There are a lot of motor oils out there, so it can be difficult to choose the one that's best for your vehicle, but Valvoline has made the process easier.

They've developed an online tool that recommends the right oil based on the make, model and year of your vehicle, its engine type, your total mileage, and a couple of other factors. Check it out here.

By the way, Mountain View Tire now uses Valvoline oil exclusively at each of our southern California locations. Valvoline formulates conventional and synthetic oils for different types of engines and driving conditions. They also provide oils for diesel engines, racing applications, ATVs, motorcycles and small engines.

If it's time for your next oil change, check the Good, Better and Best offers on our Coupons page first and save some money.

Not ready to invest in a new hybrid vehicle? That's okay. You can still improve your fuel economy and reduce your environmental footprint by following these five suggestions.

1) Don't drive aggressively. The federal government reports that speeding, rapid acceleration and braking, and high sustained RPMs can all lower your gas mileage by as much as 33% on the highway and 5% when driving around the city.

2) If your vehicle has a manual transmission, put it into neutral and coast up to stoplights. If you drive an automatic, take your foot off the gas to decelerate as you approach red lights.

3) Prepare your car to use gas more efficiently before you drive. If you're not mechanically inclined, pull up to any Mountain View Tire location. We can make sure your wheels are properly aligned, the timing system is calibrated, the tires are inflated, the filters are clean, and everything else is working well.

4) Remove any excess weight from your car. FuelEconomy.gov reports that just by unloading 100 pounds from the vehicle, you can increase your gas mileage by 2%. Think ski and bike racks, luggage carriers, and any unnecessary items in your trunk.

5) Consider altering your driving routine to save gas. Consolidate errands, car pool, take the bus, and walk or ride a bike when you can. Change your route to work to avoid long-term construction delays and heavily congested areas. Also, turn off the engine if you'll be waiting for more than a minute or two. Idling for 15 minutes can burn one-eighth of a gallon of fuel and create a lot of needless pollution.

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Thinking about buying a pre-owned car? It can be a great choice if you want to save on the initial purchase price of a vehicle and avoid the immediate depreciation that comes with driving a new car off the lot.

But beware: used cars can come with their own negatives. Consumer Reports put together a list of 20 warning signs that may signal trouble down the road. Here are a few of them:

1) Paint that has chipped off or doesn't match the rest of the body, as well as paint overspray on chrome, trim and rubber seals may indicate sloppy damage repair.

2) A moldy smell, silt in the trunk, or problems with the electrical system all suggest previous flood damage.

3) A hood, trunk or doors that don't close properly may indicate accident damage that wasn't repaired properly.

4) Uneven tread wear on the tires may be proof of misaligned wheels, which may be the result of frame damage.

5) If the air bag indicator doesn't light up, it might mean the air bag was replaced improperly or not at all.

If you're considering a specific vehicle, print this coupon for a free 12-point inspection, drive the car to any Mountain View Tire location and we'll check it out for you. 

The last year has been incredible for Mountain View Tire, and we have you and our many other customers to thank for it.

In September of 2011, we were named “Tire Dealer of the Year” by Modern Tire Dealer magazine.

Behind driving sensation Vincent Nobile, our NHRA Pro Stock drag racing team had its best year ever, winning three events and contending for the Rookie of the Year award.

In December 2011, we opened a new store in Murrieta. In January 2012, we began celebrating our 25th year in business. And earlier this month, we moved into our brand new corporate headquarters in Rancho Cucamonga.

Now, we’ve opened our 30th store. You’ll find it at 6080 Hamner Avenue in Eastvale in the Eastvale Gateway Shopping Center. We are the first auto repair and tire store in this newly formed city, which officially became part of Riverside County on October 1st, 2010.

Mountain View Tire Eastvale features nine bays and 7,500 square feet of space. In addition to a large selection of tires, ASE-certified technicians, and a free shuttle service, we’ll be delivering the WOW Experience that we’re known for.

Thank you again for making this new store and the last 25 years of success possible. The Mitsos family and all the rest of us at Mountain View Tire look forward to serving you for many more years to come.

There are many reasons we're proud to be affiliated with the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Here's another one: Since 2008, Goodyear has not sent any manufacturing waste to a landfill.

Fifty-three factories, millions of tires made each year, and not a single scrap of manufacturing waste sent to a landfill. That's pretty impressive, and it's why Goodyear is receiving a 2012 Manny Award in the "Green Initiative" category from Inside Business magazine.

Goodyear's "Zero Waste to Landfill" initiative began in 2006 as a plan to reduce the company's environmental impact. It requires all plants to reduce, reuse and recycle manufacturing waste.

By the way, Goodyear also won a 2011 Manny Award for its outstanding employee safety record.

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Okay, so maybe you can’t change what you pay for a gallon of gas, but you can take steps to reduce what you pay for auto insurance. When you do, you’ll lower the total cost of owning and operating your vehicle. Here are a few highlights from an article by John Loos.

1) Review Your Policy

Have you changed vehicles? Are you commuting fewer miles to work? Have you moved to a rural area with less traffic? All of these life changes can mean lower auto insurance premiums for you. Review your policy at least once a year or as changes occur, and ask your insurer how these changes can reduce your rate. If you’re not happy with the answer, consider shopping for new auto insurance.

