Grand Rapids Auto Repair

I think of them as the ‘summer cars.’ They’re usually MGs, Datsun Z cars, and Mercedes convertibles. They roll in as the summer weather arrives. These cars usually have their own idiosyncrasies and their owners often have a story about how or why they own that particular vehicle. These cars haven’t been exposed to snow, salt or in some cases, even rain. Nostalgia plays a part in the ownership of these vehicles. Many times, their parents had the same type of vehicle and it brings back great summer memories. Other times, the owner was bestowed the vehicle when someone passed away and the car stands as a memento. For other folks, it’s simply been their dream car for as long as they can remember. We’ve had forty-year old vehicles come in that have had only one owner. Some of them—since we’ve been around over forty years—we’ve been taking care of since they were new. For Jeff, these cars are like old friends pulling into our lot. He remembers working on them as a tee ... read more

It's important that people enjoy their ‘work space’ as much as possible. Going through our bays, you see family pictures, screen savers of favorite cars and photos of family vacations. I have photos of my family in my office but not any of my cats. That would push me to close to the “crazy-cat lady” title I'm trying to avoid. While many work spaces have changed and evolved over the years, automotive service areas have as well. Many shops you enter are cleaner, brighter and more welcoming than they were in the past. Not just for customers but for employees as well. The mechanical service area used to be a space that you rarely brought a customer. They're still not a place that customers spend much time but if the need arises to look at something on your vehicle while it's in the shop, it's much more inviting than it used to be. Motorized floor scrubbers have made keeping the shop floor clean much easier than in the past. I appreciate it because I don't have to wo ... read more

My daughter was looking for bridesmaid’s dresses several years ago. She wanted rose-gold dresses and wanted to keep the cost reasonable for the women in her bridal party. Searching everywhere, she found some gowns online that fit the bill. They were relatively inexpensive and they looked fine. As long as you didn't look too closely. These dresses were beautiful in pictures and comfortable but the quality was less than what you would normally purchase. They also left a trail of rose-gold sequins everywhere we went. This was fine because we didn't expect anything more than that from these lovely rose-gold dresses. This is similar to car parts purchased online (there IS actually a point to this story). People will want to source their own parts because “They can save a lot online,” but you get what you pay for. Especially as it pertains to mechanical car parts. You may wonder why your auto repair facility doesn’t want to install the parts you’ve purchased online. T ... read more

Summertime means a switch to summer-mix gas for your car— and a switch to iced coffee for me. It also is an important time to check that your coolant/antifreeze is up to the task of protecting your vehicle’s system from heat. It's important for several reasons. Your coolant removes excess heat from your internal combustion engine. It's often called antifreeze because it needs to resist freezing in northern climates. Coolant needs to have a higher boiling point as well as a lower freezing point. Essentially, we’re asking a lot of this liquid. Drivers used to just grab a gallon of antifreeze at the corner gas station and add some to the reservoir if it was low. With recent changes, there are more coolants to choose from. If you add coolant and let your technician know, they'll probably ask you what color it was. Why? Different manufacturers are recommending different coolants. It's important to use the correct one. In an emergency, you can add water to the system ... read more

Michigan is such a fickle place to live when it comes to our weather. If you've lived here long enough, you really will have worn a coat and gloves in the morning and shorts in the afternoon. Some days it feels like Mother Nature looks into my car and says, “You forgot your gloves? Time for snow and cold wind and by the way, you need to fill your gas tank. Have fun standing outside of the car!” Now think about your car. You want it to be prepared for any weather Michigan dishes out. Check your coolant. Can it handle the heat? Make sure your windshield wiper fluid is full and that your wipers are in good shape. Are all of your vehicle’s lights working? Here’s the most important thing to do in the spring. Turn on your air conditioning. Don't wait until you need it. Remember last year when the A/C wasn't quite as cold as it usually is? Or it was making a noise? But then it became cold and you switched over to heat in your car. The lack of cold air flowing through y ... read more

