When my dog, Moscow, and I came back to the Midwest, we arrived in a rental truck. I did not own a car. When I lost my job I also lost my company car. Once we got here, I stayed with some friends and relied on walking to get around town as I saved up some cash to buy a car. Looking for a car in my price range was challenging. Plus, my roommates had to give me rides to the various locations to look at cars and they were quickly tiring of that. Eventually, through some networking/catching up with former customers at Whole Earth Grocery at the Community Arts Base Spring Gala, I ran into Nanette. Nanette gave me Steve’s phone number stating that she had gotten both of her sons Ford Escorts from Steve when they were in high school. So, sure enough, I called him up and he said he could fix up an Escort for me in my price range, carefully adding that he wouldn’t normally sell a car in that range or condition, but that he thought this one had a good engine.
The car is a ’98 Ford Escort with an aftermarket sunroof (which I totally love) and is loaded with rust. My most fond rust memory is when my friend Melissa, who currently drives a BMW, was exiting the car and snagged her pantyhose on the rust at the bottom of the door. This car is not for looking good or being sexy. But for the last year and a half, it has gotten me from point A to point B. I think I have put over 40,000 miles on it. Oh, and I almost forgot- Steve had mentioned that it had been in an accident before I received it. There are some uh… rust colored stains on one of the seatbelts in the back seat and my favorite detail is this: a pen-graffitied heart with initials in it on the dashboard. I have often wondered if that person didn’t make it. In any case, I have wiped it nearly clean so you can hardly see it.
Back to Steve, though. He quoted me a price originally and then realized that he needed to do some extra work to the car to make it sellable in his estimation. I don’t remember exactly what he had to do, but it was several things and he maintained his original sell price.
Secondly, he gives me oil changes below cost. I know this because once Steve was out of town and he had someone else that used to help around at his shop do my oil change. At the end he told me it would be $35. I told him that Steve usually charges me $20. Then he showed me the receipts for how much the oil cost, and it was more. I still only paid and continue to pay $20 for my oil changes.
The most dramatic thing that Steve took care of was my car accident last January. I skidded perpendicular across two lanes of traffic on I94 Westbound in St. Paul on black ice and ran into a light pole. Check out this picture. Steve towed the car back to River Falls from St. Paul, fixed the snapped tie rod, changed out the tire, and made the headlight area street legal. He probably had to do even more than that. All said and done? $400
Last night my car needed a jumpstart to get going. I was hoping it was a fluke. Like I had left the dome light on or something. Not a fluke. I already had an oil change scheduled with Steve so I called him ahead of time with a heads up on the situation. When I got there, he determined that the alternator was shot. Rebuilt alternator, oil change, and a changed battery connection: $100.
Oh, and when my tires are worn out? He swaps them out for $5.
So why am I talking about this on WeatherVane Creamery’s blog? Because Steve gives me peace of mind. And this makes a big difference to my ability to start this business. When I have auto emergencies, I don’t lose sleep. And maybe I should. In fact, Steve and I have an agreement that if the car dies more than 40 miles away, I get to surrender it to the towing company. It isn’t worth hardly anything to anyone but me. And a new/used car is in the business plan for WeatherVane Creamery.
Which is another thing- want to know how to get these awesome deals from Steve? Buy a car from him. That’s the only way. He only works on cars that he sells.
I could gush on and on and I realize it is even a little strange given the context so I will finish with this last story. A few weeks ago I was looking at new cars at the dealerships and settled on a 2012 Mazda3. With the year-end deals, I was quoted $20,000 for a new one. I mentioned it to Steve and he told me he could get one with less than 20,000 miles for $12,000-14,000. Today I asked him how and he said he could get any car at auction. For the year-old car, he said it would probably be from a 1 year lease or repossession. Long story short? Get a car from Steve. He’s here in River Falls.
Here’s his info:
715-425-0278 home
715-821-1488 cell
And if you are looking for someone to service a car that you did not buy from Steve, contact his buddy Tim, who I like to call The Tire Whisperer: 651-253-4371