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January is a time for new beginnings and organizing your garage should be one of those new year’s resolutions you take seriously. Even if you only clean it a few time this year, make a plan and stick to it. Your first step is to de-clutter your garage. If you’re anything like me,  you are not sure what type of things have been collecting over the years and made your precious garage its’ new home. Now, is the time to empty out the garage and separate your items into three piles: a keep, a rehome, and toss/ recycle properly pile. My trick is that if you haven’t used certain items in over 6 months to a year, it’s time to part ways with them! If you can’t decide, store the item and if you don’t use in a month’s time - definitely toss. Now, onto the cleaning portion, we know, it’s not everyone’s favorite part but it is definitely important to organizing and staying organized. At this point, your garage should be totally empty and we want you to really clean your garage. The floor, the shelves, under any benches, the ceiling, gosh if you can clean it - just do it! It might be a pain now, but you will thank us in the long run! Plus, having a clean garage will make the things you own look much better and newer. And who wants their vehicle sitting in a nasty, dirty garage? Noone, so, clean everything and anything. The organization is KEY! Seriously. When I think about being organized, I think about being successful and that’s truly the end goal, right? Right. And, if you have you ever been looking for something and can’t find it because you are not organized, it’s frustrating and should be something you left in 2018. Choose how you want to organize your items and stick to the plan you set. There are plenty of options. Storage shelving, workbench, cabinets, wall or ceiling racks - choose what’s best for you and install. I personally like racks because you can get your items stored out of the way yet still able to see where they are. Once the above steps are complete, start giving your items a new home in your garage. I like to keep like items together like fluids, paints, and other liquids should be kept together. Put all of your tools in one location so you know where to go when you’re looking for something specific. Also, keep items that you use frequently closer to your reach versus storing them up high. Fit A New Toyota In That Clean Garage!

We all know that your trunk is one hot mess. Unorganized, dirty, and begging for a little TLC in the name of cleaning. Now listen, I am not judging because I know these kinds of things get pushed to the bottom of our to-do list but with those chilly temperatures creeping up on us, now is the time to clean it out! This week we have your guide on why you should be cleaning and organizing your trunk. Check it out below and let us know what tips work best for you! Increase Safety - Things tend to fly, roll around your vehicle and in the event of a collision or a quick stop, these items will come flying and could end up hurting you or your passengers. This is no good, if this happens you could do some serious damage, get hurt, or if loose items are flying around it could affect your driving in unexpected ways. Save Money - Having a full, heavy trunk can cost you some dollars and will negatively affect your vehicle's fuel mileage. Remove all of your unnecessary items in your trunk and vehicle to increase fuel efficiency. Who knows - maybe you’ll find some hidden treasures while you clean! Bare Necessities - Once you’ve cleaned out your trunk (and we mean really clean, get the vacuum), you should only keep the items that are important and truly belong in the back of your vehicle. Items like a first aid kit, emergency kit, sweatshirt, and other items alike are perfect. You don’t need 24 shopping bags back there, get rid of them! Contain The Mess - Using organization tools will make your life a lot easier when it comes time for you to dig out that first aid kit when you need it most. Shower caddies or specifically designed car organizers are great tools to invest in. We hope you stay clean, organized, and on top of your mess! Stay Organized In A New Toyota!

One of my favorite holidays is here - the 4th of July! Why? Well, I believe the 4th serves two purposes. One, the celebration of America’s independence. Two, the official start of summer! Both are great reasons to get excited over and perhaps you have a day off a work! There, now you have THREE reasons to be excited! And with this holiday, us Americans love to celebrate with fireworks! This week I have your guide to watching those awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping firework shows from the comfort of your beloved Toyota! Follow below and let us know of any tips/ tricks you’ve picked up along the way! First things first, is a great viewing spot. You want to find a location that you and the family will be able to “ooh” and “ahh” all those beautiful color explosions in the sky! Steer clear of heavily wooded areas or any place that may have a lot of trees obstructing your view. Look for an area that overlooks the area that is hosting the fireworks show! Also, once you find that spot - make sure to put your parking brake on so there are no unexpected surprises. So, we have the perfect spot but what do you need to bring along? If you have a Toyota SUV or Truck, set up camp in the back seats or tailgate. You’ll want to stay comfy, bring a few blankets, pillows, and a sweatshirt in case it gets a little chilly. Don’t forget the snacks, either! If you plan to watch from the front seat of your Toyota, recline the seats, and enjoy the show! Pro-tip! If you are in an area that may be buggy - keep your windows closed! You’ll still get the same view of the show without all those pesky bug bites! We hope you have a safe and happy 4th of July! Now, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show! Fireworks + Toyota = Happy You!

