WEB EXLUSIVE
Green Garage: Saving the Planet One Oil Change at a Time

by Kara Bishop
NOLN Staff Writer

How many SPGs are your customers getting? We’re always talking about “miles per gallon,” or MPGs, but what about “smiles per gallon?” How often do they feel good about driving? How often do they feel like they are doing the world a service when they get an oil change or buy a product for their car?

These concepts happen to be the foundation behind Colorado-based Green Garage (with two facilities, one in Denver and the other in Boulder), a business created by a former dealership owner who decided there were flaws in the traditional automotive service system. He wanted to get things right, not just for motorists, but also for the planet. Thus the concept behind the very first Green Garage auto service center was born.

Ryan Ferrero, or “Chief Carhugger” as he has affectionately been coined, has developed an auto service facility concept that helps the environment, but also provides the customers with good value at what he deems “fair prices.”

While the company offers a litany of traditional automotive maintenance and light repair services, its three main “packages” are what it primarily markets.

The “Drive Good Package” starts at $69 and includes an oil change with biodegradable or re-refined motor oil and a high-performance dual-stage oil filter. The service also includes the company’s 53-point inspection. (The company also markets an intermediary “Drive Good Package with Nitrogen Tire Fill,” which starts at $109 and includes the standard Drive Good oil change/inspection plus nitrogen tire inflation.)

Next up is the “Drive Better Package,” which includes the “Green Oil Change,” nitrogen tire inflation plus what the company markets as “biodegradable Boron-based engine and fuel additives” that “reduce friction and wear by up to 80 percent.”

Finally, the company also markets the “Drive Epic Package,” which includes the Green Oil Change, Boron additives, nitrogen tire inflation and installation of “pulse” plugs that replace traditional spark plugs and give drivers, or so the company claims, up to 10 percent better fuel mileage.

Ferrero takes a long-term view when it comes to oil change intervals. A very long-term view. Green Garage’s “Green Oil Change” uses a high-performance dual stage oil filter. With this, the company claims drivers can go up to 10,000 miles between filter changes and up to 30,000 miles before the motor oil has to be replaced. (The company also claims this oil/filter combo can improve fuel economy by up to 5 percent.)

Other “green” products marketed by the company include silicone-based wiper blades, propylene glycol (animal-safe) antifreeze and lead-free wheel weights, among others.

And, of course, how green would this garage be if it didn’t recycle?

Everything possible is recycled, and the company constantly requests feedback from customers on whether something can be recycled and where.

Make no mistake, though. Green Garage is not a “fast lube.” However, because its services by design take longer than that at most lube shops, the company offers a free valet service that will pick up a vehicle that needs to be serviced and drop it back off once the service is completed.

The company is in the beginning stages of franchising the concept nationwide, though its broadest appeal may be in those markets with strong “green” tendencies already in place.