Longtime repair shop will convert to tow company
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After 42 years, Advanced Auto Repair & Towing is phasing out the service portion of its business.
“We are not leaving Davis,” said Kevin Jones, service manager and shop foreman, “just focusing on towing right now.” It’s still repairing cars for longtime clients but not accepting new customers.
The shop opened in July 1982 at 965 Olive Drive, and has been there since, expanding four times. When it began, it had three employees and 1,200 square feet of space. Today it has 8,000 square feet and seven employees. Jones has been there for 30 years.
There are several reasons for the change, including not being able to negotiate a sublease. But Jones said the biggest concern was modifications to the state smog-check program.
He said the program was “pulled out from under us, as well as many independent repair ships. They stripped our Star Station status. That’s a large part of our business. We’re Gold Shield Certified.”
The smog-check machine it has for older cars doesn’t meet new state requirements. Shops must have two machines, one for pre-2000 cars and one for newer ones.
Leasing a new testing system for cars made between 1976 and 1999 would cost $500 or more a month. But the shop does smog checks on about one older car a month.
“From a business standpoint, it makes no sense to purchase,” he said. “We could no longer maintain that Star status.” The Department of Motor Vehicles requires certain cars to go to a Star Station, and that was the bulk of the shop’s client base.
For the last two years, it has been only smogging cars made since 2000. There are grace periods as these requirements phase in but theirs expired on Oct. 6.
“I’m not alone. A lot of shops our size are turning in their smog machines,” he said. “They’re taking 80 percent of cars away from us.”
He said the requirement will lead to a smaller number of state-approved stations, which is sure to drive up the price. He warned that people are going to be surprised when they go to get their car smogged.
Jones said he could think of just a couple of shops left in town that are Star-Certified under the new rules: nearby Aggie Smog on Olive Drive, which is a test-only shop, and A1 Smog & Auto Repair on Chiles.
Jones said they don’t have a hard date for the conversion to a towing-only operation. They have an office and tow yard secured but declined to specify where. Here’s its website.