John from Auto Team Service Center interview with Amanda Smith and Baron Robison - March 20th, 2026

0:00Good morning, you guys. It is Amanda and Baron with the ABCs of KSL and Radio. Amanda and Baron are having conversations. Yes, we are in in studio with us today. We have John from Auto Team Service Center, one of our trusted auto experts. Thanks so much. Glad to be back. Yes. So for anyone new, give us a quick review on who Auto Team Service Center is and what you guys do. Well, we're a local auto repair facility. We've been in business since 2013. We're on the corner of 23rd and McGill Crest and we're ready to deal with all of the problems and service maintenance needs you might have with all of your 1995 and up domestic and Asian imported cars. Okay. Thanks. Well, I've been saying to me for a long time what keeps customers from back for you guys. You know, I think what brings customers back is the fact that we treat customers the way that we would want to be treated if we were on the other side of the counter.

1:01That's been my philosophy as long as I've been in this business. You know, I was looking at it the other day and you know, I've been in, I've been doing this now for about 37 years. Oh, wow. And I've, I've been on the other side of the counter. You know, just I was down on the Southern Oregon coast last weekend and war on behold. I had a car repair problem. Alternator in my truck that I used to tell my travel trailer started having problems. Well, I was down on the Southern Oregon coast. Yeah. You know, I have the ability to deal with those kind of problems but you know, I had the same kind of anxieties that everyone else steps. Yeah. You know, what are you going to do? Where are you going to go? And so, you know, I was looking at those things and having to deal with it and it made me stop and think about, you know, what are my customers having to do when they're in these situations?

2:02And so, you know, that's the way I try and approach my business is what are my customers feeling? What kind of problems that they're having? And I try and react to them in the way that I would want to be treated if I were in their situation. Oh, no, great answer. That is a really good answer because I like that thing. You know what they're feeling and so to put that feeling and those thoughts at ease about what you guys do. I love that. Where is it? I'm going to be right back there, stay tuned. Hey guys, it's Amanda and Barron and we are back again with John from Auto Team Service Center. So, John, what are the most common issues you're seeing in cars lately? You know, there are cars are all the different. We see a lot of different things. We do see a lot of issues this time of year with brakes and heating or cooling systems in cars. Brakes, especially this time of year.

3:03You've gone through winter where we've seen not this year as much luckily, but in a lot of years, you'll see where they've been ice, where the roads have been icy and they've been salting. That leads to a lot of corrosion. Same with moisture causes problems with the way that brakes work. We're doing a lot of brake work right now as we emerge from winter. Getting cars back and ready for more driving in the spring. You know, that's fairly common. You know, we're seeing a lot of, we're seeing, unfortunately, we're seeing, you know, in certain car lines, we're seeing a lot of issues crop up with manufactured defects. And I'm not going to mention particular brand names. I'll probably end. I'll look back. Cars that have engine problems where my wife has one of these cars. We're using huge amounts of oil.

4:07Yeah. I mean, my wife's car is using a quarter of oil every tank of gas. Oh, my. And this isn't just her car. Literally, we see this particular car line. Almost every car in their line has this problem. And unfortunately, there's not, there's not any easy repair for it. Yeah. And, you know, this particular car company has made a big deal about the fact that they have a 10 year, 100,000 mile warranty, which might get people a clue as to what car line we're talking about. But they need that, but you know what? Oil usage isn't something they cover under that warranty. Of course not. Right. It's not. So with cost going up on everything, are people putting off maintenance these days? You know, people do tend to let some things go.

5:07And it's easy, it's easy to do because maintenance is something that people think they can push down the road. But that's something that you need to be careful about because when you start deferring maintenance, maintenance starts to build up. And I have seen some really nice cars that have three or $4,000 worth of deferred maintenance. Wow. I have people come in all the time that, you know, want to buy a used car and we'll do a pre-purchase inspection and we'll find, you know, that while the car needs front and rear brakes, it has a couple of minor oil leaks, might have a coolant leak and you start adding up and you have a car that's six or seven years old and it has $4,000 worth of deferred maintenance. Yes. Okay, we're going to take a quick break. Hey guys, it's Amanda and Baron and we are back again with John

