Your car, truck or SUV is essential, even during COVID-19 shutdown

Most of us aren’t driving nearly as much as we did before the coronavirus pandemic resulted in a virtual shutdown of the American economy – of the World economy. Living in McHenry County, your car, truck or SUV is an essential part of your life. It’s not like in Chicago where some people don’t even own cars – they walk or rely on public transportation.

With the governor’s ‘shelter-in-place’ order, it may seem that our vehicles are less essential than before. But is this really the case?

Most of us still rely on our cars, trucks or SUVs to run out for groceries. We might be able to have the food delivered but this isn’t always practical. Besides, in spite of the additional risk, we may look upon a trip to the grocery store as a welcome diversion from the isolation of our own homes.

We may find the same relief when running out to pick-up dinner from curbside at one of the restaurants open and providing such service in town. For most of us, it’s not practical to walk. We have to drive.

And if there’s an emergency, other than instances where you call an ambulance, God forbid, we need our car, truck or SUV to get us there. At times such as these, our vehicles are very, very essential. Even if it’s simply a doctor’s appointment, or picking up a prescription from the drugstore, we want our vehicles to run when we need them.

Auto repair and maintenance is critical even during a pandemic

To ensure that our vehicles are ready when needed, whether in response to an emergency or simply to run us to the grocery store, we need to stay on top of maintenance and service. Fortunately, many auto repair shops, understanding this vital nature of automobiles, are open for service.

Many, such as Performance Unlimited, are helping people to maintain their vehicles while also maintaining social distancing. To help keep us safe from the spread of coronavirus, some auto repair shops are offering sanitary pick-up and drop-off of your vehicle. In other words, they’ll come get the car, truck or SUV, they’ll perform the required service, then they’ll bring the vehicle back and drop it off at your home.

While performing this service, the driver and the technician working on your vehicle will wear nitrile gloves. They’ll wipe down any surfaces that they touch to avoid any risk of spreading the disease.

Comments

Is your antifreeze safe from freezing this Richmond winter

You still have time to have it checked Well, there’s no denying it – winter tends to get chilly here in Richmond. We have to deal with snow and ice on the roads, scraping the same off our windows and windshield, and staying warm while we drive. Of course, you had your antifreeze checked before winter rolled into town. What?! You didn’t have your antifreeze checked before winter clamped down on Richmond? So, how’s your antifreeze doing? If you haven’t had it checked, there’s really no way of knowing, is there? This car has overheated in the middle of a Richmond winter. But, on the other end of the spectrum, the antifreeze can also freeze if it's not up to its job. Hopefully, you haven’t had a serious problem with your antifreeze already. If you did, you’d probably know. When antifreeze fails, it’s a potentially catastrophic condition for your vehicle’s engine. You could have hoses that have burst because of freezing antifreeze. Worse than that, your engine block may have crac...

Blocks of ice falling from cars in McHenry could cause accidents or damage

We’ve all seen those blocks of snow falling from behind the rear tires of a car when the snow rolls into McHenry . Fortunately, they’re just packed snow that will disintegrate under your vehicle’s tires as you simply drive right through them, right? Don’t count on it. Those blocks of snow are often packed so tight, condensed by the thaw-and-freeze cycle, that they’re anything but oversized snowballs . They’re often more like boulders. Hit one of those blocks and the collision between the block and one of your tires could send you careening off the road or into oncoming traffic. In some cases, they’re so solid you could pound them with a sledgehammer with little effect. They truly can represent a serious road hazard. The problem is that it’s difficult to tell how solidly they’re packed when you see them on the road, left their unwittingly by another driver. Either way, your best bet is to try to avoid them. But you want to be careful dodging blocks of ice in the road, too. You need...

October 20 Hootenanny will benefit veterans with PTSD

Been to a Hootenanny lately? When you read that question did you ask, “What?” Well, if you have gone to a Hootenanny in a while, or if you don’t know what a hootenanny is, we have an event for Oct. 20 that will clear up either question. From 6 p.m. to Midnight, Saturday, Oct. 20, MC3, the McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce business networking group, is helping to host an inaugural Veterans R&R Wild Horse Hootenanny at Beyond Stable Farm (11129 Rte. 176, Woodstock). The event will benefit Veterans R&R Operation Wild Horse. Operation Wild Horse serves veterans with PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). Working with the horses has proven to have an incredibly calming effect on the veterans. And, it’s good for the horses, too, rescued wild mustangs. This means that the hootenanny is for a very good cause. But, it’s also a lot of fun. So, what is a hootenanny? According to a Google search, a hootenanny is “an informal gathering with folk music and sometimes dancing.” The V...

Performance Unlimited Blog

Search This Blog