SHOP STATS: Eagle Quick Lube Location: Penn Valley, Calif. Operator: Jim Troutner Average Car Count: 15 Staff Size: 7 Shop Size: 2 Bays Average Ticket: $50
Renovating the Facility
Jim Troutner, owner of Eagle Quick Lube and Car Wash in Penn Valley, Calif., opened the shop roughly eight years ago after his parents opened the first location. He was inspired to open the location because his parents operated the first one for 30 years.
The shop was closed before he came on board and used as a storage facility for the sheriff’s department.
To remodel and buy the location, Troutner says he invested roughly $800,000.
In the shop’s demographic, oil changes are not enough to keep a steady stream of revenue so the shop performs tire repairs, puts racks in and auto repairs. A big part of the surrounding demographic doesn’t have a lot of money and drives older cars with 200,000 miles on them, Troutner says.
Today, Troutner relies on marketing the shop through word-of-mouth because the building is half hidden by a gas station.
Presenting the History
Since the shop is located in the old gold country, Troutner keeps the waiting area inside stacked with history books. The quick lube is located near Grass Valley and Smartsville and more. He even keeps extra copies of the books in case a customer says they really want to keep reading the book.
In fact, one of the shop’s customers wrote one of the books through Arcadia publishing.
Sharing the Tasks
Troutner says he mostly uses Harbor Freight tools in the quick lube facility. He says the techs can use their own tools when performing their tasks but, for the most part, the tools are part of that brand. The team mostly performs synthetic oil changes.
In the shop, Troutner has two technicians that work in the two bays and also perform other auto repairs. He aims to have most of his team perform as many jobs around the location as possible to cut down on operational costs. So, all of the shop’s outside gardening is also done by those technicians.