Auto repair shop owners celebrating first year in business in the Falls

When they made a decision to get into the auto restore business enterprise with each other, a single of the first points Doug Jones Jr. and Alex Youthful experienced to make a decision was what they ought to phone their garage on Main Street in the Metropolis of Niagara Falls.

Youthful proposed they borrow from a well-known music by the rock band AC/DC and “Thunder Struck Automobile Repair” was born.

“We have been heading by means of names and Alex said, ‘What about thunder struck? I type of considered about it and I mentioned, ‘Yeah, I like that’ and that’s what it turned out to be,” Jones recalled.

On March 1, Jones and Younger will celebrate their very first whole year of small business alongside one another at the Falls auto maintenance store, located at the former Steve’s Automotive area at 2665 Primary St.

Jones and Younger achieved when Young was operating as a mechanic at yet another repair service store on Grand Island. At the time, Jones was operating a resource truck that usually sent items to the Grand Island spot. The two began chatting and recognized they experienced a whole lot in prevalent, specifically when it came to a mutual desire in fixing damaged-down cars.

“Alex and I truly produced a really great connection through the time when I ran the instrument truck,” Jones said. “We did a large amount of talking jointly and uncovered out that we have been really quite suitable and determined, ‘Hey, let’s do this.’”

Jones, 52, was born in the Falls and invested most of his lifetime in Niagara County.

Young, 35, is from Denton, Arkansas. He explained he moved to the Falls in 2017 to be closer to family members members who were being previously living in Canada.

Before likely into organization with Younger, Jones worked for 13 many years at Washington Mills.

He said he often needed to possess his personal business enterprise and when the possibility arose, he jumped at the opportunity.

“It was just about the challenge, trying to make it get the job done, attempting to compete and becoming my individual boss. I love being my individual manager,” he claimed.

Young, who is qualified as an automotive technician from Very hot Springs Local community Higher education in Arkansa, has been functioning as a specialist mechanic for 15 years. He explained he took an curiosity in compact motor mend at a young age and enjoys doing work on greater repair jobs now.

“The working day I get to do large engine do the job, that is my favorite working day,” he mentioned. “To see that vehicle leaving and realizing that I’m the cause that motor vehicle is on the street and reliable at the time yet again tends to make me come to feel very good. That’s the highlight of my day and my 7 days when I make that transpire.”

Youthful claimed he also loves doing the job on more mature-product vehicles.

“My favored point to do is work on more mature autos,” he claimed. “I just enjoy it. I like getting a little something previous and resurrecting it, bringing it back from the useless.”

Jones admits there have been ups and downs since opening the enterprise, adding that it can be challenging competing with other high-quality mend stores in the location.

Jones and Younger hope to maintain buyers coming back and to keep on to expand their organization by basically giving top rated-good quality company.

“You bring some thing in and it’s not operating and you really do not know why,” Jones claimed. “(We) find out why and it leaves running.”

Both Jones and Younger reported the job has become extra intricate and even at situations far more stress with more recent models and new automotive technological innovation.

“Automobile engineers are not quite pleasant to the mechanics, let’s put it that way,” Jones claimed. “Here’s an 8-inch bolt, but you’ve got to get it out of a 2-inch area. Some of these automobiles currently you essentially have to acquire the leading finish of the engine off to transform the spark plugs.”

Young said his priority on every single fix occupation is basic safety.

“I’m all about security,” he reported. “If it’s not harmless, you are likely to know about it and hopefully we can appear to an agreement to get it set.”

In the Falls, very long acknowledged for its significantly less-than-pristine streets, Jones additional, half-jokingly: “We make vehicles safe for roads that are not.”

The owners of Thunder Struck provide interval car upkeep checks, roadside assistance, together with fuel shipping and delivery for times when motorists run out of gasoline and “jumps” for times when the battery dies or there is an electrical challenge. Jones stated they are scheduling to acquire a tow truck or a flat mattress by Could so Thunder Struck will also be equipped to provide expanded towing products and services as effectively.

In addition, the fix shop offers savings to “front-line staff,” which includes very first responders, army personnel, nurses and other wellness care practitioners.

“They are front-line staff and they ought to have it,” Youthful said.

“They deserve something they can get,” Jones added.

Thunder Struck Vehicle Repair service is open up from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. For additional information or to plan an appointment, simply call 716-282-4661.