Lowell’s Black Friday Specials

Rob Morris 0 Comment Old

If you’d rather not fight the crowds in search of a good deal on Black Friday, why not get great deals at Lowell’s this year instead?

BlackFridayThis Friday, November 25th, we’re offering the best prices all year on some of your most important services!

Here’s what we’re offering:

  • FREE brake inspection! (A $43 savings).
  • A $5 oil change! (A savings of $15 to $25).
  • Save 50% on a transmission flush! (A savings of $83).
  • 50% off of a brake flush! (A savings of $69).

That’s a potential savings of over $200 on the award-winning service you expect from Lowell’s!

Be sure to reserve your slot for this Friday by calling Lowell’s at 233-1173 or by making your appointment online today.  We can’t wait to see you!

UPDATE: Because so many customers are traveling this weekend, we’re extending our Black Friday deals to “Cyber Monday” – Monday, November 28th – as well. 

Share the Knowlege

Keith Shelburne 7 Comments Lowell's

Keith3Hello everyone!  My name is Keith Shelburne. I have been working for Lowells for just over 6 years now, and have been asked by Rob to be a  contributor to the blog.

I have been turning wrenches (as they say) for over 26 years and am an ASE Master Certified Technician.

My objective will be to share my knowlege with everyone on the blog.  Things from the write up to service to what we do when we technicians get your car, as well as any specifics on the cars.

I will try to be as informative as possible without being too technical.  I would like to hear any questions about appointments, personnel, write-ups, training,  service work or technical topics.

Do you have a topic already? Just let me know what you would like to see covered.  Check back soon to see what the first topic may be.

Thanks,  Keith S

Fighting Breast Cancer

Rob Morris 0 Comment Community

Shevawn and Hayden Shevawn is our friend, our customer, and a great single mom to a great son.  She is also an active and vocal contributor to our community.  She is smart, beautiful, and tough.

And Shevawn is fighting breast cancer.

She has been sharing her brave, raw, and moving story at Forever Changed ever since her initial diagnosis in June.  Over the past four months, she has chronicled the awfulness and initial shocks of that diagnosis, her subsequent biopsy, her recently-completed chemotherapy, and her traumatic hair loss.  She is due to begin radiation treatments later this month.

Forever Changed is Shevawn’s very personal account of her cancer experience.  It is also inspiring.  We encourage you to go read her story and to share your support with her.

Shevawn will turn 38 on October 15th – the same day as the Susan G. Komen “Race for the Cure” in Lexington.

We’re celebrating with Shevawn by supporting her “Shine On” race team to help find a cure for this awful disease.  Please join us in supporting the search for a cure.  If you’re interested, you can start with the links below:

Forever Changed

Shevawn’s Race for the Cure Page – Shine On

Susan G. Komen Foundation, Lexington

Introducing CivilMechanics

Rob Morris 0 Comment Blog

Since its inception three years ago, the Lowell's blog (blog.lowells.us) has been a strange beast.  

It has been an admixture of news about Lowell's, tips for car maintenance, thoughts about business and the economy, and assorted commentary on our community, on downtown, and on the city of Lexington.

While this assortment was in line with our stated intent to offer "our perspectives on cars, business, Lexington, and life," it also resulted in a divided audience: those who care about cars and what is happening at Lowell's (usually customers); and those who care about more civic matters.

As you might imagine, the practical overlap between these groups is quite small.  The car folks probably don't care about musings on CentrePointe or Lexington's streets and roads.  The civic folks probably don't care about what's happening with the Lowell's website or how a brake flush works.

Still, I could kind of rationalize the Lowell's blog as a local blog by, for, and about a local business and local issues.

::

I have been the sole contributor to the Lowell's blog.  And over the past year or so, my postings have been far less frequent than I'd like.  

Part of that has to do with the busy-ness of our business (I haven't had as much time to devote to writing), but most of it lies in the fact that I've been wanting to write about new and different things.

