- Shop Name: Buck Family Automotive
- Owner(s): Rosie & Jeff Buck
- Location (city, state): Carmichael, California
- Staff Size: 3
- Shop Size (in square feet): 5,000 square feet
- Number of bays: 3 bays
- Average Monthly Car Count: 100
- Annual Revenue ($): $450,000
Bucks Family Automotive in Carmichael, California, repairs Hondas, Toyotas, and other Asian makes. Owner Jeff Buck is a master technician with all nine ASE certifications.
Setting Up Shop
Jeff says he and his wife Rosie, the shop’s director of operations, looked for an industrial space before finding their current location, an old powder coating shop attached to a financial services office. The couple purchased both spaces.
“The owner wanted to rent the whole thing at once, so we decided to rent, 2000 square feet of office space and 3000 square feet of a shop,” says Jeff.
The building has two front-facing bays with three awnings over the front door and a pair of adjacent windows and ample parking for customers.
Stay a While
The waiting room at Buck’s Family Automotive has a contemporary home aesthetic. The main reception area has a standard front desk, and to the right of it is a three-room, family-friendly waiting area, complete with a full dining room table and Wi-Fi for those who want to work while waiting. There’s also a snack bar and coffee area.
“We have our main waiting room area that has really comfy couches and seating, up-to-date magazines, and local books. We also have a designated kids' play area. We have a lot of families— families love their [Honda] Odysseys and Toyota Siennas,” says Rosie. “We just really wanted a comfortable home away from home for our clients.”
A Peek Behind the Curtain
From the shop's waiting area is a glass door directly accessing the shop floor. Once inside the shop, there are two two-post lifts for normal routine maintenance and engine and transmission repair. Across the shop is a four-post lift for oil changes and quick services. It’s something Jeff is trying to turn into an alignment rack.
“It's kind of a good staging area that I like to do diagnosis on so that I don't have to spend time racking up the cars as much I can just use it to go up and down with them,” says Jeff.
Diagnostic equipment can be found next to the rack. Bucks Family Automotive uses the Snap-On Zeus for its diagnostic work. Smaller toolboxes are arranged within the shop for Jeff and his employee.
“So we have a small toolbox for diagnostic that we bring to each car, my personal toolbox of hand tools, and then we have more of our larger tools. [We have] another box, all very mobile around the shop, so myself and my employee can be very mobile working on everything. We also have factory Toyota and Honda scan tools so we can do programming as well,” Jeff says.
