Middleton Auto Repair

Feeling the Heat? Schedule your A/C Inspection Today!    The days are finally getting warmer, and Summer is almost officially here. You definitely don’t want to get stuck driving in the summer without air conditioning, which is why now is the time to have your vehicle’s A/C inspected. Here at Aeschbach Automotive in Middleton, we want to ensure that you and your passengers are comfortable on the road.    If you notice an issue with your vehicle’s air conditioning system, such as it isn’t as cold as it used to be or you feel hot air blowing out with the A/C is turned on, don’t hesitate to give us a call today to schedule an appointment. Our experts will complete a full visual inspection of your vehicle’s air conditioning system to figure out the issue and get you back on the road quickly with working A/C.    Although you may not be experiencing an issue with your air conditioning, it is always a good idea to have th ... read more

From our family to yours: Happy Mother’s Day! Need some tips on things to do with Mom for Mother's Day? 1. Farmers Market: Looking like it should be a beautiful day Sunday, you can knock it out of the park at the local farmers market. Cheese curds, bread, flowers, all of that just helps make Mom glow! 2. Brunch: Mimosa's and Bloody's- Need we say more? With the endless options of brunch spots in the Dane County area, mom will be raving over delicious French toast, & you driving so she can have that second cocktail! 3. Massage: Who doesn't love a good massage? Get those knots out and help mom relax! Give her an hour massage and she will reap the benefits for weeks! 4. Planting a garden or flowers:  There are so many local greenhouses in the area, and most will be open on Sunday.  What's better than buying her flowers would be helping her plant, and then continuously tend to her garden. 5. Go hiking: Devil's Lake, Governor Nelson, Go ... read more

Question:My tire pressure warning light came on recently. What does that mean? Aeschbach Automotive Answer: It means that one or more of your tires has low air pressure. The dashboard warning light, which looks like a cross-section of a tire with some lines in it, comes on when the tire pressure is 20% below what the manufacturer recommends. So if your recommendation is for 35 psi (pounds per square inch), the light will come on when your pressure falls to 28 psi. It's important to note that 20% below recommended pressure is significantly under-inflated. This means that you will be experiencing degraded handling and that your tire will be running hotter than it should. This can not only be a safety hazard, but your tires will wear prematurely and could even suffer a heat related failure. Middleton drivers should not use their Tire Pressure Monitoring Syste ... read more

You've probably noticed a bunch of warning lights on your dash when you start your engine. They flash on to test the circuits and then go off if everything's OK. One of the warning lights looks like a car battery. Its job is to tell you if your battery's not charging properly. You know that your battery stores electricity – enough to start your engine and get you moving. But that's about it – you can only get a few miles in Middleton on battery power alone. You need an alternator to generate enough electricity to run your engine and power your electrical accessories like the stereo, power seats, heater fan, on-board computers and so on. On top of that, the alternator needs to recharge your battery. So when your alternator isn't working properly, there isn't enough electricity for all of those things. When your alternator fails, you aren't going very far. So why would yo ... read more

A lot of people in Wisconsin have older vehicles. They're good commuters, grocery-getters or toy-haulers. They enjoy that fact that they're paid off, or soon will be. They would gladly like to keep their vehicles for 200,000 miles/320,000 kilometers or more – as long as it's economical to do so. There are plenty of people in Middleton whose vehicles are running after 150,000 or 200,000 miles (240,000 or 320,000 kilometers). We can learn from what they're doing to keep our own cars on the road. A common denominator is that they never skip an oil change. That may sound a bit unsophisticated, but it's really not. First off, oil is the life blood of your engine and it needs to be clean to properly lubricate. Skipping oil changes leads to clogged oil filters and sludge that can damage your engine. Enough said. There's another reason the scheduled oil change is so important. It's simpl ... read more

Aeschbach Automotive Tech Question: I'm David in Middleton, Wisconsin. For the last year and a half I've had some battery problems. I had trouble starting my car so I bought a new battery at a parts store in Middleton. At first everything was fine, then about six months later I had problems starting my car again, so I got a new battery. Again, everything was fine for another five or six months then I had trouble starting my car again. I went to get another battery and the parts guy said why do you need another battery, weren't you in a few months ago? So he tested my battery and it was OK. Apparently I've been replacing good batteries. What's wrong with my vehicle? Aeschbach Automotive Answer: Look, we can't fault David for not knowing what's wrong with his vehicle – he just didn't have enough information. And frankly, n ... read more

Question: What are the signs that I need a brake job? Aeschbach Automotive Answer:Signs of brake problems often fall into one of two categories for Middleton vehicles: making noise or a pulsation in the brake pedal. Let's start with the noise. Most brake pads have an audible brake wear indicator. This is a small piece of metal that rubs on your brake rotor when the brake pads are worn to the point they should be replaced. The noise is a chirp or soft squeal. This noise gives Middleton drivers enough warning to get their brakes serviced while there is still enough brake pad left to enable you to stop safely. Middleton drivers who ignore the chirp find that the sound changes to a grinding noise. That is more serious. It means that the friction material on your brake pad is worn away and metal parts of the brake are grinding against the rotor when y ... read more

In Middleton, we know we need to take care of our cars, but it just seems really hard to remember to do it! Between dropping the kids off at school, cleaning the spilt cereal up from your car, taking the dog to the vet, remembering that dentist appointment that starts at the same time as your weekly meeting, and then dropping your phone in a puddle- all shoved into a Monday morning before 11 who can remember!? We generally accept that many things in life require regular maintenance- dentist, chiropractor, hair cuts-- but just may have not applied it to our vehicles.  Our vehicles are the form of transportation  alot of us end up treating to last. So people in Wisconsin really are maintenance minded. They just have to learn to apply that mindset to their vehicles. I mean, if you never brush your teeth or go to the dentist, you'll become painfully aware of your neglect when you get a big cavity. Once the damage is done, we learn our lesson and sta ... read more

Alignments in Madison, WI It's no surprise that your vehicle will drive better if all the wheels are pointed in the same direction. That's called wheel alignment. If your wheels are out of alignment you may notice that your vehicle pulls to one side or the other. Something that Middleton drivers won't notice right away, but will if they keep driving when they're out of alignment, is that their tires are wearing unevenly and fairly quickly. That's because when the vehicle is pulling to one side, you have to steer it back straight. The outside of the tire just wears out fast because you're constantly turning, which can be very exhausting on a long road trip in Wisconsin – fighting to keep the vehicle going straight down the road. Some of the things that commonly throw a wheel out of alignment are slamming into a pothole, smiacking a cu ... read more

  Tips for Winter Car Care and Maintenance Winter in Madison, Wisconsin is the number one time we need to make sure our vehicle is in working order. It is the season that most cars get damaged. During winter, there are many things that could go wrong starting with getting into an accident because of not being able to see out properly or being stranded by a dead battery of your car. For most of us, we would not want to face the winter without winter gear like gloves, coat, and other cold weather gear. The same goes for your car, it deserves the highest level of protection during the Madison winter! Why your car needs a winter car care During winter months, your car paint, tire, windows, and other elements are at the mercy of harsh elements such as sleet, snow, salt, rain, wind, gravel and many other elements.  The best time to prepare, inspect and get ready for the winter is before the snow hits. Don’t fret if you haven’t though ... read more