Those lines were chosen because "we always knew German cars," said Husser, noting that he and partner Marcel Bont met while apprentices in Switzerland.  After working in Switzerland for two years, Husser said the pair were offered jobs by an independent repair shop in Southern California in late 1984.

When they decided to open their own shop in 1988, Husser said he had already been running a business out of his home garage for about a year.  He said he is fairly certain that a former employer reported his home business because he felt he was competition.  "I should say thanks to him," he said.  "It was a really good move to get this shop."

In the early days, Husser said the shop also did a lot of work on Ferraris, but he said they stopped because it was not a good fit.  "It was too much of a hassle to get parts, so the cars would sit around," he said.

Getting cars in and out is important because the 2,500-square-foot shop has only another 2,500 square feet of parking.  The shop has room for three in-ground and one alignment lift as well as a Rotary above-ground lift outside.

The shop does all of its own alignments, Husser said.  "There are not that many good alignment shops, and the one I know of nearby is hard to get an appointment at, and most of our customers what their car back the same day," he said.

The facility is a Bosch Authorized Service Center, Husser said, and Bosch is their first choice of parts unless they recognize that another manufacturer was the OE supplier of the part.  "We knew from Europe that Bosch Service Centers were a little better known and had good schooling and a good warranty program," he said.  "It's always been a leading company and is often factory original on the cars we specialize in."

Swiss Motors buys its parts primarily from WORLDPAC, IMC, and SSF, Jackson said  "They're all very competitive and have their own Web sites with online ordering," he said, noting that it allows him to compare prices and make sure a part is in stock.

The shop has three technicians, in addition to the owners, and one service writer.  Husser said he mostly does electronic repairs and diagnostics in addition to administrative work, while Bont focuses on the company's used-car sales and helps out on heavy Porsche work, such as engine rebuilds.

While the shop is able to handle any type of mechanical work, Husser said they do few engine rebuilds anymore because it is rarely economical for the customer.  "Modern engines aren't usually worth rebuilding," he said.  If an engine is bad, he said, they will often look for used engines to install, or, for Porsches, the manufacturer has an excellent exchange program for remanufactured motors.

About 50 percent of the shop's business is now preventive maintenance, Husser said.  Much of the shop's repair work is on problems identified by technicians during maintenance, he said.

Husser said the shop rarely has trouble selling recommended services.  "I think they're ready to be sold," he said.  "I think that's partially because most of our customers are referred to us, and that is what they are looking for."

The shop prefers to work on vehicles in the 5- to 7-year-old range, Husser said, but it has a good following of Mercedes and BMW customers with vehicles back to the 1960s.  With BMW, he said they decline to go older than the 1980s.

By focusing on just the three makes, Husser said they often have an idea of what is causing problems as soon as the customer starts to describe the symptoms.  "It makes it easier to get the work out and to do the diagnostics -- each car has its own set of problems," he said.  "The specialty scanners also don't come cheap, so you can only justify working on so many lines."

The shop owns the BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche factory diagnostic tools, Husser said as well as a Vagcom scanner that helps them work on the occasional VW or Audi.  "Without a factory tool, you're going to be very limited," he said.

The shop has an Alldata information system, which Husser called their first stop for repair data.  He said they also occasionally pay to log into one of the manufacturers' informational Web sites if they need information they can't find elsewhere.  He noted that the Mercedes site has excellent wire diagrams, for instance.

Husser said the shop sells about 50 used cars a year.  "It works well with the shop because if we sell someone a used car, we often get a new repair customer," he said.  "It's also a way to hold onto existing customers. Every time a customer buys a new Mercedes, we don't see them for four years.  If we can get them into a good used car, they will remain a customer."