Lee's Summit, Mo.--Two months ago, Bryan Thoreson, owner of Summit South Auto Repair, said he surveyed the cars in his 6,000-square-foot shop and discovered that 1969 was the average year of the nine cars in his shop.
Lately, Thoreson said, he has worked on a 1969 Oldsmobile Hearst, a 1939 Ford, and an array of Shelby Mustangs.
"We do a lot of work on older cars," he said, adding that he and Co-owner Brian Pipes have a passion for older vehicles. "Our customer base knows that we do that kind of work. It just started by working on one guy's older car, and then he told a friend, and the friend referred somebody else, and the next thing you know, you have a bunch of older cars in the shop."
Thoreson said word-of-mouth travels fast among owners of classic cars, especially Shelby Mustangs.
"We do a lot of work on Shelby Mustangs," he said. "There seems to be a lot in the area, and those guys seem to be a tight group. I have Shelby Mustang owners that don't know me from Adam, but a friend of theirs will refer them to me, and the next thing you know, they pull up in a trailer, unload it, and tell me to call them when it is done."
Custom muffler work is one reason customers bring their older cars to Summit South, Thoreson said, adding that once they discover that he is a full-service repair shop, they request brake work, tuneups, and a number of other repairs on their classic cars.
Working on a customer's older car often leads to working on their regular vehicles also, he said.
"Every guy that has a Shelby Mustang also has a car that he drives every day," he said, adding that just recently, one of his Shelby Mustang customers sent their son in for a brake job on his everyday car.
Although Thoreson and Pipes said they enjoy working on the classic cars, the majority of work is on newer, everyday vehicles.
Summit South Auto Repair, a CARQUEST Tech-Net Professional Service Facility, has nine bays and five lifts. Three full-time technicians work in the shop, along with Thoreson and Pipes, who split time between the office and shop, Thoreson said.
"We were one of the first shops in the area to sign up to be a CARQUEST Tech-Net shop," said Thoreson, who became involved in the partnership more than seven years ago.
Training, a business development fund (BDF), and a nationwide warranty are some of the benefits that Thoreson said come through his membership in the program.
The BDF is generated by purchasing parts from CARQUEST, he said, adding that the money earned through the alliance can go towards paying for advertising, training, and equipment purchases.
Using his BDF, Thoreson said he recently purchased a service-interval-reminder machine that will print out static-cling labels to be stuck to a customer's windshield.
The message on the label can be an oil change reminder, a service reminder for a maintenance that needs to be performed, or even a coupon for 10 percent off an upcoming service, just to name a few, he said.
As a Tech-Net shop, Thoreson said he can also offer his customers a 12-month, 12,000-mile nationwide warranty; therefore, if a customer's car breaks down when they are out of town, they can go to a Tech-Net shop in that area and get warranty work performed, he noted.
Through the Tech-Net program, shops also get funding toward technical training classes in areas such as drivability and electronics, he said, adding that he recently turned to one of the reference books from a CARQUEST training class to help troubleshoot a problem.
Thoreson said he orders about 90 percent of his parts from CARQUEST. The local jobber store is only a mile away, so he gets his parts quickly, he said.
He said he orders his CARQUEST parts online through the Mitchell 1 shop management system. The system, which he purchased in February, allows him to manage repair orders, and investigate his financial numbers.
"The Mitchell program also gives us a breakdown on costs, and you can look at individual groupings like heating, air conditioning, or engine work, to find out how much work you are doing in each category," he said.
Thoreson, who also uses Mitchell 1 OnDemand for repair information, said he has been a long-time Mitchell user--since it was in book form.
"The support is wonderful," he said. "If you cannot find it online, you can call the help line. They will go to the library, find what you need, and fax it to you."