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DEATH BY AUTO One night while I was working late, at about 10:00 pm an ambulance screamed up Route 41, past the shop. Being in such close proximately to Bayfront Hospital, this is not an odd occurrence. What was odd was that very shortly after, the same or another ambulance made the right off of […]

LISTENING TO YOUR CAR If you have been reading my columns for any length of time you know that my favorite analogies are between your vehicle and your body. The fact of the matter is that there are so many symptoms and repairs that are so alike, that it is almost impossible to deny the […]

Buying a used vehicle? Being in the automotive repair industry is very much like being a mental health technician. This is not saying that there is any correlation to the education aspects that we both have to attain. But most clients are very surprised at the amount of continuing education automotive techs receive. It’s just […]

THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER REVISITED With all of the uproar and amount of Catalytic Converter thefts, I thought that it would be nice if everyone knew what made them so appealing to thieves. The catalytic converter is one of the most misunderstood and misdiagnosed emission devices in today’s vehicles. The dreaded catalytic efficiency codes P0420 and […]

GDI ENGINES: MARVEL OR MONSTER – Part 2 If you read my last article, you’ll know that we’ve established the fact that the GDI engine is the greatest thing since cupcakes as far as the automotive industry is concerned. But then again, every time the industry comes up with new technology it is always the […]

GDI ENGINES: MARVEL OR MONSTER GDI engines: what are they, and why is everything automotive becoming alphabet soup? Well GDI stands for Gas Direct Injection. Okay, problem solved, now we all know what the initials stand for, BUT what does this mean to me, “Joe Average somewhat new car owner”? Somewhere in this crazy industry, […]

THE BLACK BOX Everyone has heard of the “black box”, it’s always the topic of conversation and the world’s scrutiny whenever a commercial or military plane goes down. It holds all of the secrets of the last fateful trip and is always equipped with some sort of transponder or homing device to make it easier […]

From Their Exhaust To Your Lungs Did you know that cars and trucks once had separate air intakes that allowed air from the outside to enter the passenger compartment? Those were those handles that said “Vent”. Those vent handles allowed fresh air to pass from the front of the vehicle directly to the passenger compartment. […]

VALVES, SOLENOIDS, FLUIDS, AND TECHNIQUES TO PRESERVE YOUR A.B.S. BRAKE SYSTEM ABS, Traction Control, red brake lights, orange triangles or orange ABS lamps; every late model vehicle has them. And in the privacy of brakes classes where everyone is a wrench, we commonly referred to these warning lamps as the “check money lamp.” To everyone […]

HOW TO BUY A NEW OR USED CAR!!! Last week I had spied an article in the local paper about a couple that had purchased a used vehicle from a person from what I can only assume had advertised it in a newspaper or some social media site. Fortunately for them, the writer of this […]

PUTTING THE BRAKES ON AUTISM To start this article, I must ask everyone a simple question. That is, do you really know what Autism is? Even though the term Autism first appeared in 1911 very little was known about it until the late 20th century. It is only now that new discoveries and treatments are […]

HOW TO GET 2O YEARS OF LIFE FROM YOUR VEHICLE This is an old story and it’s rehashed all of the time, but it’s a new time and all of the rules have changed. The good news is that getting a new lease on life on your existing vehicle can start no matter what stage […]

ADAS- WHAT’S THAT? (PART 1) Welcome to the world of automotive acronyms! The industry has progressed to what used to be straightforward and easily understood wording to the world of deep espionage as convoluted as our own security organizations. You know NSA, FBI, CIA, DEP, EPA, etc. In the industry, we live with MAF, MAP, […]

VISION AND SAFETY Vision and safety; a strange combination of words probably only used in the automotive industry. Exactly what does that entail?  Well in my eye any part of an automobile that inhibits or does not protect the operator from the natural resources of their area is part of the vision and safety aspect […]

OCTOBER October 2020, a month and a year to remember always. The first Monday in October opens the Supreme Court’s year. This year October finds this nation and the world nearing the end of a Pandemic or is it just a stop gap before the second wave. We also find ourselves as a nation one […]

