After changing the name to Maywood Transmission and engaging in honest business practices and real customer service, Vollenweider said he was able to turn the business around.
By 2000, though, he said he decided that hiring good rebuilders was hard to do, and the technology on transmissions had grown too much, so he got out of the rebuilding business and started focusing his business on general automotive repairs.
"The transition from Englewood to Maywood was difficult, but it has even been harder to get past the name Maywood Transmission after we started offering other repairs because people think that transmissions is all we do," said Vollenweider, who added that only 40 percent of his business now is transmission-related, while the other 60 percent is made up of automotive repair services ranging from computer diagnostics to air conditioning.
Maywood still services transmission, he said, but now the shop buys transmissions from remanufacturers such as Certified Transmission and Jasper, which offer a much better warranty.
Vollenweider said although his business model changed, he stayed with the name Maywood Transmission. Rather than change the name, he became a NAPA Auto Care Center--a decision he said helped him get past the transmission stigma and offered many programs that have been beneficial to his business.
"The NAPA Auto Care program has been a blessing to us," he said. "It is an excellent program with excellent people that stand behind you, and I absolutely couldnÕt ask for anything better."
Vollenweider said another turning point in business was when he hired Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) Master Technician and current Automotive Service Association of Missouri/Kansas (ASA-MO/KAN) city chapter president, Jeff Bly.
Five years ago, when Vollenweider hired Bly, he said Bly turned the whole business upside down.
"Jeff really brought us into the next century," he said. "When I hired Jeff, I didn't even have a computer. I fought getting a computer because I am just not a computer-type person, but it really was relatively easy to learn. It is really so much better now, and it is really something you have to do. I don't know what somebody would do without it."
Computers are now a vital component in the office and the shop at Maywood Transmission, he said.
Through Mitchell 1 Manager software, Vollenweider said he manages all his invoices, customer history, and financial reports. He also orders his parts through the program. Through online parts ordering with NAPA, he even receives a quarterly check as part of an earn-back program, he said.
Bly added that he uses two laptop computers in the shop, along with a variety of diagnostic scanners including a Matco Insight, Vetronix Tech 2, OTC Genisys, Snap-on Vantage Pro and Solus, and an Ease Diagnostics wireless vehicle interface. For diagnostic information, he said he uses Mitchell 1 OnDemand, iATN, and Identifix.
Vollenweider said Bly's diagnostic abilities have brought a new customer to Maywood Transmission--other shops. He currently works on vehicles from at least nine shops that do not have the necessary tools and/or knowledge to diagnose many modern problems.
"There are so many guys that refuse to go to schooling because they don't want to take the time to go, but Jeff Bly is just eager," he said. "He will go anytime I will pay for it, and I send him to anything he wants to go to. My philosophy is that you are going to stay in front or you are going to be behind."
Bly said that for the last three years, he averages 12 hours of training each month from groups such as SAE International and O'Reilly. He said that three years ago, during a training course at Vision, his attitude toward being a diagnostic technician was changed by a CARQUEST CTI instructor.
"The class taught me how to make money doing computer diagnostics," he said. "I learned that it is about being organized and cataloging my repairs."
Vollenweider said his other technician, Jeff Holland, is also ASE certified and came on board shortly after he opened in 1995. Holland focuses primarily on transmissions and rear ends. Since 2000, Holland said he has rebuilt more than 200 rear differentials on everything from drag cars to four wheelers.
Vollenweider said he is extremely pleased with his technicians and also with the fact that he recently paid his building off. He said he is considering an expansion to the business into the downstairs level, which has another 2,800 square feet of space.
If the growth occurs, he said he would add an alignment machine, along with a tire changer and balancer.