Where have they all gone ?

[WileERobby]

I don't know about anybody else, or in other's area of the country. But I've been affected in the past few years by automotive establishments closing their doors. I've done business with them for many, many years, going back 30 years and more. My machine shop guy suffered ill health, so closed up. The exhaust place I'd use to get the right "bends" shut down. My radiator guy who did the boil-outs, re-cores and A/C work is now nothing more than a oil-changer. And my most reliable and superb "go-to guy" for parts (this guy Frank knew parts with his eyes closed, no matter what make I was working on), closed his doors as he told me he couldn't complete with the parts-store chains. Where have all the professionals gone ??

 

[67 coronet]

most of the smaller "mom and pop" type shops died in the bad economy.they only had limited capitol and couldnt stay open for the bad months.the parts houses are dissapearing like crazy.3 big independents got sucked up by big chain stores here in vegas in the last 2 years.guess the owners got tired of trying to compete.

 

[Budnicks]

It's a damn shame, I do try to support my Local businesses whenever it's feasible, like Sonora Debco Napa Parts store, but I buy from Mancini Racing & Summit most the time, they are hard to beat on, in stock products, larger selections, free/discount shipping, competitive price, great service & quality... The little Mom & Pop Parts stores & repair shop have a hard time competing... Pretty much the same thing happened with my Golf Pro shop, I couldn't price match or let alone compete with the Big chains, that can buy by the train load or the Golfsmith or The Golf Warehouse, Larger Internet type companies... Too small of a margin... People will always price shop, it's the nature of the beast... Cars are built to be consumable product now, tune ups every 100k miles, rotors thrown away instead of turned too, electronic nightmares, many expensive specialty diagnostic tools needed... then there's the other side of the issue, City, County, EPA & fed. govt. & local govt. business killing reg.s &/or fines, burdening the smaller companies, with reg.s on everything under the sun, from employment issues, multiple tax issues, or like chemicals, or pumping waste, or noise ordnances, high costs of liability insurance {everybody suing everyone, all the damn time}, health care insurance cost skyrocketing, property values dropping, rent increasing, people going to the big box stores & chains instead etc... You have to adapt to the vastly changing market & demands, those who don't, or can't, or won't... They won't stay open long, especially in this current political atmosphere & small business killing economy...

 

[Bruzilla]

There are a lot of factors involved, and I think Budnicks hit some of the biggies. Cars today are largely made to be disposable or go for 100k miles before needing service, plus the extended warranty plans most new cars have mean the largest segment of the motoring public doesn't do much work to their cars anymore. Two other issues are time and NOS. Over 50 years have passed since a lot of the cars we like were made, and lots of new cars have come and gone. It's just not practical for a mom and pop operation to try to keep items for 50 years worth of cars in stock. They can only stock what sells, and with fewer people doing their own work, that's hard to do. Also, the run by vendors to snap up every piece of NOS parts, corporate or aftermarket, has cleaned out most of the supplies that are available.

 

[Dennis H]

Then there are the lazy goddam kids. Family business fo three generations. Then the current batch wants to sell and take the profit due to high real estate prices. They are too lazy to run the business like Mom, Dad, or Grandma did. No skin in the game. It's tougher now, yeah baloney. They would rather live off the tit of grandma than make it on their own.

 

[Budnicks]

Then there are the lazy goddam kids. Family business fo three generations. Then the current batch wants to sell and take the profit due to high real estate prices. They are too lazy to run the business like Mom, Dad, or Grandma did. No skin in the game. It's tougher now, yeah baloney. They would rather live off the tit of grandma than make it on their own.

Damn shame isn't it... Yeah then there's that issue too, seen it allot lately, parents or grandparents work their whole life, bust their butts & try to make it easy for their kids or grandkids, to make a long lasting multiple generational family Legacy/Business or establish a loyal business clientele, it took a lifetime of hard work to establish... Just to have the kids or grandkids say "they don't want to be part of the family business" that supported them their whole life, paid for all their schooling or toys & vacations etc. or to just have them, "sell it outright" & cash out, when it's inherited or passed on... I know of a couple cases like that... It's truly sad, so so sad...

 

[Cranky]

My youngest (25) is doing ok but she's not using her college education very much. Sure, it's helped some but she's not even in her major. And what is her biggest weekend event? Stay up all night and play video games with friends. Yeah, she's a tight wad and doesn't really blow he money but I can't get her to even think about opening an IRA/ROTH etc. Procrastination to the max.

 

[terzmo]

I don't know about anybody else, or in other's area of the country. But I've been affected in the past few years by automotive establishments closing their doors. I've done business with them for many, many years, going back 30 years and more. My machine shop guy suffered ill health, so closed up. The exhaust place I'd use to get the right "bends" shut down. My radiator guy who did the boil-outs, re-cores and A/C work is now nothing more than a oil-changer. And my most reliable and superb "go-to guy" for parts (this guy Frank knew parts with his eyes closed, no matter what make I was working on), closed his doors as he told me he couldn't complete with the parts-store chains. Where have all the professionals gone ??

age,competition and customer participation

 

[thomas93254]

What I hate with the "big box auto stores" is that the people they hire most of the time don't have the knowledge to do anything other than what the computer tells them. Quick example once I went into one and asked for a 6 volt car battery, which I know they stock. The kid asked me what type of car as he went to his computer. I told him "it won't be in there" he said "sure it will we have millions of makes and models in here" so I said "ok its for a 1951 Packard 4 door business coupe." He looks at me me and says "Um who makes Packard?" I said 'Packard." He says "we don't have one." I then walked over to the end of the counter closest to the batteries and said "Yes you do it's right there on the bottom of the rack!"