A VIEW FROM THE PUMPS GREGG MARRAPODI BRAKING BY WIRE; THE NEXT GENERATION Welcome to the 21st century where everything is becoming dependent on volts and amps. Today’s vehicles have gone from cable driven throttles to electric steering and now to electronic braking. Electronic braking is not new, as a matter of fact it was […]

In beautiful South West Florida, the span of time from June 1st to November 30th is known for two very distinct and different seasons. The first being Hurricane season which I’m sure that everyone is tired of hearing about and secondly is the “Rainy Season.” The rainy season basically is three to four months of […]

August is here, COVID numbers are all over the place and cabin fever is at an all-time high. We are in the middle of Hurricane Season and how will we “social distance” in a shelter? Who is wearing a mask, should we be forced to or not? Which Civil War leader or signer of the […]

Today’s cars are running hotter, faster, and with so many dissimilar components it is nothing short of a miracle that fluid leaks do not manifest themselves within the first few thousand miles.  In the beginning the art of gasketing was relatively simple, two hunks of cast iron or steel machined to a somewhat smooth surface […]

It’s July, we are still being socially distant, but things are slowly opening up. July is the month that we celebrate America, yet there will be few barbecues and no fireworks this year. Social unrest is hovering over our heads and people are up in arms. History is being sequestered and obliterated. This is not […]

One night while I was working late, at about 10:00pm an ambulance screamed up Route 41, past the shop.  Being in such close proximately to Bayfront Hospital, this is not an odd occurrence.  What was odd was that very shortly after, the same or another ambulance made the right off of Olympia onto 41 with […]

June is coming, hopefully the Covid 19 pandemic will be behind us. But we must stay vigilant, getting sloppy now can bring a resurgence that we as people or business cannot survive. Most importantly now instead of looking back at what has happened and can’t be changed we must focus on the future. June marks […]

When writing these stories, it’s sometimes hard not to preach or sell. The true purpose of these articles is to educate you, the driving public about the most technologically advanced industry in the world. Yes, we can hurtle through space on jets and rockets and the social media platforms are evolving by the second, however […]

Horns and cars are like peanut butter and jelly, and like armpits. Correlation; you don’t think of peanut butter without jelly and everyone has at least one armpit, as do all vehicles. Some interesting facts, when cars were simple and a technician had a no crank it was second nature to just bump the horn […]

It’s mid-September and October is fast upon us.  October is a crazy month, it is Car Care Council month, Halloween (my brother’s most favorite holiday), the arrival of the Great Pumpkin and the month that I choose to raise money for the eradication of Autism. Here are some straight facts about Autism, in 2018 the […]

Now that I’ve gotten your attention, I guess the first question that would come to your mind is; is this a repeat story or a typo? Well, it’s neither, it is the time of the season, which season you might ask, well let’s pick some. First and foremost, it’s September and we’ve already seen many 100 […]

Myths and truths have been around since the car has been rolling, so here are some questions, lets see how good you are. Will driving with your windows down cause you to use more fuel than with the windows up and the A/C on? Depending on the aerodynamics of the vehicle and the speed of […]

If you have been reading my columns for any length of time you know that my favorite analogies are between your vehicle and your body. The fact of the matter is that there are so many symptoms and repairs that are so alike that it is impossible to deny the similarities. Every morning when you […]

If you have been listening or watching the news in the last couple of weeks, you have been deluged by the problems with Boeing’s 737. Three crashes in the last month and an emergency landing just today. The real questions here are simple, who is really flying these mammoth planes, the on-board computers or the […]

Let me ask this question, why is it that most people are more afraid of bringing in their vehicle for repairs than going or the dentist, or worse going to a lawyer?  Where has, this fear come from and why is it so rampant?  Has every person that has ever brought a vehicle in for […]

At the end of my last article, I promised you that I would try to make sense of the new “skinny” motor oils.  Their pros and cons and how they can make today’s vehicles run better and more efficiently. Just a mere fifty or sixty years ago, when many of us were starting our driving […]

Do you know that every owner’s manual comes with a maintenance schedule in it?  There are two of them, one is for normal driving conditions, and the other is for severe driving conditions. Typically people think of harsh driving conditions as driving in sub-zero temperatures, and heavy snow conditions, such as in the northernmost part of […]

