Dutch's Auto Service Inc.

Starting May 13th, we will close at noon on Friday's for the foreseeable future.

We will be closed for Memorial Day holiday 26th - 30th.

We are down to three people working. Both owners and one mechanic. The majority of shops in Madison are short staffed. We cannot compete with benefit packages bigger repair shops offer. We cannot pay for auto tech tution and have an employee for three years after graduation. We don't have the resources for a hiring bonus. I need qualified people, quality people, who have their own tools, and ability to work five days a week.

Our bulk oil prices have increased over 40% in 7 months. Creating estimates is more difficult with supply chain issues and prices constantly changing. We are reevaluating our pricing structure and will be changing our hourly rate soon.

We are looking at the age of cars we are servicing. Many places won't work on anything older than 10 years. My truck is older than 10 years! I set up the shop with no drive on lifts specifically to not work on the extra crusty cars. If it cannot be lifted at jack points we won't work on it. Rust is a huge issue. A half hour repair turns into three days while we try to extract a rusty broken bolt. It can be difficult to find parts for older cars. We cannot have a car stuck in a bay for very long. We do not have the staff to move the repair over to while we continue with the rest of the days work. I have to schedule enough work to pay the bills, leave some wiggle room for delays, adjust for hot days, random tow ins, and just keep it all going.

I do not like the level of service we are currently providing. We get 40-60 calls a day. We are now scheduling into the week of memorial day. We can't keep up with returning calls and getting estimates done in a timely manner. Stomping out fires and grabbing low hanging fruit is not an effective way to run a business. We are tired and nice is falling to the side. I find myself very protective of our time. We get several no show no calls. Many of those are new customers. We get people who are a few minutes late, gotta get stuff outta the car, come in and add three things to appointment. Then we have to talk about what's going on, and rightly so, now we are 15 minutes in the hole. The person I am in my private life is not a clock watching lover of time. In my professional life my industry measures time in 1/10th of an hour.

In 12 years we have grown a large customer base. We have seen people have babies. Watched kids grow up. Watched some grow old and others slow down. Some have died. We have gained the trust of folks who used to do their own repairs but cant for one reason or another. We have worked with parents who are out of state to help their kids who are here for college. We have made a few extra repairs without charging a few extra bucks to help out.

We are grateful for the opportunities we have had and continue to have in this community. Several customers have asked if there is a way for them to help. I need skilled auto mechanics who are ready to work. This week cookies were randomly dropped off, that helped put some nice back in the bucket. Food has been made for us or a stop at the bakery on the way in. Most of all patience. We will keep pushing forward.

Hello. Nan here. I have been away from the shop since July 20th to care for my terminally ill partner. She has since passed away. I am in the process of gathering myself emotionally to return to work after the Labor Day holiday.

Thank you to Crystal and my staff for carrying the extra load of being one person down. I know this has not been easy on them.