San Francisco Auto Repair

Steffanos, a long-time customer of B&W, is a high-end finish carpenter whose work spans from Pacific Heights to Nob Hill. For years, he used his large Dodge van to get to his job sites, but due to the lack of parking space, he was constantly being forced to park blocks away. About two years ago he decided to purchase a 1989 Cushman Truckster, ending his days of inconvenience and frustration. The Cushman Truckster focuses solely on utility; it holds two passengers and runs up to twenty-six miles per hour. Only 3 ft wide and 8 ft long, Steffanos was finally able to fit it into the small spaces available only for Vespas and smart cars. “Cushmans are classified as motorcycles, therefore I can park perpendicularly to the curb and in motorcycle parking spots.” Not only was Steffanos saving time, but also on gas as the little Truckster gets much better mileage. Although Steffanos loved his new car, he quickly became worried with its ability to climb the steep hills of ... read more

“If you live in a city, you don’t need to own a car.” William Clay Ford Jr. The Bay Area is a breeding ground for innovation in technology and environmentalism. One of the best examples of this is carsharing. Faced with a city filled with traffic congestion and imperfect public transit, more and more people in San Francisco are signing up for memberships to carsharing companies. Carsharing provides flexible wheels for an urban lifestyle by replacing car ownership. It’s a service that provides 24/7 self-serve access to a network of vehicles parked around your city, which can be reserved by the hour or day by phone, smart phone or online. Carsharing is not for everyone. As a rule-of-thumb, if you drive fewer than 7,500 miles a year and you don’t need a car to commute to work every day, then you’re a good candidate for carsharing. Not only can you save money, but by removing the hassles of ownership, you will also never have to worry about ... read more

An automobile’s braking system is one of the most complicated as it involves several components working together. It is also one the most important systems when it comes to safety. But how exactly does the brake system work? When you press on the brake pedal, you are actually pushing against a plunger in the master cylinder, which forces brake fluid to the wheels’ braking unit through a series of hoses. In disc brakes – most vehicles have four-wheel disc brakes today – the fluid is forced into a caliper pressing against a piston, which then squeezes the brake pads against the disc generating friction causing your car to slow down and finally stop. As you can imagine, brake pads will be the first component to wear down. If you hear an unusual noise when braking, such as squealing, grinding or screeching, it is time to replace your pads. Brake repair is typically inexpensive when it’s timely addressed. But, if you allow your brake pads and rotors to wear down, then you wi ... read more

As San Franciscans, we feel obligated to share any piece of advice that may save you from getting a parking ticket. Although we recently published a series of useful parking tips, we want to make sure that our readers are aware of the very latest change in the San Francisco parking system. As of last Sunday (1/6/13), a long-standing parking policy in San Francisco has come to an end as the city joined many other cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Vancouver, Portland, Charlotte and Tampa, in requiring drivers to feed parking meters on Sundays. For the next three weekends, the city plans to hand out warnings instead of citations, as the historical change may catch a lot of people off guard. Most parking meters had been free in San Francisco since the city installed its first meter back in 1947 at Bush and Polk Streets. Back then, things were different, as the majori ... read more