So, you’ve packed the car and the family is ready to hit the road. But, how will you pass the time? We know that those summer road trips can have you feeling antsy and ready to get out an stretch your legs. Avoid saying “are we there, yet” with some of our favorite road trip games! 21 Questions: Player one picks a person, place, or thing. All other players take turns asking questions of what player one is thinking about. Whoever guesses what is being thought about gets to start the next round, questions cannot be repeated and have to be answered with a simple, “yes” or “no.” Alphabetical Categories: Players will pick a category like food, musical bands, cereal brands, cars, etc. Beginning with the letter A, players will list the first thing that comes to their mind that starts with the specific letter. Work your way through the alphabet, once you hit Z, start over! License Plate Game: Grab a pad of paper and begin to write down each different license plate you notice along the road. The first player to 50 or the player with the most, wins. If you are playing with young kids who are learning geography, give them a map so they can see where the state falls on the map! Animal Name Game: One player will start by saying an animal, the next player must come up with an animal that starts with the last letter of the previous animal that was named. There is no winner but this game can keep younger passengers occupied for long periods of time plus, it will teach them new animals! Tic Tac Toe You’ll need a piece of paper for this as well, draw out a grid and begin placing Xs and Os within the grid. Whoever gets three across first, wins. This is quick and easy but will keep everyone, who is not driving, occupied. Play In A New Toyota, Shop Our Inventory Here!

With spring, finally, here we are ready to get out and enjoy the weather - sunshine beaming through the windows, wind blowing through our hair, and the radio playing our favorite tunes. One thing is inevitable though, those pesky springtime allergies. This week’s blog will give you some tips to help minimize those allergy symptoms and keep you happy and healthy on those road trips you plan to take this summer! First things first, it’s important to keep up with regular maintenance - especially when the seasons are changing. This will ensure a smooth, secure and comfortable ride for you along with all your passengers. ‘Tis The De-Clutter Season Springtime is one of the most popular cleaning seasons - your car should be included in this. Get rid of any trash within your car or items that you don’t need anymore. Vacuum your seats, carpets, and floorboards - this will get rid of dust, dirt, and anything that’s built up over the winter months. Use a cleaner to give your mats a good scrub, floor mats are a breeding ground for mold spores due to moisture from shoes. Invest in plastic floor mats, they are easier to clean and don’t harbor moisture. Dust that dash! Don't forget about your dashboard - give it a good wipe down with a cleaner and a microfiber cloth. An exterior wash can cut down on pollen that enters your car through air filters. No One Likes Dirty Filters Changing air filters is a huge step in ensuring you’re not breathing in pollen, dust, and other irritants while you’re in your vehicle. Your owner’s manual can help you determine when and how often you’ll need to change your air filter. If you can’t determine when you need a new filter, it’s a good idea to change every 12,000 to 15,000 miles. Our service department has all the tools to help you switch out your old filter for a new one that will cut down on irritants. To ensure a better breathing environment for you and your passengers, you can invest in special pollen filters. Not only is it a good idea to change your filter for breathing purposes but it will ensure your HVAC system stays clean and working properly. Not only do you want to avoid inhaling debris, dust, pollen, or harmful contaminants, a clogged filter can create problems for your system which could be a costly repair. Swap out your air filter as recommended. Take Precautions You should never drive with your windows down during peak allergy season. However, irritants, pollen, and dust will find their way into your vehicle one way or another if your windows aren’t properly sealed. Be sure to check for cracks or gaps in your windows or that your weather stripping is still intact on your vehicle. During these times, use your air conditioning but keep it on the recirculation setting to ensure that your system isn’t intaking a lot of air from outside. Clean Up Your Vehicle With Fiore

With temperatures warming and April known for its rain showers, muddy roads are something we may encounter this spring. But do you know what to do if your car gets stuck in the mud - I surely don’t. This week’s blog is dedicated to just that. I’m bringing you some tips on what to do if you find yourself stuck, literally and figuratively. Staying calm is extremely important and although it may be tempting to hit the gas to try to free your vehicle from the muddy mess, don’t. If you accelerate, your car will only sink deeper into the mud and will make the situation worse. If you by chance have passengers in the vehicle asking them to exit will remove any extra weight and will stop from further sinking. Move your wheel back and forth, this creates room for the tires to maneuver through the mud and will increase your chances of getting your car out of the mess. Gently, press on the accelerator allowing the weight of the vehicle to get traction. If you have an automatic, put your car in the lowest gear. For standards, use your highest gear and gently release the clutch. You should begin to switch from drive to reverse, swiftly. This will cause a rocking motion which should help free you from the mud, be sure to only do this a few times because it can cause damage.  If this doesn’t work, digging out mud from around your tires and laying down items like branches, a blanket, even car mats in desperate situations can help your car gain traction. Once you are back inside your car, gently press on the accelerator until the tires have traction and you are able to accelerate out of the mud. When you’re vehicle is free, don’t forget to pick up any items you may have needed to use for traction. Be careful returning to normal speed, excess mud from tires should be shed at slower speeds to reduce the risk of damage. Give your car a quick look over to ensure there is no damage, brake lines are exceptionally vulnerable and need to be fixed immediately. Give us a call if you have any questions or need to schedule a service appointment. Schedule Your Service With Fiore Today