I was just down south and noticed two things. One, lots of Lamborghini, Aston Martins and Ferraris. Two, lots of peep toe shoes. Being married to a car guy, i usually have those shiny, engine that purrs, crazy-expensive vehicles pointed out to me. I do appreciate how beautiful these vehicles are as they cruise by us. Living in Michigan, I realize that I'd rather have an all around vehicle that can be used twelve months out of the year. I'm obviously too practical to be an exotic car collector. A true car aficionado is willing to visit their vehicle wherever it is stored, visualizing the first sunny day they take it for a drive. In the southern United States, their shoe requirements are different. A southern woman can wear peep toes year round. Sandals, espadrilles, flip flops etc—all those open toed, strappy, pretty shoes sit in my closet waiting. It doesn't make me happy to visit them in my closet. I bypass them on the way to boots and wool socks. Their soft pa ... read more

Some people think that auto repair and trust don't belong in a title together. I was reading an article about a survey performed by AAA. AAA stated that according to their survey, ‘75 million drivers don't have a trusted auto repair facility and ⅔ of drivers don't trust auto repair shops in general’. Some people have had bad experiences or there's always that reputation that seems to persist for centuries. Mechanics! Argh! They're always out to get people! I'm going with my 17 years of experience in this industry and saying that 10%, probably the same in other service industries, of shops are…….less honest than they should be. The less honest ones aggravate everyone. We get the customers they've mislead and have to work to earn their trust. But that's OK. I understand. Technology is changing so fast and the average car owner isn't going to understand when your technicians says you have, “excessive noise on bit serial data line causing no communication wi ... read more

Last year I had someone approach me to see if I would be interested in attending a leadership conference in Indianapolis for the Women in Auto Care. I had heard of this group over the years, but I hadn’t pursued learning more about them. The group’s focus is on industry insights, networking, and professional development. I have since attended that conference, as well as their winter leadership conference this past month. Many of the conferences and trainings Jeff and I attend are geared towards shop owners. The Women in Auto Care conference is geared towards women working in the automotive industry aftermarket. The speakers were amazing and I walked away feeling like I had learned about what is happening in the automotive industry, with a renewed opportunity to improve my skills as a business owner. Women share their experiences and expertise in their positions working in development, sales, logistics, engineering, technicians, etc. The Women in Auto Care also f ... read more

“I love your sign!” This is a sentence we hear a lot. And we love it! This is our own little piece of the world on the corner of 52nd and Eastern in Grand Rapids. We are fortunate to have a lot of traffic passing our business every day. From the standpoint of business visibility, etc, it's a great spot. When Arie Nol purchased the property in 1976, there wasn't much out here. It was the edge of Grand Rapids. The ’burbs. Having the ability to impact so many people every day is kind of fun. We made the decision 15 years ago, when we erected the new sign, to not put anything up but quotes, puns or something inspirational. At first it was tempting to place ‘specials’ on the sign. Where we missing a huge opportunity to reach potential customers? Maybe. As a small business owner, it's natural to revisit decisions to see if they were good ones. The unexpected aspect of our sign is how much enjoyment WE get out of it. Having someone that is not a customer come i ... read more

Cameron was only three months old when his grandfather, Arie Nol, the founder of our business, passed away. Cameron has no memories of his own but he has heard many other people’s memories of Arie. While working here, he has the unique opportunity to talk to people that worked with his grandfather or have customers share their stories about Arie. Arie loved what he did and shared his passion for cars with many people. He also loved people and enjoyed helping them and sharing his knowledge to enable them to keep their vehicles in safe condition. Even though Arie has been gone for almost twenty-five years, we still hear the stories of how he impacted people’s lives. Cameron has been able to hear stories about his grandfather negotiating with vendors who’ve since retired but stop in to say “HI.” On occasion, he’s heard stories from people that shared how they had to deal with Arie after they caused damage to the family car by ignoring needed maintenance or driving ... read more