Performance Unlimited Blog

Just as extra caution is due when driving in winter This car door was opened in traffic near McHenry. The costs of repairs were substantial. You’re in a hurry. You pull up in front of a McHenry store planning to run after you parallel park. In your rush, however, you don’t watch oncoming traffic closely enough. You open the door and ‘BAM!’ – a driver passing by smacks your car door. Hopefully, they didn’t catch your hand in the process. If so, serious injury is quite possible – even probable. But even if you’re fortunate enough to avoid bodily injury, the level of damage that is possible to your car may surprise you. Behind the area where the car door is mounted, assuming we’re talking about the driver’s door, is the hinge pillar. When an open car door is smacked by a passing vehicle, the door may be twisted past the hinge stops. But the damage is liable to go deeper than that. The hinge pillar is an integral part of the vehicle’s body. You might say it’s equivalent to an important bon...

New Year’s Eve 2022-23 in McHenry will only come around once. At the stroke of midnight, 2022 will pass into the rearview mirror and 2023 will stretch out ahead like a road fade into the dark.  This is cause for celebration. It’s a celebration of the year behind and hope for the year ahead. Certainly, we all hope that 2023 will prove to be a great year. Most of us will agree that the potential for improvement over the year behind is evident. But we don’t want to get the year off on the wrong foot. What could be worse than starting 2023 with a DUI? Answer, starting 2023 with an injury or fatal accident. These are real considerations when celebrating the New Year. And most of us imbibe on New Year’s Eve. It’s a traditional way to celebrate New Year’s Eve. Another tradition of New Year’s Eve is a heavy police presence on the roads that night. The police know people are drinking on New Year’s Eve. They know that drinking and driving are a bad combination. They know that if people know ...

In 1982, Performance Unlimited celebrated its first Christmas since opening the doors for business. This year, the exemplary auto repair shop North of McHenry will celebrate its 40th Christmas in business. Christmas is a special time of year. At Performance Unlimited, they take a short break from helping their customers winterize their vehicles, along with repairs and other maintenance. This year, as Performance Unlimited has celebrated its 40th year, they are also giving away 40 free oil changes from among their customers. In other words, if you’ve had work done at Performance Unlimited over the course of the last 40 years, you stand a chance of receiving a message letting you know that you’ve won. Over the course of those 40 years, Performance Unlimited has helped countless numbers of area drivers to keep their cars, trucks and/or SUVs safely and reliably on the road. At the same time, the loyalty shown by those customers has helped Performance Unlimited to keep the doors open so the...

You’re trying to think of a great gift to get mom or dad as another McHenry Christmas approaches, but what to buy them? It’s never easy. They seem to have everything they need. A tie for dad or a box of candy for mom just won’t do. The place to start is considering their passions. If, like many in McHenry, they are car lovers, this may open an entire vista of possibilities. The same is true if, for instance, they are equestrians. If the latter, there are an abundance of possible gifts for horse lovers. But this is an automotive blog so we’ll focus on gifts for car lovers. What is their favorite car – the car they once owned or the one they dreamed of owning? Let’s suppose that mom always wanted a 1990 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Convertible. It would be great if you could buy a pristine used 1990 Benz of her dreams. But that may not be in your price range. You could easily spend $12,000 on a car in reasonable condition. But there is another option. You can get a colored print of the car and ha...

Recently, on this blog site, we discussed adjusting yourself mentally for driving in winter conditions. Since winter is definitely coming to McHenry, that makes a lot of sense. Considering National Highway Traffic Safety Administration statistics, there are 440 fatal reasons from 2019, and 33,000 injury examples of why to adjust your driving for the cold and slippery conditions of winter (440 fatal crashes and 33,000 injury crashes due to wintry conditions). But there are other things to consider when driving in winter. First of all, if you are in an accident, what should you do? If you’re hurt, stay in your car (as long as it is safe to do so) and try not to exert yourself. Try to make sure you car is visible – leave the lights on and turn the flashers on. If possible, you should put out road flares. Be aware of the possibility that exhaust fumes may be bringing harmful levels of carbon monoxide into the car. If so, open the windows and/or get out of the vehicle. Call for assistance i...