The weather is warming up and that means you’ve got more time (and probably motivation) to clean out your vehicle. A great place to start, if we may say, is your air vents. There’s nothing to make your vehicle feel a little cleaner than a sweet smell blowing through the air vents! And especially if you have allergies or overheat easily or just prefer the air conditioning, you’re going to be using those vents all through the spring and summer. So, without further ado, here is our easy guide to getting your air vents clean and your entire air system smelling fresh as a daisy! The first thing is to clean the vents themselves. All you need for this is some cleaning solution, white vinegar, a vacuum, and Q-tips. Vacuum out all the vents (including the one right up against your windshield) and then get into the cracks and crevices with a Q-tip soaked in the cleaning solution. Do a second pass with a vinegar-soaked Q-tip, and then wipe the whole thing down with a clean rag or microfiber cloth. The vinegar might smell strong to begin with, but it neutralizes odors and after the vinegar smell fades, there’s no smell left except freshness! Your next step is checking on your cabin air filter. There should be directions on how to access it in your vehicle owner’s manual. This air filter traps all kinds of things and filters the air coming into the cabin of the vehicle (self-explanatory, I know). This means that the filter traps pollen, dust, and smells. You can find what type of air filter your vehicle needs in your owner’s manual, or you can schedule an appointment with us to have the filter changed! The last thing is that you might have mildew in your air conditioner evaporator. This is a slim chance coming into spring, but if when you run the air you smell something similar to musty, dirty socks… well, then you might have mildew in your AC evaporator. Anyway, this is handy to know so we’ll tell you how to get rid of that. All you need to do is warm up your vehicle’s engine by driving… about a mile from home will do the trick. Then, find a place to stop safely and roll down all of your windows and run the air on full blast for a few minutes. NOT the air conditioning, just the regular old air. This should circulate air through the system at a good pace to get rid of any standing water and dry up any mildew that’s sitting in there. With these tips, you can start on your car cleaning project by making sure your vehicle smells fresh and clean. It’s easy and very gratifying! Schedule Your Service Online!

Do you have blind spots when you’re driving? Not in your vision (though if you do, I’d go to an eye doctor ASAP) but in your vehicle. If you have a problem where other vehicles just appear next to you when you’re trying to shift lanes, or you know there’s someone behind you but you just can’t see them, well, then you’ve got blind spots. Here are some great ways to fix that problem fast and easily! One way is to get a couple of stick-on convex mirrors that will fit in the outer corners of your side mirrors. Stick them on, make sure they’re attached firmly, and voilà! You’ve got a really good view of everything at the side of your vehicle. The other way that doesn’t involve, you know, attaching something to your mirrors, is to adjust your mirrors. Here’s how: Adjust your rearview mirror to give you a view directly to the rear. Make it so that it best covers your rear window view. Don’t tilt it to get side views - just straight back through your window. Lean your head until it almost touches your driver’s side window. Adjust your left side mirror so you can just barely see the side of your car - no more. Lean your head to the passenger side as far as you can comfortably while still sitting up and adjust the right mirror so you can barely see the right side of your car. You shouldn’t be able to see the side of your car when your head is all the way upright! Let us know if you used these tips and how they worked for you! Check Out The Mirrors On Our Specials

If you’re planning to travel with your dog any time soon, you should probably know these facts and follow these tips in order to ensure your pup has the best trip possible. Keep reading to find out how you can have a great traveling experience with your dog! If your dog is sick, don’t make them travel. Consider getting a dog sitter or finding a place to board your pup if you’re going to be away for a while. A trip to the vet is also strongly encouraged if your dog is sick! Make sure there is plenty of water for your dog to drink on the trip. The best type to bring is either filtered or the water you typically give your dog at home. Due to their fragile digestive systems, dogs are very sensitive to changes in diet - including water. If you travel with your dog in a crate, make sure that crate is large enough for your dog to stand up, sit down, turn around, and lie down in. Put some soft blankets or towels in the bottom and give your dog their favorite toy for the ride. If your dog is not the crate type, get a harness tie-down so that your dog can’t wander and injure themselves by, well, walking around inside of a moving vehicle! Letting your dog stick their head out of the window is actually a pretty bad idea. There’s a lot of dirt and debris on the road (and bugs in the summer) that can get into your dog’s eyes and ears and cause injury. Finally, stop often for potty, water, and exercise breaks. Feeding your dog while traveling is a bad idea (they can get carsick too!) so stick to water and exercise. Getting the ya-yas out can help the ride be more comfortable for not only them but you too! Dogs Like New Cars Too

