View Post

Meet Ray Dezeeuw, General Service Technician at Steve’s Auto Repair

In Shop Talk by Steves Auto Repair and Tire

Ray Dezeeuw is from Fredericksburg and is one of our general service technicians. Even though he commutes on I-95 every day he says that he looks forward to coming in to work. A graduate of Chancellor High School, Ray attended Germanna Community College for their automotive program.

When not at work Ray enjoys skateboarding, bike riding, spending time with his girlfriend and their dog Sadie, going to the movies, tattoos and working on his personal car, a Honda Prelude. He also spends time studying to become ASE certified.

Steve’s Auto Repair & Tire is an authorized Goodyear tire dealer located in Woodbridge, Virginia. Automotive repair services are performed on all makes and models, including BMW and Mercedes. Services include oil changes, brakes, alignments, inspections, and computer engine diagnostics.

Monthly Pointer: Improved Oil Changes

In Promotions by Steves Auto Repair and Tire

oil change intervals

All month long we will be offering our Silver and Gold package maintenance services for $10 off!
These packages offer the same extensive inspection and outstanding benefits of our standard maintenance service with the added benefit of BG MOA oil additive and/or BG CF5 fuel additive.  These excellent treatments help to extend oil change intervals, keep your fuel passages clean, protect your engine and keep your vehicle performing well.
Make your appointment today to take advantage of this deal and keep your vehicle performing at its peak!

Steve’s Auto Repair & Tire is an authorized Goodyear tire dealer located in Woodbridge, Virginia. Automotive repair services are performed on all makes and models, including BMW and Mercedes. Services include oil changes, brakes, alignments, inspections, and computer engine diagnostics.

View Post

Meet Robert Moser from Steve’s Auto Repair

In Shop Talk by Steves Auto Repair and Tire

Robert Moser has been a resident of Prince William for over thirty years. He has been ASE certified for over twenty-five years and currently holds the Master Automotive Repair Technician and L1 ASE certifications. A state certified safety and emissions inspector with an emissions repair credential, he has worked both in a Dodge dealership and aftermarket repair to gain experience.

Robert’s personal interests mainly revolve around his wife and four children of whom they are both very proud. An avid history buff with a lot of interest in local history, he also spends a lot of his free time working on reclaiming and reconditioning forgotten historic cemeteries.

Steve’s Auto Repair & Tire is an authorized Goodyear tire dealer located in Woodbridge, Virginia. Automotive repair services are performed on all makes and models, including BMW and Mercedes. Services include oil changes, brakes, alignments, inspections, and computer engine diagnostics.

View Post

Winter and Your Hybrid

In Battery by Steves Auto Repair and Tire

I purchased a hybrid car because I wanted better fuel economy. I didn’t think about hybrids and winter driving. How do frigid temperatures affect fuel economy? Should you change your driving habits in the cold?

A hybrid is going to be more affected by cold than a conventional car. This is because a hybrid relies on a storage battery and a generator for part of its power.

Batteries, like humans, are happier in the 60-degree to 85-degree range. When temperatures drop below 40 degrees the chemical process by which a battery stores energy slows. This means that a battery starting up in freezing temperatures will have less available power than it would on a 75-degree day. Therefore, the car uses the engine to power the vehicle, and doing so reduces its overall miles per gallon and range.

Changing your driving style has a clear impact on mileage for both hybrid and conventional vehicles. Smooth driving at posted speed limits will provide the best range and fuel economy. By maintaining relatively consistent speed and avoiding sharp acceleration, you can get the most from your vehicle.

Ed is a State Farm agent in Lake Ridge and has the distinction of having lived next door to a teenaged ST. He is a member of the Rotary, the Knights of Columbus and the Optimist Club of Occoquan.

Steve’s Auto Repair & Tire is an authorized Goodyear tire dealer located in Woodbridge, Virginia. Automotive repair services are performed on all makes and models, including BMW and Mercedes. Services include oil changes, brakes, alignments, inspections, and computer engine diagnostics.

View Post

Mechanics Trade In Long Commutes to Work Local

In Shop Talk by Steves Auto Repair and Tire

Matt Ledman spends more time with his family now that he’s not spending three hours a day commuting to and from work.

A mechanic who specializes in Mercedes-Benz automobiles, Ledman traded working in Tysons Corner for a job at Steve’s Auto Repair in Woodbridge. He’s found a way to continue to make competitive “Northern Virginia wages” and work close to home.

“I’m about 15 minutes from here, and I can go home for lunch if I wanted to,” said Ledman.

Of the nine employees at Steve’s Auto, seven of them live in Prince William County. Living close by allows the mechanics to focus more on the job and less on the stress of their commutes.

Another employee who traded in his commute for a job at the shop said people here are just plain nicer.

“I got so tired of the people on the roads without common courtesy or respect for other drivers,” said mechanic Eran Mehler, of Lake Ridge, who used to work in Arlington.

Before ST Billingsley purchased Steve’s Auto Repair seven years ago he used to leave his house at 5:05 a.m. weekdays for work in Tysons Corner. After taking over the Woodbridge business he worked to hire a team of qualified mechanics, and quickly learned that if they lived nearby it was a huge bonus.

“The one thing we don’t complain about here is traffic,” said Billingsley. “Having one thing off our plate has made it a better work environment.”

But Billingsley’s local employees are the exception to the rule. According to 2010 U.S. Census data, 62 percent of workers must leave Prince William to find work. What’s more, 14 percent must leave the state for work.

But those commuters who clog interstate highways, pack commuter buses and trains, and are the impetus for more toll lanes in the region, are a necessary evil. Prince William’s largest employers are retailers like Walmart and Target, a day care provider, and Sentara Northern Virginia Medical Center. That’s not enough to employ a large percentage of workers in a bedroom community of 400,000 mostly made up of government workers.

Even Prince William Board Chairman Corey Stewart, At-large said more government contractors near Quantico are choosing to do business in neighboring Stafford County, skipping Prince William altogether.

Billingsley doesn’t know for sure how many other area businesses enjoy the luxury of having so many employees live close by, but he says hiring local benefits everyone.

“It’s for the economy of Woodbridge: we live here, we work here, obviously we pay taxes here, we buy food here, and with everything so close by it makes everything more enjoyable to work here,” said Billingsley.

Click here to view the original article.

Steve’s Auto Repair & Tire is an authorized Goodyear tire dealer located in Woodbridge, Virginia. Automotive repair services are performed on all makes and models, including BMW and Mercedes. Services include oil changes, brakes, alignments, inspections, and computer engine diagnostics.