2) Improve Your Credit Score

What does your credit score have to do with your car insurance rates? "For many insurers, credit-based insurance scoring is one of the most important and statistically valid tools to predict the likelihood of a person filing a claim and the likely cost of that claim," said Loretta Worters. She’s a vice president of the Insurance Information Institute.

Statistically, your payment history, credit history length, bankruptcies, unpaid debt – all the components that determine your credit score – are good indicators of how responsible you are, and give insurance companies a better idea of how risky an investment you are. Clean up your credit and you may lower what you pay for car insurance as well.

3) Change What You Drive

Worters also suggests taking a look at the known costs and risks associated with your particular vehicle: the sticker price, the typical repair costs, the safety features, even the probability of theft. She points out that “Engine sizes, even among the same makes and models, can also impact insurance premiums." So, before you start shopping for a new car, contact your insurance company and ask which vehicles are the least expensive to cover.

4) Raise Your Deductible

The quickest way to cut your insurance costs is to raise your deductible, the amount you agree to pay before your insurer pays any money toward the repair or replacement of your vehicle.

Loretta Worters: "Increasing your deductible from $200 to $500 could reduce your collision and comprehensive coverage cost by 15 to 30 percent. Going to a $1,000 deductible can save you 40 percent or more."

One caution: Just be sure you can pay your higher deductible amount all at once if necessary. It’s a good idea to set that amount aside in case you need it.

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Brake noise isn’t necessarily a reason to panic. According to Auto Service Professional magazine, some brake noise is actually normal and can be affected by the weather and your driving habits.

For instance, you may notice that your brakes make a grinding noise first thing in the morning. That’s usually the result of light surface rust that’s built up overnight. Typically, the rust and the noise will go away after you apply the brakes a few times.

Your brakes may groan when you’re applying them to stop or even when you release the pedal after a stop. Again, that’s fairly normal.

And, if your vehicle has semi-metallic brakes, you may hear squeaking and squealing now and then when you apply the brakes lightly at medium speeds. This is usually the result of normal vibration as the brake pads come into contact with the rotors.

If your brakes are making different sounds than those, if the pedal feels soft, or if you sense a vibration or kick-back when you apply the brakes, pull up to the nearest Mountain View Tire location soon and we’ll diagnose any problems you may be having.

Jump starting a car may seem like a safe process, but there can be an element of danger.

When using jumper cables, do not attach the last cable to the negative terminal of the dead battery. Instead, clamp it onto a metal brace or another piece of “body metal” within the engine compartment.

Why?

When a battery is charging, a chemical reaction is taking place. That reaction produces flammable gas as a waste product. Ideally, a spark will result when you attach the last jumper cable to the metal in the car with the dead battery. If that spark occurs too closely to the flammable gas, the gas could ignite, the battery could burst, and you could be severely burned.

Granted, in order for an explosion like that to occur, a good amount of the flammable gas would have to have collected around the battery, but that could happen if the vehicle has been stored for a while, especially in an area with poor air circulation. So, while an accident such as this is unlikely, it’s another reason to take care around car batteries and wear protective eyewear when working with them.

If you’re like me, you’re open to any tricks that will help you get more mileage out of each gallon of gas. So, here are a few you might want to try.

1) Find a Better Way - Do you hit a lot of stop lights on your way to work? Then take the road less traveled. Find a more fuel-efficient route to the office or other frequent destinations and stop wasting gas at intersections.

2) Kill the A.C. - If you can do without the cool breeze, you can squeeze more miles out of each tank. If it’s just too hot to quit cold turkey, wait as long as you can to turn on the air conditioning, and then turn it off once you’re about 10 minutes away from your destination.

3) Use Your Brakes Wisely - How can braking improve your fuel economy? Well, it’s actually not braking that helps. Your car burns the most gas when you step on the accelerator, especially when you’re starting from a dead stop. (That’s one of the reasons busy-city, stop-and-go driving drains your tank faster than non-stop trips down the highway.)  So, when approaching red or yellow lights or moving slowly through a traffic jam, take your foot off the gas pedal, coast as long as possible, and don’t apply the brakes until you need to. In heavy traffic, decelerating, as it’s known, can improve your fuel economy by as much as 20%.

4) Remove That Ski Rack - Unless you're in ‘round-the-clock downhill mode, take the ski rack off your vehicle. Same with the bike and/or luggage racks. They add weight to your car and can increase wind resistance.

5) Share the Ride - It may take a little organizing and then a little getting used to, but carpooling can be a very effective way to save gas and reduce the wear on your tires and other vehicle components. And who knows: you may even make a few good friends.

(This post contains content from an article at Yahoo Autos.)

Want to save $800 on your next new car purchase? According to one study, you can if you’re willing to do these four things:

1) Find out what a dealer pays for a car.

2) Shop two car dealerships or more.

3) Research price comparisons before making a purchase.

4) Negotiate at least a little bit.

By studying surveys of more than 1,400 car buyers, researchers at Yale, Northwestern and the University of California Riverside found the following:

• Car shoppers who know the dealer's invoice price save an average of $121.
• Consumers save $109, or about 7% of dealer gross margin, when they shop at least two dealerships. They save about $600 when they shop as many as seven dealerships.
• Car buyers who participate in many rounds of negotiating save an average of $302.

Even if you don't like negotiating or conducting research, the study says you still can save around $230 just by learning what the dealer paid for the vehicle and visiting at least two dealerships.