Also celebrating 25th anniversary

MOSES LAKE — The owners of Scotty’s Auto Repair celebrated their 25th anniversary in business with the grand opening of their new location Thursday.

Scotty’s now is located at 1450 E. Wheeler Rd., not far from their old shop. Owner Scott Myers said it’s a pretty substantial expansion. “It’s 10 times what we had before.” The additional space will allow the shop to work on more vehicles at any given time, he said, and offer other services as well.

“We started out 25 years ago today,” Myers said. “It was my wife and I, and we started in a little teeny-tiny unit, and we could only work on two cars.”

Eventually the business moved to a shop designed by Myers and his wife Jeanette. “We stood there in the corner of that building, my wife and I, and said, ‘how are we going to use all this space?’”

But after 15 years, what seemed huge had gotten pretty small, Myers said. The shop was attracting more business than its four work stations could handle, the parking lot was always packed, and he needed room for more service technicians. What became the new Scotty’s shop was vacant and had plenty of space.

“It’s still mind-boggling,” Jeanette Myers said. “A lot of hard work, but you know, hard work pays off.”

Customer service, Myers said, is one of the keys to his success. He treats his customers like he would want to be treated, “and it’s helped me to grow.”

The old shop had four work stations, which are called “bays” in the auto repair business. “I have 12 bays now,” Myers said. On Thursday one of the vehicles in the shop was a Grant Transit Authority bus. The shop also has room to repair RVs, Myers said.

There’s room to store vehicles indoors that are awaiting repair, and a spacious area for parts. As far as outdoor vehicle storage goes — well, there’s a lot of it, a whole lot more than the old location. The front office is so big there’s a meeting room.

The crew works on pretty much everything, Myers said. “If it’s got wheels on it and it rolls down the road, we work on it.”

Technology has had a revolutionary impact on cars and trucks, he said, to the point where “you can’t work on your own cars anymore.” Even auto technicians must take continuing education classes to keep up with current repair techniques.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.