We Repair Electronic & Mechanical
It all started as a part time business in 1988 as the result of me not being able to locate anyone in the Austin area to repair my wife's Volvo 240DL odometer. After completing my local market research I was convinced there was adequate demand to start a small speedometer shop. Automotive shops said they would use my services if I would do the work. I invested over $1,000 in gears and a speedometer calibrator. My wife Kathy was my first satisfied customer! |
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I believe in the power and influence of mentors. While searching for a calibrator I met Bill from California. Bill was in his 60's and willing to share his years of speedometer experience whenever I got in a jam. I first heard of the Internet from a UT Austin college professor/customer. Some time later I registered www.speedometer.com. The Internet has assisted me in attracting customers, but every shop on the Internet is essentially a competitor. Good news travels fast, bad news even faster. Much of our Internet business comes from customers who have visited specialty auto sites. I opted to go to full time speedometer repair in 1994. By that time I had many Austin and Texas shops that were sending us speedometers to repair. A new shop customer called and said their Tennessee repair shop was not going to repair speedometers after December 1994. I jumped on this opportunity to get my name in front of them. I went from a situation where I knew most of my customers by their first name, to getting three or four calls from potential shop customers per day. I sent care packages frequently and the referrals kept coming. I had stumbled upon and now was very aware of this new, undiscovered market of the northeastern United States. We repair cable driven speedometers for mostly Mercedes, VW Beetles and Saab cars. Electronic units have become strong repair items. In early 2006 we completed construction of a metal building near Lake LBJ, about 60 miles northwest of Austin, Texas. This facility has a first-class shop and office, plus lots of storage. We have improved our BMW motorcycle repair turnaround by doing all cycle repairs at this location. In 2007 we embark on yet another challenge — that of repairing 2003–2006 General Motors clusters. The speedometers frequently fail and we have the parts. We hope this facet of our business will prove fruitful and enjoyable for many years. If you wish to discuss your automotive instrument repair, please don't hesitate to call or email me personally.
— Rick Borth
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