Ocala Auto Repair

Photo by Kenny Gaines on Unsplash Welcome back to another PALS Ocala blog! We hope that life has been treating you well throughout March and you are achieving all your goals. The PALS Ocala website has a page for what we call ‘Partners’. These aren’t partners in the strict sense of capitalism; they represent our partners in building a better Ocala together. If you click the link and go to our website, you’ll discover some of the many charities and organizations Linda and I support. We’re proud of these organizations and the work they are doing for the life and soul of Ocala’s adults, children, families, and even pets.  It’s a collection ... read more

Welcome to March! With the new month comes the beginning of allergy season, and there are lots of things to do to prepare for it if you want to minimize the trouble it can cause you.   Allergies don't affect everyone the same, thank goodness, but your car can be a moving hotspot for irritants. And just as those irritants can trouble your body, a heavy pollen count can also disturb your vehicle.    A vehicle covered in dust, or pollen, or soot, means that tiny particles that form can try to get into the engine and can eventually clog up your fuel system, as well as your air intake. So if this year's pollen count is exceptionally high without enough rain to keep it washed away, consider these critical pieces of advice:   Wash your car and vacuum your engine out. Cleaning out the chassis helps prevent pollen from getting into the vehicle's engine and damaging the fuel system. Replace the air filters. In the heaviest pollen, they will begin to clog up ... read more

Welcome to 2021, everyone! In July of this past year, we were honored to restore a 1966 Corvette for a client! We thought we’d take you through the process of restoring this beautiful car to show you why love restorations. She’s been a loyal client of ours for a few years. She was recently given her father’s old Corvette, and chose Pals Ocala Auto Repair to do the restoration on it! The Corvette has been garaged for almost 30 years, so it needed a full body and frame restoration. Chuck Perry estimated the repairs to be about $80,000 in the end. With her deposit in hand, we set to work restoring this beautiful classic to its original glory. Stage one was removing the body from the frame. The next step was delivering the body of the Corvette to a body shop for restoration.  The third step is to rehab the chassis. Every damaging blow to the underside of the chassis is being worked out and put back to factory specs. Our goal is to make certain that restoration woul ... read more

November 9th marks the 400th anniversary of the day passengers of the Mayflower spotted the Cape Cod shoreline after 65 days of hardship in the crossing, in which a new child was born (named Oceanus). Passenger William Brewster led the pilgrims in a reading of Psalm 100 to thank God for their arrival, to lands that mean renewal and freedom. At Pals Ocala, we want to give thanks for so much this year. We want to thank you, our loyal and dear customers, for continuing to put your trust in us, as well as for exercising safe practices and consideration for others during the worst, most uncertain months. Thank you for helping us survive and thrive. Pals Ocala Auto Repair managed to remain open during the pandemic and as essential workers, we helped our customers keep their cars running. Our staff has survived as well. While we grieve for the friends we have lost this year, we also celebrate those that survived… especially all the other essential workers and medical/emergency person ... read more

Welcome to October! Time for the leaves to start turning, the temperatures to cool off, and the Pumpkin Spice to flow. Now that we’re officially in the Fall season, there’s a lot going on in the Ocala area for the family.  Pals Ocala Auto Repair’s special of the month is a free oil change and tire rotation! Don’t forget to take advantage of this free offer. This is great preventative maintenance and a good measure to take before the holidays make life very busy, so book in today! Of course, Halloween is this month’s biggest event, on October 31st. This might just be one of the biggest Halloweens we’ve seen in years, with the day falling on a Saturday, and with a lot of people feeling cooped up indoors over COVID19 safety concerns.  Our concern this year is that kids will be trick-or-treating on the streets and almost all of them will have costumes featuring masks this year, to help protect them from catching or spreading COVID19. As a re ... read more

When you think about Independence in July, you think of Independence Day, right? Yes, most of us do. But today, we want to take a closer look at independence, your car, and what that means to you as a driver. But before we get started, Happy Independence Day! We love our country, we love living here in Florida, and we love our Ocala community. We are so lucky to be here and to serve our friends and neighbors. Life may not be perfect, and we have a lot of challenges to overcome, but the Pals Ocala Auto Repair team considers itself to be very fortunate to have the talent and resources to contribute. Our goal is to make the world a better place, one auto repair at a time, for it helps to support working people, families, travelers, retirees, vacationers, and the like. Next, let’s look at what independence means for the average driver. For new drivers who are teens, young adults, or people who are new to driving because they ... read more

Photo by Shelly Busby on Unsplash   Do you love to go out and recreate? We do, too! We love getting our vehicle packed, hitching up the trailer, and driving off to our next adventure. It doesn't matter if we want to go boating, horseback riding, camping, show off our car in a show, or go racing around the track. We love it all!   But before we head out for the fun activities we have planned, we know that our top priority should be safety. That is why in this article, Pals Ocala Auto Repair wants to address how to safely tow your 5th wheel trailer, your boat trailer, your horse trailer, the trailer carrying your classic car, and anything else you might be hauling.   Many things can affect the safety of you, your passengers, your vehicle ... read more

Now that the State of Florida has relaxed COVID-19 restrictions, we are seeing a lot of people get super excited about taking a Summertime road trip. Honestly, we can’t blame them one bit!    Summertime road trips are the focus of a lot of families, and Florida is an incredibly popular destination. We have beaches, rivers, lakes, and springs to keep you cool. Though the amusement parks are beginning phased reopening, and when they’re fully open, we expect a lot of people are going to be excited to enjoy them again. Plus, as Florida rolls back restrictions, there will be plenty of shopping, salons, restaurants, and barber shops to visit. Considering how antsy people are getting, almost everyone we talk to at Pals Ocala Auto Repair is looking forward to seeing friends and spending quality time with family during their Summertime road trips.   But the question remains… Is your vehicle ready for Summertime road trips? Please see us before you travel.   ... read more

COVID-19 has spun our nation sideways by shutting down our economy and wreaking havoc on our supply chains. During this time, we at Pals Ocala Auto Repair would like to send a special thank you to our President and our nation's first responders during this pandemic.  There is nothing more important than empathy, compassion, and community in this time of isolation and uncertainty. Isolating ourselves is vital to flattening the curve and taking the intense pressure off of our first responders, nurses, doctors, and hospital staff. We are incredibly grateful to our nation's leader for all that he is doing to keep our country safe from this global pandemic. It is not an easy time to lead our country, watching unemployment rates skyrocket and our economy nosedive due to the shutdown of all services. Ways our President is supporting our nation during his response to COVID-19, he has declared a national emergency, offering a 50 billion dollar boost in relief funds to assist hosp ... read more

Why Your Vehicle Can Benefit From Spring Cleaning Spring is upon us, and with the new life and growth comes inspiration to deep clean and re-sort many aspects of our lives. Out with the old, in with the new. A new fresh feel is often just what we need to kickstart the spring season, especially if you are considering taking a road trip soon. Here is a list of spring cleaning ideas for your car to give it some love and feel good about your ride. Washing your car The chances are that you encountered a fair amount of rain and wind this winter. The underside of your vehicle can become pitted and eventually get rust from salt build-up on treated roads, or even being near the ocean. It is essential to wash the underside of your vehicle to keep it from rotting the exhaust system, muffler, and the frame. You will want to be especially careful if you launch or load a boat near the saltwater. Salt can destroy your car in a hurry, rusting out the undercarriage and wheels in just a matter of a few ... read more