Bill Lee’s auto repair business chugs along despite life’s obstacles

PALMETTO — Metallica blares inside an auto garage off U.S. 41 North.

The heavy metal music meshes well with the buzzing and clanging of power tools, engines and auto parts.

Among the clatter, a crew of auto technicians hustles on a recent morning repairing an assortment of fleet vehicles. There are mail trucks for the U.S. Postal Service to be repaired, a propane truck for AmeriGas parked outside the garage, and FedEx trucks will be arriving shortly for maintenance.

Bill Lee and his crew are thankful for the work that’s been steadily streaming onto the 10-acre property.

In the midst of one of the nation’s worst recessions, Lee feels fortunate his Palmetto business, Bill Lee’s Professional Automotive Services, is still ticking after 26 years.

“Sometimes it thumps, it doesn’t really tick,” Lee said.

The fleet truck repair business is one of several divisions in his company that has helped make up for the significant dent the economy has put in his auto repair business.

The economy, Lee says, has forced people to hold off on engine maintenance, brake repairs, a new set of tires or even a simple oil change.

That’s where a bulk of the business has dropped, Lee says.

“Our garage business is down 35 to 40 percent,” Lee said. “With the economy in the situation it’s in, people are going to run with that check-engine light on longer.”

Industry trending flat

The dip in business at Lee’s shop, however, may be a reflection of the local market, as general automotive repair — one of the largest sectors in the aftermarket — saw sales increase to $33.9 million in 2009 from $33.4 million in 2008, according to the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association.

Industry officials say overall the aftermarket has been relatively flat nationwide throughout the recession.

The total aftermarket declined 2.4 percent from 2008 to 2009, whereas the industry saw a 3.9 percent increase in 2006, a 3.5 percent increase in 2007 and a .7 percent increase in 2008.

“At the beginning of the recession, people started worrying about the future and started taking care of their car to protect their biggest investment outside home ownership,” said Frank Hampshire, market research director for the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association. “As the recession went on and hit bottom into 2009, people started putting off anything they could put off. If they had four bald tires, they’d say, ‘Well, I’ll get another month or two out of them.’” If their shock absorbers were on the fritz, they let it go,” he said. “They put off some things they thought they could put off as long as they could.”

Butch Gardner, a shop foreman at Bill Lee’s Professional Automotive Services, has been a certified auto technician for 25 years and has been working for Lee for 11. In the past two years, he’s seen some cars in pretty rough shape due to owners delaying maintenance or repairs.