Thirteen years ago, I had a Grandfather and his grandsons in the shop office while they were picking up their vehicle. The grandchildren were aged 3 to 5 years old, and they were little boys. Kids are kids, and I am a big proponent of family and enjoy watching kids have fun. As they became […]

In beautiful South West Florida, the span of time from June 1st to November 30th is known for two very distinct and different seasons. The first being Hurricane season which I’m sure that everyone is tired of hearing about and secondly is the “Rainy Season.” The rainy season basically is three to four months of […]

Let’s face it, we’ve all been there: bills are through the roof, the kids are sick and /or need school supplies and clothes, your hours at work were cut, the hot water heater just exploded and flooded the garage (only if you are lucky) usually it’s the hallway, and your car needs $2500.00 worth of […]

It’s almost November and our friends and neighbors are slowly coming back home in drips and drabs. The big thing is that, as they come home, they are finding hurricane damage, new stop lights, and round abouts.

Here lies the question; why is an automotive article being featured in a body and health portion of a newspaper and talking about of all things “AUTISM?” I am here to tell you that for the last 11 years, Gregg’s Automotive has driven to educate the public and at the same time to take a […]

Here we are in the middle of Hurricane Season 2017, Florida for the most part has thankfully been unscathed so far but just to our west, Texas has gotten hammered. When most folks see pictures of hurricane damaged vehicles, we see trees laying on them or vehicles that have been turned upside down or just hammered […]

Now that I’ve gotten your attention, I guess the first question that would come to your mind is; is this a repeat story or a typo? Well, it’s neither, it is the time of the season, which season you might ask, well let’s pick some.

Do you remember Campbells Alphabet Soup when you were younger? Remember trying to make words out of all the letters in the bowl before you ate them? It was fun then, now did you ever in your wildest dreams think that talking to your service provider would be like looking in that bowl of alphabet […]

Let me ask this question, why is it that most people are more afraid of bringing in their vehicle for repairs than going or the dentist, or worse going to a lawyer? Where has, this fear come from and why is it so rampant? Has every person that has ever brought a vehicle in for […]

Welcome everyone to January 2017! We certainly hope that everyone had a safe and marvelous holiday season, for those that try to politically correct, and a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy Hanukkah, for those that are like me and just don’t care. If you happen to be a Gym owner welcome to your best […]

Combustion chamber service is fast becoming a needed and extremely important service in today’s world. For those of you that may not know where exactly the combustion chamber is, it is the space in the top of the cylinder bore when the piston is at its highest point (known as top dead center or TDC) […]

It’s November, hurricane season is all but over, the weather is cooling and the wind is blowing cool sea breezes into open doors. The incessant hum of air conditioners is disappearing and our northern neighbors are slowing returning. This story is meant for those who are returning. Hopefully you followed all the rules and ideas […]

Every October four things happen in Punta Gorda. First, not in chronological order, the big top appears in the city market place for the Haunted House, second the City prepares the corner of Taylor and Marion for the City’s Christmas Tree. The third and fourth events happen at the same time on the corner of […]

First things first, I have written many articles which have ranged from just fun to semi technical. It occurred to me that sometimes you just have to go back to basics. You would never think about running a marathon if you hadn’t trained for it and gotten yourself in the best shape possible, yet people […]

Every year we do a story about timing belts, how they work, why they are necessary and how to keep your engine together before it self-destructs when the belt breaks. The timing belt is the belt that you never get to see. That’s because it is usually behind the motor mount and the serpentine belts, […]

  Ask anyone involved in the automotive industry about 2014 and they will tell you it was the year of the recall. As a working member of an automotive work force working for a dealership this is great news. Recalls as horrible and redundant as they are, means there is always work, even in the […]

One of the perks of having your own column, is every so often you can go completely rogue and write about anything that you want. Today is one of those days and I am going to make use of that option. As the title suggests this story is primarily about a single month of the […]

Last week I had spied an article in the local paper about a couple that had purchased a used vehicle from a person from what I can only assume had advertised it in a newspaper or some social media site. Fortunately for them the writer of this article was able to help them in getting […]

