76 GEARS May/June 2006

When most of us go to Las Vegas, it’s to attend ATRA’s Powertrain EXPO, relax, see a show, have some great food at an unbelievable price, and maybe do a little gam-bling. To us, Las Vegas is entertainment. But to make it work, Las Vegas has to be and is a real city, with real people doing pretty much what we all do every day: earning a living.

Now, if we were to think about opening a transmission shop anywhere in North America, a city that has well over 2 million visitors each year might be a good place to consider. Then if we add in the fact that over a million of them drive to the town through the mountains and desert, where tem-peratures reach levels of 100+ degrees, day after day, and the million plus people that live there have to drive in such temperatures five months out of the year… well, yes, that’d probably be a good place for a transmission shop!

ATRA has a few good members in Las Vegas and they keep busy… sometimes very busy. If you drive around Las Vegas, getting away from the Strip and Fremont Street, one of the first things a car person notices is the incredible number of general repair facilities and transmission shops. They seem to be everywhere, meaning the competition is tough and some of these businesses offer low-ball pricing. The ATRA Members

we talked to avoid low-balling like the plague, unless they want to go out of business like some boarded-up transmission shops we saw during our visit. The problems these members face are exactly like the ones faced by members everywhere; it’s just a little hotter most of the year.

Expert Transmission — Frank Lombardo Frank has been in this business for 37 years. He moved

to Las Vegas 27 years ago from Philly, where his brother Lee still operates a trans shop — X-Pert Transmissions (an ATRA Member too!) — and worked in the business with his father until he passed on several years ago.

In the last two years, business has really changed for Expert Trans. Today they have less work, but with higher mar-gins per job. Five years ago Expert had 11 employees. Today they have 7. It has six good sized bays, with room for larger trucks. They do some commercial work, but the mainstay

Generally Expert is a

busy shop that has upward

of 50,000 cars drive by its

doors every day

TRENCH REPORTS

LasLas Vegas: Vegas: Real People... Real People... Real ATRA Members Real ATRA Members

by Frank Pasley

Expert Transmission (L to R) – Brent Lombardo, Eli Contreras, Joe Black, Larry Howe, Sergio Ramirez, Frank Lombardo.

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GEARS May/June 2006 77

is Joe Citizen. Generally Expert is a busy shop that has upward of 50,000 cars drive by its doors every day on the famous Boulder Hwy in Henderson, NV.

Expert installs an occasional reman when the job demands it in terms of cost and time. But they have a rule that says the minimum profit must be $1000. Not a bad idea, eh?

Expert doesn’t per-form any form of general automotive repair, except those related directly to the transmission. They receive referral business from about five differ-ent shops in the area, and don’t want to compete with the shops that send them work.

After 37 years, Frank says he feels he’s worked long enough. He’s working on a sound exit strategy, which includes selling the business, retaining the property, and continuing to manage a few other small commercial automotive-related properties he and his family have built and managed over the years. Not a bad plan in a town that grows by 20% every year.

Henderson Transmission: Rick and Debbie Smith

Rick and Debbie Smith operate Henderson Transmission and they’re looking forward to retirement in 2007. They’ve been ATRA Members since 1981. Rick and Debbie have invested in real estate, primarily in Las Vegas for many years. How do you think they’ve done with this approach?

Duane Doyle, their rebuilder, has been with them for over 9 years and will be buying the business when the Smith’s retire. Duane is looking forward to owning his own business, but won’t make many changes to this success-ful operation.

This is a well-equipped shop, having made a big investment in expensive fac-tory scan tools, but as Rick says: “You know they work every time, all the time, so the investment was very worthwhile.” They work on automatics, transfer cases, standards, drive axles and perform elec-tronic diagnoses. But they don’t do any general repair work, since much of the work they get is from referrals from other shops in the area.

The shop is actually somewhat hid-den: If you didn’t have directions it’d be difficult to locate. But it’s very clean and professional and the work top-notch, with a comeback ratio of less than 2%. They

issue a Golden Rule Warranty with every job they do, and it pays off when the rare problem occurs out of town.

Dudley’s Transmission, Inc.WOW! is the only way to start the story about Dudley’s.

As you enter the front door there’s a look and feel of profes-sionalism. The building area for transmissions and engines is perfect. No, I mean it… really perfect: You could eat off the workbench and the build area. The transmission building area floor is covered with carpet — and it’s clean too.

Dudley’s Transmission does about 8 to 12 units per week as a two-man shop. Then, in their spare time, they’re in the race business. Need a racing engine built from scratch? Dudley’s is the place; Mark Stringer is your man. They’ll build an engine

Henderson Transmission

Dudley’s Transmission

This is a well-equipped shop, having made a big investment in

expensive factory scan tools

Henderson Transmission (L to R) – Debbie Smith, Rick Smith.

