Palmer Auto Repair

This last Saturday, January 7, 2017, we had our first ever women's car care clinic. We are hoping to make this a regular series for women only to help educate and empower them about automotive matters. We had so much fun learning about automotive basics, getting up close and personal with vehicles in the shop, and drinking some tasty wine from The Alaska Wine Wagon. We covered everything from the basics of internal combustion engine operation to the importance of good tires. This program is designed to be a stress free, friendly, and encouraging environment for women to ask questions and learn about car care. I've been in the automotive industry for over 18 years and still feel the effects of being in a male dominated industry. Our goal is not to make this about gender, as no one deserves to feel inferior when making significant investments in the longevity of their vehicles, but a female only clinic has been in high demand for several years. Edmonds Import Aut ... read more

Well, it finally happened. Winter in Alaska. I glanced down at my outside temp readout this morning as I started my car and confirmed what I had suspected--negative digits. For those fortunate enough to have a garage to keep their cars warm and toasty, this post is not for you. As the temp outside dips steadily south, take time to consider your vehicle and it's needs in colder weather. If you don't have an oil pan or block heater installed already consider getting one installed. Some vehicles can support a block heater to keep the engine warm because the engines come equipped with freeze plugs. If your vehicle does not have a freeze plug for a block heater to be installed (VW and Audi come to mind), you can still have your vehicle equipped with a oil pan heater. An oil pan heater is a heating element that attaches to the engine's oil pan and keeps the oil warm. Keeping the oil warm in colder temps is vital to keep the top end of the engine properly lubricated on st ... read more

As a female in the industry that I'm in, I get asked all the time "How did you get started in working on cars?" First and foremost, let me clarify. I have never turned wrench professionally. Can I do it, yes. Do I claim to be a technician or know as much as my techs? Absolutely not. My professional background is in pretty much everything else--parts, service, and management. But the "how" of my involvement in running and owning auto shops is not nearly as important as the "why". I started working in shops when I was 18 and going to college full-time. I started in the local Toyota dealer in shipping and receiving. I didn't know a ball joint from a spark plug. But I'm an excellent listener and observer and I soon started picking up my knowledge from listening to the technicians and parts people. What I discovered was a whole new world that not many people, especially women, ventured into and that gave me an incredible sense of empowerment. People in the auto world ar ... read more

Well, here it goes. My very first entry into the World of Blogging. For those of you that are far more tech savvy than I, please be patient and try not to roll your eyes too much at me. I've resisted social media for far too long and I realized that if I am to ask my techs to stay on top of automotive technology then it was only fair that I kept up on my end. I prefer to engage our customers on a face-to-face basis, but as we grow larger that becomes far more difficult to do. Although we pride our shop on keeping a personal element with all of our customers we find that we can always do better at maintaining contact. Thus, our Facebook page, Twitter, and our very first blog is born. It's been quite the learning curve for our team as the demand for our services is sometimes more than we can handle, but my team always does me proud in the end. Just as my team has done me proud with servicing your vehicles, I hope I can do them proud with my end of the bargain. If anyone has ... read more