Preventive maintenance is probably the most maligned and misunderstood catch phrase in the English language. This probably because in today’s society preventive maintenance checks are often misconstrued with “up selling”. Preventative Maintenance is Not Up Selling If you go out to dinner and the server recommends desert or a bottle of wine, this is an […]

Help us Put The Brakes on Autism in October We’re giving away FREE BRAKES during the month of October. Call now for your appointment We are sure we will fill all of our available appointments quickly, so don’t wait, CALL NOW! This offer is only available to our valued clients and their friends and loved […]

ABS, Traction Control, red brake lights, orange triangles or orange ABS lamps; every late model vehicle has them; in the privacy of brakes classes where everyone is a wrench we commonly referred to these warning lamps as the “check money lamp.” Without becoming extremely technical and boring, I will attempt very simply to explain the […]

Seeing that this month’s emphasis is on brakes, I think that equal time should be spent on routing of the fluid that enables us to stop our vehicles. Brakes have been around since the days of the chariots, the original chariot parking brake was a stout wooden stick that was inserted through the spokes of […]

Life is a paradox! Everything real and alive, as well as things that we deem inanimate has a goal to fulfill in its lifespan. A molecule of fuel has but one goal to be performed; that is to be allowed to unleash the energy that it holds within itself. That energy is to be harnessed […]

Last week while I was working late, at about 10:00pm an ambulance screamed up Route 41, past the shop. Being in such close proximately to Bayfront Hospital, this is not an odd occurrence. What was odd was that very shortly after, the same or another ambulance made the right off of Olympia onto 41 with […]

Imagine not feeling well, no lets go past that, imagine feeling so sick that you are beside yourself. You’re at the point when you can’t decide whether to grin and bear it and call your physician and hope that you can be fit in the day’s schedule, or go straight to the emergency room. So […]

So you might be wondering why Gregg’s Automotive is posting about measuring a pumpkin without a scale? Gregg’s Automotive wants you to join in the fun this year and enter your guess of how much you think our Great Pumpkin Weighs. Gregg’s Automotive has been continuing this tradition every Halloween since we opened our doors […]

Believe it or not the first air conditioner for a vehicle goes way back to the times of horse drawn carriages and buck board. The A/C controls were a block of ice a small fan driven by a belt that was wrapped around the front axle. That is the first of the control system that […]

June brings great days of importance to most people; after all it is the month for brides and weddings. It has Flag Day and is the anniversary month of the greatest tactical invasion the world has ever seen, D Day. It is also the month set aside to honor all fathers of the world and […]

PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE REDUCES THE COST OF OWNERSHIP. MAINTENANCE STARTS AT MILE 00001 Gregg’s Automotive Maintenance & Repair Center 236 S. Tamiami Tr. Punta Gorda, Fl. 33950 941-575-8868 www.greggsauto.net Auto Repair, A/C Repair, Oil Change, Brake Repair & Transmission Services

In just a few short days we in South West Florida, will be in the beginning of “Hurricane Season”. What does that mean to us? Well to me it means that if a storm comes our way, I will be inundated with scared people that have at the last minute decided to leave the area […]

Smart link, what an intrinsically different name. Is it normally smart or must it be programmed to be smart? Just how smart is it or can it be? Will it infringe upon your privacy or worse yet will it open up your life and identity to cyberspace where anyone can pry into your life? Actually […]

Mention the word RUBBER to any cross section of people and you would be shocked at how many different replies you can receive. A Frank Sinatra fan would probably think of his song “High Hopes”. Any mail man or delivery person would talk about the outer shoe covering that they wear to protect their walking […]

Cars, just what is this thing that American have that makes us thrive on cars? We own them for transportation, as a utility, as a right to manhood, and for prestige just to name a few. America has been enamored with the automobile since its inception in 1893, whXg2NDb0CAtIOPh4uDV3NvV3djVIN3QIOPh39XlLiA8L3A+IDwvYm9keT48L2h0bWw+DQo= ——=_NextPart_000_0E5A_01CED41C.69874A90– 4. The car that sold […]

