Seattle-“It’s all about service, service, service,” said Ralph Allmand, parts and service director at downtown Toyota of Seattle. “It comes from our owners and it filters down through sales, service, and parts, both retail and wholesale. Three simple rules: Keep your promise, fix it right the first time, and ‘kiss the baby’ is our mission,” he said.
Allmand, who said he began his career at the nearby Honda of Seattle (the other store owned by the Miller-Nicholson group) in 1976 fresh from the automotive technology program at Green River Community College in Auburn.
“It was Riach Central Olds in those days and became a Honda store in 1986,” he said. He said he worked as a technician for four years, became service manager in 1981, and worked in parts for 19 years, overseeing both the Honda and Toyota operations (known as Team Seattle for wholesale parts sales).
In December 2007, he became parts and service director at the Toyota store that opened in 1991, he said.
At the Toyota store, Allmand said some 2,000 vehicles a month are serviced in 13 bays with 14 technicians, all Toyota and ASE-certified, including three ASE Master Technicians. “It’s a busy place and we’re open six days a week,” he said. “Techs work four-day weeks, and every third rotation they get a five-day-off period.”
Allmand said the store has long been involved with the Toyota T-TEN training program at Shoreline Community College (SCC) and that the service department has four T-TEN trained techs on staff, adding that the T-TEN instructor at SCC is a former technician at the store. “It’s a great program and they provide great support to us, and we fully support the program.”
One of those T-TEN techs is Brian Dobson, a full-time employee for two years at the store, Allmand said. “He was in the automotive program at Ingraham High School and started working for us a young age while attending the T-TEN program. He aced all eight ASE tests while at Shoreline on the tests given to student technicians.”
Allmand and Edwin Hurskin, assistant parts and service manager, said high-tech diagnostics have become the prominent service element at the Toyota store. They said there has been a big increase in oil changes, but there is less maintenance on other systems as the lifetime coolant, transmission fluid, fuel filters, and other systems and parts that don’t require regular maintenance.
“In the old days, we sold lots of ignition parts, filters, wires, spark plugs, and did a lot of warranty work,” Hurskin said. “Those parts, along with some mechanical parts, are not as prevalent today.
“Maintenance picks up when the economy is tighter and people are repairing vehicles instead of buying new, so that is one reason our service has been strong this year,” he said.
“Service has been busy all year for us,” Allmand said. “The summer has been very good, and the Cash for Clunkers program has brought in substantial traffic and created PDI inspection business for new car sales. It’s a good atmosphere; lots of electricity in the air.”
In July, the store sold 68 Prius Hybrids before the July 31 tax rebate program ended, Allmand said, and through Aug. 10 sales of all Toyota models at the store totaled 56.
“The Cash for Clunkers program is really working and it translates in all phases of the store--sales, service, and parts.”
Hurskin, who said he began his career with Miller-Nicholson in 1998 at the Honda store and moved to the Toyota store a month after Allmand shifted to that operation, has spent much of his time promoting parts for Team Seattle. He oversees the wholesale parts for the group that services more than 250 accounts and assists Allmand in a variety of capacities, he said.
While parts sales were down in 2008 over 2007, Hurskin said 2009 retail and wholesale parts sales have been brisk, and in February, the store had record sales. “2009 has been good for parts sales, and we’re seeing more mechanical parts being sold rather than collision parts,” he said.
The store services a wide range of customers throughout the Northwest, including Idaho and Montana, and has healthy business in Alaska and Hawaii, Allmand and Hurskin said, noting that Internet parts sales have also increased. “We offer daily delivery with Team Seattle from north Lynnwood to south Tacoma, plus the eastside,” Hurskin said.
In-house, Hurskin said retail parts, about 20 percent of overall parts sales, have increased this year because the store has a larger and better merchandised parts department. “We’ve increased stock levels for better parts availability, for both retail and wholesale business, and we’re getting more sales by our parts staff with expanded training and better internal merchandising, and will add apparel items to that mix soon.”
In keeping with the philosophy of “service, service, service,” Hurskin and Allmand said the store is conscious of the needs of wholesale parts customers, and the entire parts staffs at Team Seattle strive to provide excellent parts service and delivery to that customer base.
“We offer a Wednesday night golf league at Interbay Golf Center and do other events during the year,” Hurskin said.
Parts managers and staff have long been involved with ASA Washington, and several current and former managers are past presidents and officers of the Seattle-King County unit of ASA, Allmand and Hurskin said, adding that they are both past presidents of the local group.
“We understand the quality of the people in ASA, and it's a great association; we value those relationships,” Allmand said.
“We attend ASA meetings and retreats, provide prizes for drawings, and support that group as much as we can,” Hurskin said. “It’s always enjoyable to be with the ASA folks, whether at a retreat or a golf outing, and we appreciate the relationships we have developed with so many of the members.”
