Repairing Mechanics’ Image

The auto parts and service market is heating up here and across the country as car dealers and others roll out new initiatives to build customer loyalty and change old perceptions.

Those old perceptions are not easily dismissed by many motorists — namely, that it’s not easy finding a competent mechanic or repair shop you can really trust.

Mechanic Brian Fraasch moved here two months ago from San Jose, Calif., where he said the prevailing attitude was “people assumed they’d be (scammed) anyway,” anywhere they took their vehicle, “so just go ahead and tell me the bad news.”

Fraasch now works at the new Quality Care Service Center on the South Hill, where, he said, the attitude is quite different and customers are even invited out to watch the mechanics at work.

“If the customers don’t come out, we’re bringing them out to meet their technician,” said Adrian Neill, parts manager for Foothills Lincoln Mercury, the dealership that built the $1.4 million service center.

At last week’s store opening, Foothills President Ray Kish said, “We spent 20 years, for OSHA and other safety reasons, discouraging people from coming into the service center. But this way is truly our future. We’re trying to build a relationship with our customers.”

Chris Maar, Foothills vice president and general manager, added: “We dealers are losing customers because of mistrust and apprehension. It isn’t like the rest of the industry hasn’t figured this out, but we had this unique opportunity.”

Maar said studies show people will drive some distance to buy a car, but they want to tend to vehicle service needs close to home.

So Foothills built this center at 3001 E. Palouse Highway as one of Ford Motor Co.’s national chain of Quality Care centers. Maar said the goal is to attract customers living within five to seven miles.

Spokane’s center is the first in the Northwest and 16th nationally. A parallel “Quick Lane” program to enhance service centers at dealerships also is under way.

Carl Bergman, Ford’s customer service operations manager, and Tim Hebron, who is coordinating the Quality Care program, came from Dearborn, Mich., headquarters for Tuesday’s festivities.

“We don’t keep our customers through the vehicle maintenance cycle as well as we should, so we really want to compete in the after-auto (purchase) market,” Bergman said. He said studies show dealers typically retain 30 to 40 percent of buyers after the warranty runs out. He said if after-purchase initiatives increase that by just 10 percent, the programs will have been successful.

Ford hopes to have 23 Quality Care centers and 100 Quick Lane facilities nationwide by year end, growing the totals to 70 Quality Care centers and 600 Quick Lanes by 2003.

The targets, Bergman said, are the parts stores, tire and brake shops, oil and lube shops and discount auto service shops, not other Ford dealers.

“We know there’s a lot of loyalty to Wendle and Empire and Gus Johnson Ford, and we’re not after those customers,” said Kish.

Other dealerships are expanding service programs and hours to build loyalty to their businesses.

For example, George Gee Automotive’s new facility at Liberty Lake, which opens Wednesday, features 40 service bays and two quick-lube bays, plus a deli and espresso bar, a business center, even a putting green.

Some customers may be surprised that the new free-standing Ford service center doesn’t display the Foothills brand name very prominently. That’s no accident.

“There is the perception that car dealers are not the most convenient and price-sensitive places for service,” Bergman said. “We don’t have instant credibility in the convenience area.”

But when satisfied patrons of the service center make the association with the dealership, the connection will be made, said Hebron.

The concept is as new for the mechanics as it is for others.

Neill said to emphasize the new concept, all 11 staff technicians for the service center were hired from other dealerships or repair centers. None were transferred from Foothills.

Personalized customer service is expected, and a code of ethics - something not found in many auto repair shops - serves as a constant reminder.

The code, prominently displayed for customers, has sections on trust (“always be honest and upfront”), customer treatment (“never pressure customers to buy our services”), teamwork, professionalism, quality and cleanliness.

Mechanic Mike Novak made the move after working for dealerships and running his own repair shop.

“Most people I’ve talked to absolutely don’t trust mechanics in shops. But if you show them the problem and show them they need to fix it right away, they usually understand,” Novak said.

Neill cited a reluctant Coeur d’Alene motorist who agreed when he saw the worn parts first-hand that his car “really” needed a brake job.

Novak added that if customers get too directly involved in the repairs, “we just put our tools down and talk to them until they leave. Some people do make you nervous.”

Kandy Moore, the only woman mechanic on the team at this point, is a graduate of Spokane Community College’s auto service program and worked three years at another dealership. She said the auto repair business is “like an old boy’s network,” where females “have to be that much better” to get acceptance. At this shop, she said, she senses more of a family atmosphere.

One big difference at this shop, Novak said, is mechanics are paid hourly, not on commissions for each job. He said the hourly rate promotes mechanics helping each other.

The new concept and new service center have the attention of competitors, who are not overly concerned.

“They could have built it right across the street and we would have welcomed them,” said Bob Calhoun, manager at the South Hill Alton’s Tire store.

“I’ve driven by, and it looks like a nice facility,” said Calhoun. “It may help bring business to the whole (Lincoln Heights) area, kind of like the mall theory. But if you take good care of your own customers, you will do all right.”

Troy Huffman, area district manager for Schuck’s Auto Supply, said, “Since we are not in the repair service business, if their primary business is as installers, they might be a customer rather than a competitor (buying from Schuck’s Pro Shop wholesale product line). We’ll have to wait and see, but it could be a boon for us.”

At another Ford dealership, Chud Wendle, president of Wendle Motors, agrees with improving auto service centers. That, he said, “will benefit the consumer in the long run. The things we’re looking at are more on the drawing board right now.”

Wendle added, “If you take a consumer back into the (service) area to show somebody really working on the car, there’s a magic to it.”

Wendle said he’s been well aware of the new Quality Care Service Center. “We live two blocks away,” he said, “so I have to drive by it every day.”