MTA Q&A with Best Price Auto Workshop

What products & services do you offer at Best Price Auto Workshop & who are your customers?

AC: We do everything from normal servicing, oil changes, tyre rotations and brakes all the way through to mechanical rebuilds.

We work on a lot of old vehicles and at the moment we have a 1974 Cadillac on which we are doing a full engine rebuild; there’s an MG which we are bringing up to roadworthy specification; an MGA that had a bad engine misfire when it came in; and a Morris Minor – which is Mandy’s car – on which we are doing a complete rebuild. We have built a reputation for the work we do on these older cars.

Why do you have a particular interest in classic cars?

AC: Mainly because I was brought up on them in New Zealand. I basically did my apprenticeship on Minis, Austin 1100s, Vauxhall Vivas – a lot of English stuff – and I never got away from them. I’ve also worked on American cars too, with plenty of Mustangs over the years and Impalas too.

Before we bought this business, I worked at what was the BP garage here. The boss had both a classic car workshop and a workshop for ordinary cars and I started work in the classic car workshop. I was there for a year or so before moving to work on the regular cars.

When the owner decided to sell, we bought that business – Best Price Auto.

A lot of cars have come in to fill up at the petrol station next door, and the drivers have seen three or four older cars sitting here and have come over and started asking questions. I’ve had people ask about whether we know anything about the Hillman Minx, a Sunbeam Tiger, Talbots and Minis and Mini Mokes – and we do!

What is your background in the industry and how did you come to own Best Price Auto?

AC: I started as a 15-year-old in Invercargill and worked as a mechanic. We came over here for the second time 18 years ago and I think I had six jobs in that first year. I then saw an advert wanting someone that knew their way around older cars. I thought that sounded pretty cool and that was at the
BP garage and workshops here.

MC: The owner, David, would go on to sell the service station and the premises, and we bought the Best Price Auto business in 2018. The new owners of the location then said there was going to be a demolition, so we moved a couple of doors down and were there for three years. Then this unit came on the market. We bought it and have been here for 12 months.

Before we bought Best Price Auto, I did a couple of different jobs, including working in a bank, but buying the business was a huge step. We knew about the workshop, of course, and it was established, but we had never owned a business and we really didn’t know too much. But we jumped in and were ready to sink or swim.

AC: Since then, we have gone from two mechanics in the workshop to four, and have two people working in the office.

Was it a challenge to make the move to becoming business owners?

MC: Those first few months were scary.
We were busy but there were also quiet patches. Then COVID came along and we thought ‘What have we done!?’ But then we just got busier.

AC: I think it was April 1 when they had the shutdown here in Queensland and we arrived at work and thought, ‘We’ll get some cleaning done at least.’ Then the phone kept ringing and people began dropping cars off and were shouting across the driveway that they needed an oil change or new brakes!

Now we are always busy, have grown our staff numbers and things are going well.

Who is on the Best Price Auto Team?

MC: Tony and Bailey are our fully qualified technicians while Sage is our first-year apprentice. Allan is on the tools in the workshop, and I work in the office.
We also have Tabatha who works
with us three days a week.

How long have you been members of MTA Queensland and what have been the benefits of your membership?

AC: We have been members since we bought the business. The previous owner was a member too. We have used MTA Queensland’s services a few times and the information has been very valuable. There were some legal matters that we rang up about – we didn’t know, for example, what to do with a couple of vehicles that were abandoned with us.
MC: And the workplace relations team is good too. We have used them a couple of times regarding previous staff members. MTA Queensland has its members best interest at heart, and they have your back.

Do you think electric vehicles (EVs) will have an impact on your business and are you preparing for that?

AC: We don’t work on fully electric vehicles. We do service hybrids, but not the electrical side of them – that is a specialised job. There is a lot involved working on them and our workshop is not big enough to cater for them.
I’ve been to meetings regarding EVs and because of issues with battery storage and safety, I thought to myself that with more than 500 workshops on the Gold Coast, the other 499 can have them! Enough people will be working in that space. There are going to be petrol and diesel vehicles until I retire, and I would rather do those and more classics.

What type of training do you do with your team?

AC: Bailey and Sage are learning to actually fix things! If you put 20 mechanics in a room today and asked them, ‘In the last year how many heads have you taken off?’, there’d be one, maybe two who could answer. Sage has been with us not quite 12 months and he has already done two diesel heads and four petrol heads. We train on the job, work through things together and, depending on what it is, I’ll show them what can go wrong, what are the tolerances, how to fix it and so on. It’s on-site training.

What are your greatest challenges as an owner of an automotive mechanical workshop business?

MC: We have heard about the skills and workforce challenges, but we have been OK. We have had a couple of staffing issues, but we are very fortunate with the staff we have now. We all look after each other. They are family and not just numbers.

Our biggest challenges are some of our customers! Because the economy and cost-of-living challenges are bad, some don’t necessarily want to hear what you have to tell them.
You have to explain to them exactly what is happening and 90 per cent of our customers are great. But there are a few that can really affect your day.

As we have become more established we have stopped ‘people pleasing’, and won’t commit to doing half a job. Someone might come in and say something like ‘If we just do this, that’ll fix it, won’t it?’ Well, no it won’t, and we don’t want them to have come back a few days or weeks later because an issue was only partially repaired. It is our reputation on the line too and we want to do a job properly.

What advice would you give a young you starting out in the industry?

AC: Don’t be scared to have a go, because I was.

MC: We did start late. We had a chance to open up a business in New Zealand, but we didn’t do it. You have to jump in, but you can’t be naïve about it. I knew Allan was a good mechanic, and I knew the business we were buying had reasonable clientele and there was work on the books.
So don’t be scared, look into everything and check everything, and play to your strengths.

Is it important to have relationships with other, local, auto businesses?

AC: Absolutely, and we have a really good network around us. There’s Goodyear down the road that does our tyres; we have Labrador Autos that do our electrical work; AAA CV joints who do our CV joints; and AAA Trimming do our trim work.

We send them work, they send us work, and we all bounce off each other.

MC: We are all happy to help each other and I think, in this day and age, that is vital.

What are your plans for the next few years?

AC: Consolidate what we have and grow as a business.

MC: You have to have new customers come in and regenerate and never let yourself go stale. There’s always room for improvement no matter what you do.

Source: Motor Trader e-Magazine (December 2024 / January 2025)

30 January 2025