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Broadview Repair Shop Has New Owners
Broadview Repair Shop Has New OwnersBy Bill Walsh
Times-Democrat Staff Writer
Part of the reason why U.S. auto makers are struggling, according to analysts, is that people, lacking confidence in these turbulent times, are holding on to their cars a good bit longer.
John McLaughlin and Mike Koontz have friends in most of the county's dealerships, and those friends are telling them that while that might be the case elsewhere, new and late-model used car sales are steady, bordering on brisk, in Fauquier.
It doesn't really matter whether the market is dead or alive, as far as the new owners of Broadview Auto & Truck Service Center are concerned. Koontz is adept at working on cars that have lost a bit of luster while racking up the years and the miles. McLaughlin specializes in the shiny new offerings that roll off the assembly lines in Detroit.
Neighbors and friends of long duration, McLaughlin and Koontz bought the business from long-time proprietor Ivan Tabor, who ran the shop for the past two decades.
After working alongside the new owners for a couple of weeks, showing them the ropes, introducing the steady clients and familiarizing the pair with a multitude of vendors, Tabor retired and the new owners took over last week.
Other potential owners also negotiated with Tabor when word was circulated that he was thinking of selling, McLaughlin said. He believes that Tabor decided in their favor because of deep Fauquier County roots and a solid work ethic.
"The Tabors said that they wanted to have a good feeling about who they were selling to, and that they just felt comfortable with us," McLaughlin said.
The pair can, and will, work on just about anything automotive, McLaughlin said, sitting just yards away from an ancient Ford tractor, and eying an expensive, highly customized new car in the last of the four garage bays.
He has "been turning wrenches for 25 years or more," McLaughlin said. And, if there is a specialty that he brings to the new business venture, it is in "GM high-end performance cars.
"Actually, what I do is I rewrite the software in GM cars," he explained. "If somebody puts a new, high-performance part on a car, the computer doesn't know what that car has now. What you have to do is rewrite the software...back into the PCM."
Though his background is GM, software reconstruction for other makes and models is very similar, McLaughlin said, "they just use a little different terminology."
"A lot of time," Koontz added, "you don't need a part to make a repair; you need a software patch."
Koontz's expertise has evolved from a lifetime of building and driving dragsters.
"He does all the computer stuff," Koontz said of his business partner. "I do all the points and distributors, all the old cars."
"We're honest, and we want to do a good job for everyone," McLaughlin said. "We live here. We want to provide good, courteous service to our friends in the community."
In order to do that, McLaughlin and Koontz are supplementing their expertise with some new and sophisticated diagnostic tools, including a $30,000 Chassis Dynamometer — a first for this area, McLaughlin said.
Broadview Auto & Truck Service Center is located at 43 Broadview Avenue, a little tricky to find because it sits back off the road just a bit.
"One thing we have done is change the hours," Koontz said. "We are open later for people who work, and we're open on Saturdays. We'll be open on Sundays if they want to make an appointment. We try to come here early [7 a.m.] for people who need to drop off early, and we're here later [7 p.m.]. We want to be here for the customers when they need us.
"It is owned and operated by the same two guys," he said with a laugh.
McLaughlin and Koontz can be reached at (540) 349-8453.
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