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78 GEARS May/June 2006

or a transmission for your sand rail, dragster, dune buggy, or hot street machine.

Mark Stringer, the shop manager, is a GM Master Tech and has been with Dudley’s for 4 years. The moment you start talking with him you sense his excitement about working for Dudley’s and being in the car business. Mark is just the car guy we all admire and wish we worked with every day.

Owner Susan Cannavo wasn’t available during our visit. She was in Japan to visit her daughter, who works for Disney in Tokyo as a dancer. Even without meeting her, the look and feel of the business tells you she is a real car person. She might even like to drive a little fast in a Dune Buggy sometimes. After the visit I was lucky enough to talk with Susan on the

phone. Susan moved to Las Vegas from New York in 1972 and loved the heat, the people and the excitement. When she purchased the most recent location for Dudley’s her goal was to own the most upscale Transmission Shop In Las Vegas and she succeeded!

Dudley’s doesn’t do general repair work, except when they find a problem in the middle of a job. Much of their work is referral from general repair shops in the area, and they don’t like to compete with those shops.

The biggest problem Dudley’s has is getting well-trained help. In the past two years they’ve hired 7 builders and then quickly sent them on their way. The result of those attempted hires has been comebacks amounting to over $57,000. The nor-mal comeback ratio for Dudley’s is just 1 or 2 out of a hundred, according to Mark.

Bacas National DifferentialBacas is big; so big it takes two locations across the street

from each other to have room for everything. One side of the operation is differentials and transfer cases, while the other is a busy, 60-units-per-month transmission rebuilding operation. The transmission side has three R&R people and two fulltime builders. So where does 60 units a month come from? Word of mouth: the best type of advertising known.

Dudley’s Transmission: Mark Stringer, shop manager

Mark sitting in the trans rebuild work area.

Mark in the Engine build area.

Bacas is big; so big it takes two loca-tions across the street from each other

to have room for everything.

Bacas National

Bacas Sign

TRENCH REPORTS: Las Vegas: Real People... Real ATRA Members

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How does the comeback ratio look at Bacas? About 2 out of the 60 units they do each month are comebacks in some form. Generally they’re minor problems and fixed quickly. But whether they’re a quick fix or a major rework, comebacks always jump to the top of the “To Do Today” list. That come-back customer becomes the most important customer in the shop.

While at Bacas, we talked with Dan Bacas and his son Mike. Like so many families in this business, Mike will con-tinue to carry the torch once dad retires, but he’s not the only one. Bacas is an extended family business; a group of people with a close working and social relationship.

In addition to running one of the busiest transmission oper-ations in Las Vegas, Dan Bacas also teaches at the local junior college. And based on the way Dan’s face beams when he talks about teaching, it’s clear that this is both his reward and his gift to an industry that has served him and his family so well.

Hoppy’s Transmission Factory

Hoppy’s Transmission Factory is another very busy 5-bay transmission rebuilding operation, building over 60 units per month. Word-of-mouth advertising also generates the bulk of their business.

Bill Hopkins, who has been in the car business some 55+ years, started the business. They’ve only been in the current location 28 years. Bill still goes in to the office and plays a role in the daily operations, but likes to say he is retired “some-times.” Son Mark, who’s been in the business for 17 years, runs the day-to-day operation. Mark does the diagnostics and selling to customers. They’ve been ATRA Members for over 10 years.

These days, Hoppy’s is starting to do some general repair work and often takes in the common “Check Engine Light Problem.” Mark’s thought is, if the customer is in his shop, it’s because he thinks his car has a transmission problem; so why not fix it? They don’t perform service business because they just don’t have the time, with so many regular transmission jobs coming in.

One interesting thing we noticed is there are two defunct, boarded up transmission shops within walking distance of Hoppy’s. Mark told me both of those shops used to be low-ball pricing shops that he lost an occasional job to. I think we all know why they’re boarded up!

Frank’s Rant: Every year ATRA spends many thousands of Member dues dollars promoting the ATRA name. In the past few years we’ve sent the ATRA Member message to millions of consumers in North America through newspaper, radio and the ATRA web site. But when I visit ATRA Members, in some cases the signage isn’t there at all, or is in such a state of disre-pair it begs for replacement.

It’s hard to understand why. It can’t be the cost: ATRA’s best metal sign is only $60 from the ATRA BookStore, and the window decal is just $3. What could the real reason be? If you know, please clue me in: E-mail me at: fpasley@atra.com

P.S. Don’t get me started on how bathrooms in shops often look… except Dudley’s, of course.

Bacas National (L to R) – Mike Bacas, son / John McConnell, builder / Dan Bacas, Dad.

These days, Hoppy’s is starting to do some general repair work and often takes in the common “Check Engine

Light Problem.”

Hoppy’s Transmission: (L to R) – Mark and Bill Hopkins.

Hoppy’s Transmission

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