Subaru Shop Does ‘Nothing To Hide' Repairs

Anthony Fontanelle
August 16, 2007

Entrusting your possessions to someone you do not know is quite hard to do. This is especially true when it comes to auto repairs. A Subaru shop has thought of something unique to remedy customers’ hesitations.

Step into Noah Levy's office at LIC Motorsports and the first thing that might catch your eye is the flat-screen TV facing the waiting area. But instead of news programming, you will see several different shots of the specialty shop's Subaru mechanics hard at work. And you would not need to stop by the garage to see how they are treating your car or any other car for that matter. You can simply go online, wrote Paul Jones of Novato Advance. The said Subaru shop is one of the first auto repair shops to use the Internet to overcome owner's worst nightmare: leaving the vehicle in someone else's hands.

But Brothers Noah and Adam Levy are not just using their live video at justin.tv/licmotorsport.com to guarantee flawless service to their clients. They are also attracting attention and a new customer base, safeguarding their reputation, and challenging other shops with their policy of total transparency, Jones added. The cameras, originally part of the shop's high-tech security surveillance system, now allow customers to observe in detail the work performed on the shop's vehicles.

Moreover, if customers want to see how their Subaru power steering pump is being repaired, they could bank on computers for convenience. With just a few clicks on the mouse, the repairs could be witnessed anytime, anywhere. “There's nothing to hide,” said Noah Levy. “Whether it be how we run our business or the operations that go on inside, you're welcome to come in and take a look.”

While some people might worry about an invasion of privacy, Adam Levy said that other garage owners had balked for different reasons when they had heard about the service. “People say, ‘Why would you set yourself up for that? It's crazy,'” he said. “And it's simply that we're not going to hide anything.”

Noah Levy said that disparaging comments had not stopped them before. “When we opened up, they literally laughed at us,” he said. “They said there was no way a Subaru-only shop could make it here.” Now the business receives cars from as far away as Colorado, and its name continues to spread throughout the Subaru-owning community.

“I know we're the only shop streaming online right now,” said Noah. “And talking to other shops, they think we're absolutely crazy, and you know, I step back and say ‘I don't think it's crazy. I think it's smart.'”

Additionally, webcasting repairs have proven to be a helpful self-promotion tool. “We only advertise on one community forum,” said Noah. “I'm also a big believer in word-of-mouth.” As such, the Subaru shop has tapped a new source of customers, drawn online to the pseudo publicity-stunt. “When I announced it online and we went live, by the end of the month I had 20,000 extra hits,” said Noah.

“We've actually gained customers off of Justintv,” said David Wheaton, who works at the shop. “People from Danville, and people outside the immediate Bay Area, who may not be on I-Club.com, where we advertise. It does provide us protection. If a customer's transmission falls out, and they say ‘Well, you guys didn't put any fluid in it,' we can go right back to the DVR and it's all right on it.”

“We're the only ones with multiple cameras,” said Noah. “The success has already encouraged new areas of exploration. The next step is we're working to get a wireless system. We go to a lot of track events feeding it live would be interesting for other people.”

Source:  Amazines.com