Battleground Phoenix: Made in the Shade: Sizzling population growth has repairers beating the heat that beats-up the cars

It's a hot time in the city for repair shops, and several report having to turn away work because demand is so high.

The summer heat takes a tremendous toll on the vehicles, and vehicle air conditioning (A/C) is viewed as a necessity. If it's not working properly, many motorists would rather stay parked in the driveway than go anywhere without it.

THE LAY OF THE LAND

Arizona's capital is the nation's fifth-largest city, encompassing more than 500 square miles, geographically exceeding Los Angeles. Much of this land remains undeveloped, ripe for a pattern of wide-open-spaces expansion that shows no signs of abating.

Located amid the Sonoran Desert, Phoenix sees 300-plus sunny days a year with about 8 inches of rainfall, creating a prime destination for tourism, corporate headquarters and retirees. About 12 percent of the population is over age 65; more than half of the residents are between 18 and 54 years old, trending younger than the national averages.

Famous for its precision golf resorts and scenic grandeur, off-roading churns-up significant enthusiasm in a community where attractively outfitted and accessorized vehicles are widely appreciated. Rust is a rarity in this dry climate, although there is a summer "monsoon season" that brings severe weather and flash floods.

Beginning in the early 1900s, Willis Carrier's "Apparatus for Treating Air" was on its way toward making desert living bearable for the masses. A/C started cooling Phoenix commercial buildings in 1929. Heightened production of the units coincided with a post-World War II population boom as military personnel based in the area discovered it was a desirable place to settle and raise a family – when properly cooled, of course. By the early 1950s, Phoenix was known as the "Air-Conditioned Capital of the World."

HEAT KILLS CARS

A/C remains a priority for motorists within the Valley of the Sun. A breakdown mandates immediate attention, driving hot demand among auto repair centers.

"We do a lot of air conditioning work," reports Dave Walls, owner of Dave's British Import Service. "Everyone wants their air conditioners to work at the top ability," he explains.

Each year Phoenix averages almost a hundred days of 100-plusºF tem-peratures, and it's not too unusual to have the mercury soar to 115ºF. The inside of a vehicle can be 50ºF hotter than the outside air; locals must guard against an affliction known as "butt burn" caused by sitting upon sizzling leather upholstery. Pets and people can never be left in parked cars, not even for "just a moment," and interior pressure build-up can blow out closed windows. Pickup truck owners are cautioned not to let their hounds ride in the bed, lest their footpads get scorched.

Radiator work overflows within the valley, where the entire repair segment appears to be steered by the climate conditions. "Every single plastic and rubber piece on a car gets wiped out sooner than in other places," says A.J. Demarte, service center manager for All Night Auto of Pueblo Anozira, which is on East Guadalupe in Tempe. "The heat makes everything really brittle."

"Heat kills cars," declares Michele Waters, co-owner with her husband Tim of TMK Auto Repair on William Dillard Drive in Gilbert. Belts, hoses and batteries frequently fail because of the high temperatures. "Things get dried out so easily. It's brutal on any rubber component."

"The charging systems take a lot of abuse," Walls points out. "The heat's really tough on alternators, and fuel systems don't work as well when they're hot. Seventy percent of my business is done between March and September."

Waters concurs: "The day the temperature turns 100 degrees until the day it goes below 100 is our 'busy' season."

ONE-STOP REPAIRS

According to a study by R.L. Polk & Co., 53.2 percent of the motorists within the Phoenix Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA) are Do-It-For-Me (DIFM) customers; 12.4 percent fall into the Do-It-Yourselfer (DIY) category. Slightly more than 34 percent are "tweeners," those who choose DIFM or DIY repairs based on circumstance. The national DIFM vs. DIY ratio is 42 percent to 32 percent.

"My business is in South Phoenix, and it's growing by leaps and bounds with houses and businesses," he notes.

During the 1990s in Gilbert, where TMK is located, the population grew 266 percent – more than any other city in the country, according to census figures. It also ranked highest in the nation for prevalence of mar-ried couples.

