Ike's Auto Repair Puts a Premium on Treating People Right

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When Ike Hoskinson tells the origin story of his auto shop in Grand Mound, he starts with family. 

After working as a young man at a mill, operating heavy equipment, turning wrenches for Boeing and finally becoming a certified mechanic for Nissan, Hoskinson decided he wanted more control over his own schedule so that he could spend more time with his family. That’s when he decided to go into business for himself. 

At first, Ike’s Auto Repair was a one-man show, with Hoskinson handling all of the paperwork and wrench-turning by himself while working out of a small garage tucked behind a former car lot in Grand Mound across from the Great Wolf Lodge. Now the auto shop, which works on 25 to 30 vehicles per week, has expanded to include Ike’s own car lot. The beefed up operation now requires four employees in addition to Hoskinson in order to fire on all cylinders.

While business is good, the extra work can make it difficult for Hoskinson to stick to his original plan of spending more quality time with his wife Stephanie, son Michael and daughters Brianna and Emma. As the boss, Hoskinson said he just has to draw a line sometimes.

“I’d say the plan is working out great, so long as I remember to go home and leave all of this behind. Sometimes you’ve just got to make the time and go home,” said Hoskinson.

Hoskinson, 41, of Rochester, founded Ike’s Auto Repair in 2011 and expanded the shop in 2015 to include his own car lot in the footprint of the old lot that he started his shop behind. He says that running the used car lot has added to the overall workload but it has also added a bit of intrigue to the operation. Hoskinson often purchases vehicles or takes trade-ins from customers who don’t want to fork over the cash required to get them fixed up. That’s when Hoskinson and his team of mechanics get to troubleshoot the situation and decide exactly how they would like to rebuild the vehicle.

“Generally we put too much into them,” said Hoskinson with a laugh that indicates his inclination to do jobs right, if not his tendency to want to overbuild. “Ours is going to be worked on with new parts where a similar car might not have that done … I’m not going to not fix a timing belt or do a set of brakes just because I want to make some more money.”

Working on vehicles has been a lifelong pursuit for Hoskinson, whose father owned a body shop in Ashford when Ike was growing up.

“I found myself working on a lot of customer vehicles that way,” said Hoskinson, who got his start retooling bicycles and motorcycles. “By the time I was 12 I was working on the public’s vehicles in Ashford.”



From those early lessons in the shop with his father, Hoskinson learned as much about the nuts and bolts of being a mechanic as the proper way to treat people. For instance, Hoskinson says he always makes sure to thoroughly explain the options available to a customer in order to help them make tough decisions on how to best approach repairs to their vehicle. Rather than simply selling each person who walks in the door a costly bill of goods, Hoskinson prefers to treat each case individually so that each customer leaves feeling like they got the best deal possible.

“We feel like there is a sense to be made with vehicles as far as where they are in their life. I mean, every vehicle will see a wrecking yard at some point,” said Hoskinson. “We feel like it is our obligation to advise people and educate people as to where their vehicle is at and what it will take to bring it back to a reliable state.”

With a nod to his family values honed in the shop, Hoskinson added, “We can do that just because it’s the right thing to do … We never put money ahead of people. If you do the right thing, the money will follow.”

Hoskinson puts his money where his mouth is too, as nearly all work done at Ike’s Auto Repair is backed up with a three-year and 36,000-mile warranty. The shop tackles almost every job imaginable, except for alignments, although the hope is to be able to do those jobs soon as well. Routine oil changes come with a courtesy fluid inspection, and the shop even offers a shuttle service for folks who need to drop off their car and then get back home or to work.

Additionally, Ike’s Auto Repair has teamed up with Grant’s Towing in order to provide towing service to customers in need. Dropoffs to the shop’s secure lot can be made day and night, including weekends and holidays. What’s more, if the problem on the vehicle happens to be a part or job covered on warranty by Ike’s, then the shop will cover the full towing tab as a courtesy.

“We’re just trying to take care of our customers. We want them to know they have a safe place to take their vehicle when things go wrong, no matter what time or what day it is,” explained Hoskinson.

Ike’s Auto Repair is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. The shop is located in Grand Mound at 6130 203rd Ave. SW, Centralia. Appointments can be made by calling 360-858-3063. Additional information is available online at ikesautorepair.biz/.