage and longer tire life.  At Goodyear Tires and Auto Repair in Santa Cruz we recommend doing a yearly wheel alignment check. We can perform wheel alignment check along with the regular oil service, so there is no need to schedule a separate appointment, unless you feel that the car is so badly out of alignment that it should not wait until next oil service. If you want to find out about symptoms of wheels out of alignment, c ... read more

Recently, Business Insider published an article about yet another negative of the autonomous vehicles. As we get more acquainted with them, it turns out they suffer from accelerated tire wear. Autonomous vehicles are typically built on the electric vehicle platform, to make a true “futuristic” car. But the immediate torque that occurs with electric vehicles results in much faster tire wear than with regular cars. So owners of autonomous vehicles and electric vehicles, in general, will need to get used to replacing tires more frequently. To partially alleviate this problem, tire manufacturers are planning to outfit tires with new sensors, to warn owners when the tire needs to be replaced. This is similar to the TPMS sensors that currently warn us when tires are under-inflated. Tires in the future will be smart enough to tell us when they need to be replaced. But current tires are not that smart yet, so for the time being, if you are not quite sure if your tires need to be ... read more