6:08from Auto Team Service Center. So John, a lot of people are worried about being overcharged. How can they tell if a shop is trustworthy? Well, to me, it comes down to transparency. When we have customers come in, we are ready to show them exactly what's going on with their car. I'm willing to bring customers into the shop and show them what we found. We've just instituted a new system where we're doing video inspections of cars. Literally, if you don't have time to come down, we're going out under your car with cameras. We're taking pictures. We're sending, we can send these pictures out to you. You can actually see what it is. I'm talking about as far as being overcharged. It's, you know, it comes down to a matter of trust. We're taking care of your car. I've established a trust with my customers so that they know that I am going to take care of them. I'm part of taking care of them

7:09is doing the right job at the right cost. You've been in business for 37 years. I feel like that speaks volumes on where you stand with your customers. It does. You know, when I find a mechanic that I really trust, I'm going to go someplace else. Yeah. You know, and I have customers that have been with me for decades. And, you know, that makes me feel really good that I have customers that keep coming back over and over. I have customers that have followed me from the different shops that I've owned and the different shops that I have ran over the last 37 years. Yeah. And I have established relationships with people. And that's really what keeps me coming back to work every day is the fact that I have people that I know and get to interact with them. How do you approach, explain your repairs so customers can actually understand what's going on? You know, it comes down to experience. And the fact that I've been on both sides of the counter, I know how to relate to people. I know how to make people understand what it is

8:12that we're talking about. And that, you know, has served me well over the years. Nice. I love that. And I think that having those photos and stuff you spend showing them, like this is the vision will also help. Oh, yeah. I mean, when you show a customer, you know, a broken, bushing, it's real easy to see. Yes. Okay. We'll be right back. Hey, guys. It's Amanda and Baron. And we are back again with John from Auto Team Service Center. So you guys have had construction in front of your shop for like a million billion years. It seems like it's still going on. You know, they are wrapping it up now. The principal construction is done. It looks great. Yes. Traffic control is gone. McGill Quest is open. 25th Street is open. So three flowing. Three flowing. Everything is up and working. They're finishing up with some landscaping.

9:12It's. It's going to be a painful process. But do you think it's worth it from what you have before and what you have now? Oh, you know, it's real nice. I like it. It looks a thousand percent better. Worth it? Maybe a different question. You know, that's, but you know, I think traffic is going to slow better. I think McGill Quest is going to be more open. I think it's going to be more conducive to people being able to use the street and exist out there better. Good. There. So what man actually says people the most money long term? You know, quite honestly, go back to basics. Change your oil when you're, when you're supposed to. When you change, when you bring your card to the chest to have an oil change, we're not just going to change your oil. We're going to go through. We're going to do a 23 point free inspection as part of that process. We're going to make sure that all your fluids are where they're supposed to be. Make sure that they're in good condition. We're going to see if we can find any maintenance issues

10:15that you have coming up so that you can be made aware of them so that you can make sure that your car is going to continue to be in the best condition. It can be. Nice. You know, we don't, I don't hard sell people. I've never heard. I've never been a hard sell. Yeah. But I'm going to let you know. Hey, this is coming up. This is what's going to need to be done. And you need to start, you know, making arrangements to get this taking care of you. If you want to keep this car and keep it up in good condition. And that's fair. Okay. How often should people really be getting their card checked? Well, I could say I use the oil change, the oil change base, the oil change ratio as a good basis. That's fair. Yeah. If you bring, if I see your car every 5,000 miles, which is what the, you know, average oil change interval is now, we're going to be able to keep up on, you know, things all the way across the car. You know, we check the brakes every 5,000 miles.

11:15We're going to have a good idea of where you're at. Right. Same with with all the rest of the component. Doesn't allow for things to slip through the cracks. Things happen. You know, like I said, my truck, I had lost the alternator on the Southern Oregon coast. Yeah. My truck was checked just before we left. So we're all outside of time here. Where can people go to schedule appointments with you guys? Give me a call at 503-585-6266. You know, we do all of our, we still do all of our scheduling, the old fashioned way on the phone. Okay. We can, you can send us a contact, contact from our website at autoteamsalum.com. There's contact information there. We can do it via email. And, you know, or you can, in there's also contact information on our website. Thank you so much for having it.