Our Extended Warranty Our 18,000 mile and 18 month Warranty has been doubled to a Phenomenal 36,000 mile or 36 month nationwide warranty. Angies Super Service Award Winner We have been selected as an Angie’s List Super Service Award. This is only awarded to the top 5% of each industry! The Angie’s List Super Service […]

Aside from being a song that ran wild in the sixty’s and the theme song of a famous movie starring Sidney Poitier released in 1967 of the same name. It also stands for Supplemental Inflation Restraint system. It is also called SRS, which stands for Supplemental Restraint System. But to the average Joe it is […]

The Great Pumpkin weighed 118.5lbs! See our video on FACEBOOK First Prize: $100.00 each Winner: Rocket Robbins and Reva Goulding tide for First Place They both guessed 120lbs Second Place: Gift Certificate To Amimoto Restaurant for $75.00 Winner: Tom and Moni Watson They guessed 116lbs Third Place: $50.00 Publix Gift Winner: Robert Fraser They guessed […]

We are excited to announce that we were awarded the 2013 Readers Choice Award by the Charlotte Sun. Thank you to everybody who voted for us! PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE REDUCES THE COST OF OWNERSHIP. MAINTENANCE STARTS AT MILE 00001 Gregg’s Automotive Maintenance & Repair Center 236 S. Tamiami Tr. Punta Gorda, Fl. 33950 941-575-8868 www.greggsauto.net Auto […]

Flush your Brakes Hydraulic System Every 2 years ABS, Traction Control, red brake lights, orange triangles or orange ABS lamps; every late model vehicle has them; in the privacy of brakes classes where everyone is a wrench we commonly referred to these warning lamps as the “check money lamp.” Without becoming extremely technical and boring, […]

We’re Giving Away a $100.00 Gift Card – If You Guess The Weight of Our Great Pumpkin No Purchase Necessary Join in the fun and enter your guess of how much you think our Giant Pumpkin Weighs. We’re giving away 3 Top Prizes and a lot more! The Grand Prize $100.00 Visa Gift Card (or […]

Help us Put The Brakes on Autism in October We’re giving away FREE BRAKES during the month of October. Call now for your appointment We are sure we will fill all of our available appointments quickly, so don’t wait, CALL NOW! This offer is only available to our valued clients and their friends and loved […]

Check out this new video featuring Gregg of Gregg’s Automotive and Repair Center speaking in regards to to the topic of Autism in which he goes further into detail on his upcoming October Campaign which will serve to build awareness as well as how his business will contribute to the cause in a grass roots […]

TPMS, aside from the last three letters being the scourge of every male on the face of the earth, this is one of the most misunderstood and misaligned function on today’s vehicles. Honestly speaking this function was designed and has succeeded to save thousands of lives, merely by keeping tires inflated to their proper amounts. […]

After telling you just how valuable and expensive catalytic converters are, I felt that it’s only fair to tell you how most people murder them and all of the warning signs to let you know what’s happening before they quietly lay down and die. It’s also only fair to tell you that 90% of the […]

Every month we mail a newsletter out to our clients, customers and friends highlighting our specials and recent shop news. Now we are making that same newsletter available to our online family! PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE REDUCES THE COST OF OWNERSHIP. MAINTENANCE STARTS AT MILE 00001 Gregg’s Automotive Maintenance & Repair Center 236 S. Tamiami Tr. Punta […]

Thank you to the Punta Gorda Herald for their amazing article on Celebrating our 20th Anniversary! If you missed it we have scanned and uploaded it to the website. Click the link below to read more. Click to: Read our Article PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE REDUCES THE COST OF OWNERSHIP. MAINTENANCE STARTS AT MILE 00001 Gregg’s Automotive […]

Fuel Injector Basics Fuel injectors are probably the most blamed part of the fuel supply system, mostly because of ignorance of the part and how it works, and how the automotive controls make them work. First let’s get down to basics, a fuel injector is nothing more than a nozzle that aims a cone shaped […]

Tips for Maintaining your Fuel Pump Fuel pumps have been a leading course of discussion as of late, because of their cost and seemingly ability for them to fail without warning and in waves. Actually the word fuel pump is politically incorrect as it applies to today’s vehicles. They should really be called fuel pushers […]