Polk posts a 51.1 percent DIFM ranking for TMK's neighborhood, where the median household income is an upscale $69,757, compared to the national average of $44,684. More than 75 percent of the residents are homeowners. The median home price here is $230,000; the nationwide amount is $208,500.

In Tempe, where the gleaming All Night Auto of Pueblo Anozira has been open for a year-and-a-half, the median cost of a home is $336,000, according to analyst Bert Sperling, president of Sperling's BestPlaces, a Portland, OR-based demographic research firm. Tempe's cost of living is 24 percent higher than the American average, and the DIFM rate here tops 88 percent.

"We're open 100 hours a week," he continues. Contrary to its moniker, the franchised operation does not run a graveyard shift. Business is conducted from 7 a.m. to midnigh, Monday through Thursday, with slightly shorter hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

"We accommodate anyone's schedule," says Demarte. It's a one-stop repair center, complete with an automotive concierge service. "People don't have to find rides at 10 o'clock at night to get their cars."

And it definitely is a moneymaker for the company, he points out. "You pay a little bit more for convenience." For an appropriate fee, workers will pick up a customer's car and take it to a dealership for complex repairs or handle the hassles of subcontracted specialized services, such as window glass replacement and tire purchases.

Tires are especially a good mover; hot pavement punishes the rubber. "We're getting a tire machine, and when we get that, we won't have to sub that out anymore," Demarte says.

At the Tempe location, which has six bays and six employees, "parts are pretty hard to come by" after traditional business hours – a situation that dictates leaving the more involved repairs until morning. "We get quite a few oil changes, mostly small stuff, in the evening," says Demarte.

A PERSONAL TOUCH

According to Waters at TMK, a proliferation of national price-based chains throughout the valley has little competitive impact. "We don't worry too much about them because our customers are very loyal," she says. "They may drift away from us to try them because they're showy, but they drift back to us rather soon" because of the personal service and convenient hours TMK provides.

"It surprises a lot of folks when we tell them that we're open until seven in the evening," says Waters.

"First and foremost, we don't sell services that aren't needed – and word-of-mouth is the best advertisement," she asserts. "That's advertising you can't buy. We want to keep our customers for the life of the vehicle, and we want them to come back to us" after making their next automotive purchase.

"We don't have a lot of overhead," says Waters. "We've been able to keep a personal touch."

The business was founded in 1985. Initially it was a 24-hour Mobil service station in nearby Chandler; it moved to the Gilbert location in May of 2004.

BUILDING A NETWORK

Like elsewhere in the country, maintaining adequate staffing levels remains a struggle for Phoenix shops, which appear to provide decent wages and benefit packages.

"My main man has been with me 18 years," says Sellers at Dick's Ace Auto Repair. Sellers picks up the tab for the valued employee's to-and-from-work fuel costs. Each of the six bays is equipped with an evaporative cooler to maintain a comfortable environment.

In business for 25 years, Sellers says he also strives for stability among his suppliers. "I don't like to change the people where I get my parts from."

Waters also points to the rapport that comes from sticking with a steady array of vendors. The strategy greatly assists in obtaining top service and the best mechanical advice when needed. "We've made adjustments over the years when things weren't to our liking, but you really don't want to bounce around with distributors," she advises.

Walls, at Dave's British Import Service, cites the gains received by doing lunch with other repair shop owners: "We've been getting together every Thursday for the past 18 to 20 years. It's very important to keep these guys talking to each other."

These colleagues are not considered competitors; he considers the very notion of badmouthing another shop to be odd and self-defeating for the entire industry. "The other shop owners have to be your friends if you want to make money," according to Walls. "You need those referrals."

Being polite and providing advice to DIYers is another aspect of the 30-year-old enterprise, which has three long-term, highly trained technicians. "I get people who call me all the time. You have to pass that knowledge on."

Because of his specialization in European nameplates such as Jaguar and BMW, clients - including Rolls Royce owners - come from throughout Arizona.

"We are one of the few shops that do English cars; you have the dealerships and just a few independents. That's not nearly enough for the amount of people in the valley. The market is definitely underserved for high-end British cars."