Grand Rapids Auto Repair

Working in the world of auto repair changes your perspective. If you’re a car person, you may know all the working parts of the car. You may even know how to do some repairs yourself. In the past, it wasn’t unusual to have people in their garage giving their vehicle a tuneup or changing the brake pads. With the advanced technology in today’s vehicles, it is becoming more difficult to do your own work. If you work on cars every day, train on the new technology you’ll be repairing, and invest in the tools needed, you recognize the cost of repairs is increasing. You also recognize with all the new fun technology; the cost will keep increasing. When I had my Ford Aerostar when my children were young, I had one sliding door. It slid when I pulled the handle and yanked the door open. No buttons to push. No gently gliding, light-weight door. Opening that door while holding a toddler was just part of being a mom in the 80’s and 90’s. The thing is, that was the only option to ha ... read more

Snow. Cold. Maybe even bitter cold. Bitter cold in Michigan is best described as cold that causes you to sit in your car at the gas station saying to yourself “Get out and pump gas!”. Ok, maybe that’s just me. But you know that feeling if you’ve lived in Michigan for any amount of time. Not being prepared for winter weather can put you in an inconvenient situation. A non-starting car at school, home, or work throws everything off. And if it’s cold outside, that just adds injury to insult as you stand in the blowing wind and wait for a ride or tow truck. Helping you deal with this situation is our job. Getting you back on the road as quickly as possible is always our goal. We would rather see you perform routine maintenance and not have to deal with this situation at all. Sometimes, a car breaking down is just a part failing and nothing you can control. But, having an ASE certified technician inspect your vehicle before the winter wind comes rushing in makes it l ... read more

I could tell you that our logo, a drawing of a crankshaft and pistons, was created by a large marketing company. That we had focus groups come in and tell us what feeling the logo invoked. That we reviewed the feedback, adjusted the design, spent large amounts of cash to get the color just right, and concluded the project with a launch party. Possibly with crowd- sourcing involved! In truth, what really occurred was that Jeff was taking a high school graphic arts class. His father, Arie, was running his newly-opened auto repair business where Jeff worked every day after school. Jeff had created a drawing in his graphic arts class of a crankshaft and pistons. He brought it home and his Dad thought it was well done and decided to use it for the logo for Arie Nol Auto Center. Some adjustments were made to the original drawing to make it more ‘logo friendly’ and it has been the logo for Arie Nol Auto Center for forty-one years. We’ve tweaked it on occasion but it has remain ... read more