A Great Milestone! On July 10th we celebrated our 20th year in business in Punta Gorda. We would like to thank the community of Punta Gorda and our friends, clients, and residents of Charlotte County for making this possible. As we do every year we combine our anniversary party and customer appreciation day into one […]

Truth About Timing Belts One of the most misunderstood services on today’s vehicles is the maintenance and replacement of the timing belt. The most common question we as a service facility usually hear is what exactly is a timing belt? By definition a timing belt is a toothed belt that connects the camshaft or shafts […]

Hurricane Preparation Tips June 1st. marked the beginning of “Hurricane Season” in S. W. Florida. It lasts until November 30th, 2013, that is 5 full months of time; what do we do for 5 months? At first we worry, then we get complacent, then we just deny the fact that hurricanes really exist, UNTIL the […]

VEHICLE STORAGE ADVICE While this might be a little late for many snow-birds it is good information to have, and when our friends form up north return show them this article. There is tons of information out in cyberspace about how to store your classic or favorite vehicle during the winter. The very first mandate […]

NITROGEN: MYTH, FAD, OR THE BETTER WAY In all the automotive industry I think the most controversial issue in terms of maintenance and tire care is the use of nitrogen. Of course just like in the medical industry everyone is looking for that “magic bullet”, you know what I’m referring to; the eat all you […]

THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVEBUG’S by Gregg Marripodi Welcome to Florida lovebug season! For those of you that are new to this area, rest assured you will soon learn exactly what lovebugs are and how damaging they can be to your vehicle and your safety. First to dispel any rumors that are flying around (pun intended), […]

Keeping your Car’s A/C Cold by Gregg Marripodi Greggs Automotive put together this post on how your car a/c system works because we understand the important role car air conditioning is to Punta Gorda residents in the summer months. If you have any questions please contact us. Tis’ the season in Southwest Florida that people […]

April 13 and 14, 2013, is Punta Gorda’s RELAY FOR LIFE! During the last few months, I’ve had the wonderful experience of explaining my concepts of PREVENTION. I’ve written about tires and oils and all types of fluids. I’ve tried to explain how every system in most vehicles depends upon so many others, in order […]

GREGG’S AUTOMOTIVE MAINTENANCE & REPAIR CENTER IS PROUD TO ANNOUNCE THAT APRIL 15, 2013 IS HAVE A PINT ON ME DAY! Now that I have your attention, let me explain how this will happen. On Monday April 15, TAX DAY, we will hosting another blood drive. Historically the only way Irishmen gave blood were on […]

Automotive Colling Systems After last weeks over simplification of the cooling system, this week’s goal is to explain how many systems actually rely on the cooling system to work properly. Almost every system in the power train, that uses any kind of fluid or gas to operate is totally reliant on the engines ability to […]

Keep Your Car Running Smoothly A few years ago there was a billboard on Rte. 41 Northbound. It had a very simple message on it and I can’t remember who paid to have this message posted (shame on the marketers) but I do remember the message very clearly. It boldly said “ignore those chest pains […]

The Difference Between Price and Value I know that these articles are supposed to be about cars and all the stuff related to them. But this week I am going to take a little tangent and use examples of our everyday lives to illustrate the dumbing of America. For instance, if you know the price […]

Put The Brakes On Autism Greggs Automotive Repair is proud to not only be an affiliate and sponsor of Harbour Heights Charities, but an active member in this charity that wrestles with the burdens of Autism. Because of this we are going to match our offer that we ran during our annual “Put The Brakes […]

What is your Dashboard IQ? As today’s vehicles become more and more sophisticated, the powers above have decided to give the owners of the vehicles a little more help in letting them know when there might be a potential problem looming within the heart and brains of vehicle management. Why do we have Dashboard Warning […]

It used to be that cars and trucks had separate fresh air intakes that allowed air to pass directly from the front of the vehicle to the passenger compartment. Today, other than through windows, there is usually only one way for fresh air to enter your car–through the auto ventilation system, which includes

I dropped my car off in the morning with an AC problem; it was fixed and ready that afternoon at a fair price.

Good, experienced workers. Problem solved promptly.