Tips | Parkside Motors

The Secret to Window Defrosting

"My commute for work starts very early in the morning, and the cold weather is really slowing me down. What can I do about my frosted windows?" Iced Over in Victoria.

Need to Know: Storing Your Car For Winter

There are a few steps you should take to get your vehicle ready for storage and a few little tricks to make the actual storage of your vehicle more successful. Let's take a look at the best practices, most steps just take a few minutes.

Must Have: Emergency Car Kit

The vast majority of road accidents and emergencies occur when the weather is at its most harsh and conditions on the road are extreme. Let's look at how to make an emergency car kit to get you through a winter car accident.

Apple CarPlay vs. Android Auto vs. MirrorLink

Over the last few weeks we have been going through the latest connectivity options available today for your vehicle's entertainment system. In each review we found the same general PROs and CONs. Namely that having a connected infotainment system keeps your eyes on the road, and that they are proprietary so each one is only suited to people in that ecosystem. Below we round-up each of our articles and point you towards the info you need to make an informed choice.

Get to Know: MirrorLink

Over the last few weeks we have been looking at 3rd party, aftermarket options for connecting your digital life to your vehicle. While Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are wonderful options, they are also proprietary. For this reason, we thought we should take a moment and outline MirrorLink, a completely open source option.

Get to Know: Apple CarPlay

Our new vehicles have great screens, but do they have an intuitive user interface? Not really. This is where Silicon Valley comes into the picture. Let's look at Apple's take on a handsfree UI and see how it fits the bill.

Get to Know: Android Auto

Car manufacturers knew they should put beautiful screens in our new cars, but making an intuitive interface was not really their speciality. This is where Silicon Valley comes into the picture. Let's look at Google's take on a handsfree UI and see how it fits the bill.

The Dutch Reach: Save a Biker

For decades now in the Netherlands drivers have been trained (and tested for their licenses) on a behavior that dramatically reduces the risk of doorings. Let's spread this great idea and make Victoria's streets safer for cyclists.

Round-Up: Automatic Transmissions

We have been busy over the last month writing articles that address many of the questions and concerns we are faced at the shop regarding automatic transmissions. Below is a quick round up of our latest work. Spend some time digging around, we think you will like what you find.

Myth or Fact: I Should Coast In Neutral to Save Fuel

There is a ton of false information out there. Some of it is misguided, and some of it is just left over from when vehicles were made in a different way to completely different regulations. This week we decide if coasting in neutral to save fuel is a fact or myth.

Safety: Floor Mats

Over the last few years there were millions of recalls of vehicles to correct "a possible incursion of an incorrect or out-of-place front driver's side floor mat into the foot pedal well, which can cause pedal entrapment". Let's look at what that means and how to make sure we are not effected ourselves.

Need to Know: Electric Cars & The Environment

This week there was a major development in the short history of electric cars. Elon Musk and Tesla Motors announced their third model, the Model ?, and are attempting to…