AUTOINC. ONLINE - Shop Profile

Prestige Auto Collision Inc. is the only independent shop in south Orange County in California to be licensed by Mercedes Benz of North America.

If there was ever a family whose veins ran with lead and who could breathe bondo dust like air, it's the Gates family.

Bernie and Laurie Gates opened Prestige Auto Collision Inc. in Mission Viejo, Calif., in 1984. What started as a 10,000-square-foot four-person operation has since grown to 35,000 square feet and up to 70 employees. In their first month, they made $70,000 in sales, and it's been increasing ever since.

"It's in my blood," he said. "I've always been a car guy and into hot rods. It's something I've always enjoyed."

He started his career sweeping up his father's shop when he was only 10 years old. He moved on to work for a Cadillac dealership, a Porsche specialty shop and a Mercedes specialty shop. There he met Laurie and began a new life, not only in marriage, but in opening their business.

"I love the challenge," said Gates of collision repair. "There's something about taking a car that's really been whacked and sending it back out the door better than before it was wrecked."

Employees are the backbone of the business. For their loyalty and hard work, Gates awards employees celebrating their 10-year work anniversary with an expense-paid vacation to Hawaii.

Prestige repairs a variety of vehicles, but they have always had an exclusive relationship with a local Mercedes Benz dealership. Recently, the shop received the special distinction of becoming the only independent shop in south Orange County certified by Mercedes Benz of North America. They are one of only a handful of such certified independent shops in the nation.

"While we've always had access to training, we were never certified by the factory as such," said Gates. "We just got the certification in December, and I think it will make a tremendous impact on our business. There are not many independent body shops that are factory-approved. You have to have factory-approved equipment and extensive training."

As a certified shop, Prestige receives updates on new models immediately, which is a big advantage in the competitive southern California market.

Another big advantage for Prestige is the tightly knit family that runs it. Gates' daughter, Amy Beckner, does bookkeeping; son Darrell Gates is an estimator; Laurie's mother, Delores Rouse, checks all the estimates; and son-in-law Vance Beckner is general manager. The other 60-plus people at Prestige, many of whom have been there for years, are considered family.

"We have barbecues in the summer. I know their families," he said. "The guys come to me with questions about how to buy real estate. I've loaned them money for down payments on a house."

The 35,000 square-foot facility the shop occupies allows Prestige Auto Collision to handle about 100 repairs a week.

Because of these strong relationships, Gates has many staff members who have been with him for more than 10 years. Those who have served the company for 10 years are rewarded with a week's expense-paid vacation to Hawaii.

The feeling of trust and security that flows from these relationships shows in Gates' management style.

"I give everybody who works for me the authority to make decisions about the company for the benefit of the company, and amazingly enough, most of the time they make the right decisions," he said. "When they have the authority, they usually think about what they're doing instead of doing something arbitrary, because they have an investment in the decision."

It's important for everyone to think of what's best for the company and mold their job around that, said Gates. His outside sales manager, Rick Iosua, for example, has been creative in his sales calls to insurance companies. Prestige follows up on those relationships in a variety of ways, including an annual Christmas party for everyone they do business with.

"The general public does not know the relationship body shops have with insurance companies. It is a relationship that has to be nurtured and developed and maintained all the time," he said. "You have to keep visiting these people month after month religiously and keep your name in their heads. If you don't get your name out there, you can do the best work in the world, but you won't grow because no one knows you're there."

Gates also keeps a close relationship with his suppliers, and gets discounts and training in return. Developing these long-term relationships is important to make sure you get the job done quickly, efficiently and right the first time, he said.

"The customers are the most important thing," said Gates. "They're the ones who bring you the business, even if the insurance company pays the bill. They're the ones who ultimately have to be satisfied with their repair and experience. I try to be as proactive as possible to make sure problems are handled before the customer sees their car, not after. When you can do something a little extra for the customer, that's the cheapest advertising you can do."

"It's just the thing you do (for your business)," he said. "Finding out what's working for other guys is part of being proactive instead of reactive. You get a million ideas and hopefully you find one that works for you."

Like many shop owners, there's not much Gates would change about his work. As he said, the industry changes all by itself without you having to do anything. One thing he would like to see, however, is more vocational education in high schools and colleges.

"The way things are going, it's getting hard to find good quality technicians to do the work," he said. "There is one high school in town that has an automotive program and a collision repair class. Every year they bring the class over and we show them around the shop for a few hours. But most of the schools are concentrating on academics and computers, and the automotive industry has gotten pushed to the wayside."

"We have everything in place that we need to have in place," he said. "I'm just about an absentee owner now. Obviously it helps to have family there, but all my employees are incredible. They have a lot of respect for the business and for the customers.

"I get involved if there's a problem that can't be handled by anyone else, but that happens maybe three or four times a year. Having grown up fixing cars, I know what the guys go through every day. It puts me at a different level than a guy who owns a shop and has never fixed a car. The technicians and estimators respect what I've done, more so than someone who's never worked on a car."

Gates hopes to acquire the remaining half-building that is part of his four-building complex, but other than that, he's looking forward to retirement.

"It's been 20 years, and it's continually grown. The first 10 years or so, my wife and I were down there 70 or 80 hours a week, so we've paid our dues," he said. "The shop will continue to grow a lot on its own merit. A lot of our customers are repeat customers. We're pretty entrenched in the community. Once we get that last 5,000 square feet, I'll be happy. Our growth has been slow and steady over the years. I didn't try to make it all happen at once, it just happened along the way."

Shop Stats

Name: Prestige Auto Collision Inc.
Location: Mission Viejo, Calif.
Square Footage:35,000
No. of employees: 60-70
Projected annual sales volume: $9 million
Company Philosophy: “ I give everybody who works for me the authority to make decisions about the company for the benefit of the company.”

California Collision Shop Owner Continues Family Tradition

Shop Stats