Thomas

 

[Moparsmitty]

My youngest (25) is doing ok but she's not using her college education very much. Sure, it's helped some but she's not even in her major. And what is her biggest weekend event? Stay up all night and play video games with friends. Yeah, she's a tight wad and doesn't really blow he money but I can't get her to even think about opening an IRA/ROTH etc. Procrastination to the max.

Saw a story on the news just last night about how a college degree might not be worth the cost, especially if you have to go way into debt to get a degree in English, history, basket weaving or whatever. Gee, you mean that everybody doesn't need to go to college? Maybe an engineering or science degree of some kind will help you land a better job, but there are no guarantees that it's going to pay off in the long run.
I'm not anti education by any means, but people have to be smarter about spending tons of money on a college education they may never use. Some of the kids I used to see at the UW were just rich peoples kids that were sent there by mom and dad just to get them out of the house for four years. I'll bet that a lot of them are back home now with no job and no prospects.

 

[jeryst]

Customizing a car today consists of trick wheels, neon lights, a loud muffler, and a 2500 watt stereo. Nobody rebuilds their own motors because parts dont interchange, tons of special tools and knowledge are needed, and tolerances are so close that the average backyard mechanic could never be able to accomplish the task. Todays cars are throwaways, so the need for the specialty shops just isnt there any more.

 

[Mooky]

my pops back when I was a kid ran the local NAPA store...worked there when he was a kid and then bought the store.....then uncle sam stepped in a while later and no more store...I still get asked about my old man all the time by people who remember him at the store...it has been over 20 years...had the clientele, just not the profit's to pay the taxes....just a couple years ago he said "Hey, have any uses for 5 totes of V-belts?" O by the way I have alot of V-belts if ya need ;)...it was sad, spent alot of my childhood and teen years in the store...we were Big Mike and LIl Mike...to this day...he trusted an accountant and ended up selling out to save our house and such....just happened again recently when a friend passed and left a shop to his son's....it is now a vacant storage building....if you could only go back in time.......paging Doc

 

[HT413]

Then there are the lazy goddam kids. Family business fo three generations. Then the current batch wants to sell and take the profit due to high real estate prices. They are too lazy to run the business like Mom, Dad, or Grandma did. No skin in the game. It's tougher now, yeah baloney. They would rather live off the tit of grandma than make it on their own.

Honestly, most times I see a son of a business owner that cant hold a candle to his pops, 1 of 2 things is the cause. A) pops was that rare of a breed. B) pops was too busy running his business to actually make a man out his son. Seen it so many times where the son is spoiled to no end as a kid, used as a parts runner into his 20's and 30's instead of groomed into the business from a young age. Then when the old man is ready to call it quits, he finally looks up and noticed this shell of a man he created.

 

[BIGSHCLUNK]

As a small recycler I can understand "going out" . I;m not but I get it. Expenses are going up, profits down, I took a cut so my guys could keep what they have. They don't even realize it. You don't really understand small business till you own one.

 

[hawkeye]

It helps if you do like Tom and Ray Magliozzi of Car talk advocate, don't go in any store that the owner doesn't work there.

 

[Jonnyuma]

Honestly, most times I see a son of a business owner that cant hold a candle to his pops, 1 of 2 things is the cause. A) pops was that rare of a breed. B) pops was too busy running his business to actually make a man out his son. Seen it so many times where the son is spoiled to no end as a kid, used as a parts runner into his 20's and 30's instead of groomed into the business from a young age. Then when the old man is ready to call it quits, he finally looks up and noticed this shell of a man he created.

Wow, I'd never thought of it like that before. In that scenario I'd be pretty eager to rid myself of my "inheritance" too.
I'm not usually one to bash the younger generations (unless the desperately need it), there's a lot of good kids out there. I was recently reading an article about the closing of high school auto shops around the country and the main emphasis being on college, college, college.
The world needs doctors and engineers, but the world needs welders and grease monkeys, too.

 

[lugnutx2]

Dennis H nailed it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[99ss]

The small business is the fabric of America. The Gov is friendly to big business. Saw a very interesting interview with the CEO of HP... very smart lady

 

[pabster]

Guess I'm in the minority... I run the family business that's been around since the 70's. I wasn't groomed for it, had no interest in it, my father didn't pressure me to get into it. But when I had kids, I realized it was the way to go to provide for them. But I don't think I'll pressure my kids to stay in the business. If they want to, great. But there's so many other things to do well than sell medical equipment.

What 99ss said- if I hear one more politician blab "small business is the fabric of America", I'm gonna hurt someone. The government doesn't give a crap about small business- too busy giving big business tax breaks, bailouts, get outta jail free cards, etc.

Getting off topic here, sorry about that. It is sad that the auto shops are going away. Until I got my Charger, I rarely went into auto stores, since my modern cars didn't need much in the way of parts or maintenance. I do have to say that surprisingly some makes of modern cars seem to be really well made, not disposable. I've driven the wheels off of multiple Hondas, and they never let me down. But they certainly don't lend themselves to working on them yourself.

 

[ZR9B]

I grew up a few blocks from this place... http://www.cassautoparts.com/ ... back in the early 80s I thought this place was a time machine it was a great place to have machine work done....it looks like its still there.