No matter if you’re driving a Prius or a Tacoma, you probably want to get the best gas mileage possible for your vehicle. Well, great! We have tips for doing that! Of course, please do not expect that by following these tips you’ll go from getting 25 MPG to getting 75 MPG, because that’s literally impossible unless you actually get a new car. So, grain of salt. Take it. Do you have it? Good! Keep reading for ~better MPGs~ and a ~better life.~ First of all, don’t speed. Speeding decreases your gas mileage with all of the acceleration and deceleration that it involves. For every five mph over 50 you go, you’re paying the equivalent of 10¢ to 20¢ more per gallon of gas. So like. If you do math (I don’t) then this can really add up after a while. Have patience when driving. When you’re more careful on the road, you save more gas. Fast accelerations and braking often can lower your gas mileage by 15-30% on the highway and 10-40% in stop and go traffic. If you’re a Prius driver, you should already know about those long, slow, coasty stops. If you don’t, come on! And if you don’t drive a Prius, well, here’s your tip. Take your foot off the gas as soon as you see that there’s a car stopped ahead of you, even if it’s kinda far away. Then put your foot on the brake at the regular time you would. Bam. Good stuff! If you have a roof rack, consider switching it out for a rear-mounted cargo box. Roof racks with stuff on them increase drag and decrease how aerodynamic your vehicle is, which in turn decreases your fuel efficiency. With a cargo box on the back, your fuel efficiency is saved and so is your money! I don’t know how else to sweeten that. Money and gas saved are pretty much the Holy Grail of driving. Don’t idle. Turn your car off if you’re going to be stopping (except, of course, while you’re at a stoplight) because idling wastes about a quarter to a half a gallon of fuel per hour. Make sure your car isn’t weighed down, either. Cleaning out your vehicle every so often can increase your MPG by about 1%. So get all that Starbucks trash out of your backseat, and wash your gym stuff!! Use your cruise control. Using cruise control eliminates accidental acceleration and braking that can happen when you’re driving on the highway and keeps you moving at a consistent rate of speed. Even if your dad always looked down on cruise control because it was the “refuge of lazy drivers” (looking directly at my own father through the internet here) he was wrong. Follow these tips and you should be as good as gold! Let us know on our Facebook if you saw better gas mileage after trying these out. We’re super interested to know! Check These Cars Out For Good MPGs!

Have you ever stepped into your car and smelled a smell? A smelly smell? A smelly smell that smells…. smelly? Okay, I kid. But really, have you smelled anything odd in your car and then somehow, some time later, you need to take your car in for repairs? There’s no mystery involved - smells in your car can indicate that there might be something wrong with your engine. Read on to see what five of those smells are and could mean! You Smell: Sulfur What It Is: When you smell sulfur in your car all the time, you can pretty much assume that it’s gear lube leaking from the manual transmission, transfer case, or differential housing. There are sulfur compounds in the oil that serve as extreme-pressure lubricants for the gears in these parts, and after being in use for a few years this stuff can get kind of gross. Look for stinky puddles of oily, viscous stuff under your car. If you see this, you should take your vehicle into the shop. You Smell: Rotten eggs What It Is: Your catalytic converter is having some issues and is putting hydrogen sulfide into your exhaust. It could either be a fuel injection problem, or your cat is failing. This is, unfortunately, a pretty expensive repair. But if you smell the rotten eggs when your car is not running, you should probably check for something inside the car. Like a rotten egg. You Smell: Maple syrup What It Is: Coolant! Coolant has ethylene glycol in it, which smells sweet but is definitely toxic. If you’re smelling it, that means there’s a leak somewhere in your system. You should take your vehicle in to get looked at, though this is a pretty easy fix. You Smell: Hot oil What It Is: Well, it’s hot oil. But the oil is getting hot because it’s leaking onto the exhaust manifold, which is hot when your engine is running. It’s not a pleasant smell by any stretch of the imagination, so take a look around your engine and keep an eye out for smoke. If you can find the leak, try to stem it, then take your car into the shop ASAP. You Smell: A gas station What It Is: Unless you’re at a gas station, you shouldn’t smell this. It’s literally straight up gasoline, which should be inside your car and not outside of it. If your car is older (i.e. before 1980) then you might smell this pretty much every time you turn your car off, but if your car is newer than that, the smell of gas means that you’ve got an issue. This could be a leak from a fuel injection line or a fuel tank vent hose in your engine. The nose knows, as they say, but if you don’t know exactly what it knows you’re out of luck. Hopefully, this list helps you know what your nose knows, which is the first step into saving money on car repairs. If you have an issue that you can’t fix yourself, take your vehicle to Fiore Toyota - our professionals will be more than happy to help you figure out what’s going on and fix it for you. Do You Crave The New Car Smell?