In particular, I've wanted to shift my focus from predominantly local issues to predominantly national and global ones – to try, for instance, to decode what's happening in Washington or Wall Street from my own distinct perspective.  These topics just didn't feel at home among car care tips and shop news.

At the same time, I've wanted to extend the content of the Lowell's blog to include new contributions and new kinds of content from my employees here at Lowell's.  As I contemplated such a move, I didn't want them to feel overshadowed by strongly-expressed views which they might not share.

CivilMechanics To resolve this dilemma, I've created a new blog called CivilMechanics (www.civilmechanics.com) – sponsored by Lowell's – in which I will express my unique perspectives on a variety of issues.  (And, yes, "CivilMechanics" is an intentional multiple-entendre. I like that kind of stuff.) Please check out our first post, "Confessions of a Job Creator".  

I've also taken the liberty of migrating a few old Lowell's posts to CivilMechanics which capture some of the spirit of this new blog.   

Over the coming weeks, we'll introduce new contributors to the Lowell's blog.  I'll also continue to post on the Lowell's blog from time to time with items of interest to Lowell's customers and Lexingtonians.

With these changes, I'm hoping to increase our overall frequency of posts, both for customers (through the Lowell's blog) and for civic-minded followers (through CivilMechanics).  Please check them out, and be sure to let us know how we're doing.

The Lowell's Blog: blog.lowells.us

CivilMechanics: www.civilmechanics.com

Easier Appointments

Rob Morris 0 Comment Lowell's

Online2 We're pleased to release a long-needed upgrade to our online system for making service appointments or checking your service history.

If you used the application over the past couple of years, you were taken to an older section of our site which looked very different from our main site: different logo, different background, different navigation.  

In fact, it looked so different that it confused some customers.  Were they even on the same site?

We've tried to update the look and feel of the application to make it clearer and easier to use.

Try it out and let us know how you like it.  And, as always, please let us know what we can do better.

LowellsSquare

“Do You Always Use Genuine Toyota Parts?”

Rob Morris 0 Comment Lowell's

Customers often ask us, “Do you always use genuine Toyota parts?”

No, not always.

Genuine Toyota Brake Pads Throughout our history, we’ve consistently used a mixture of genuine Toyota parts and high-quality aftermarket (in other words, “non-Toyota”) parts.

We choose parts based on part quality, availability, and price.  If a Toyota part costs too much or takes too long to get in, and we can offer a high-quality alternative, we will.

On critical categories of parts – such as brake pads, oil filters, antifreeze, and ignition coils – we use only Toyota materials because we think Toyota offers superior quality.

When we do use aftermarket parts, we try to ensure that they are equivalent in quality to Toyota parts – usually by choosing a supplier who also supplies Toyota (such as NGK or Denso).

We know that our parts quality is key to our customers’ satisfaction – and to the future of Lowell’s. Without great parts, we wouldn’t be able to stand behind our exceptional three-year / 36,000-mile warranty on most repairs (where other shops and dealers usually offer 1-year or 90-day warranties).

If you ever have questions about your parts, please feel free to ask.  We’re always happy to explain how we work on your car.

LowellsSquare

Lowell’s wins 2011 Readers’ Choice Award

Rob Morris 0 Comment Awards

For the fifth time, Lexington Herald-Leader readers have voted Lowell’s their “Favorite Auto Repair Place” in the 2011 Readers’ Choice Awards.

Readers Choice Awards

We are humbled and honored to have the support of our wonderful, wonderful customers. We are also very grateful to have such thoughtful and skilled employees.

Lowell’s won the category even when matched up against other great finalists who have multiple locations (S&S Tire) or who service multiple vehicle brands (our friends at Auto Tech).

Lowell’s was also the top pick for Herald-Leader readers in 2010, 2009, 2007, and 1994 – to our knowledge, that’s every time the auto repair category has been offered.

Thank you so much,
Rob, Suzanne, and your Friends at Lowell’s

LowellsSquare

Mitch Payton Joins Lowell’s

Rob Morris 0 Comment Old

Facing a very busy summer season, we knew we’d need additional help working on vehicles at Lowell’s. And it was important for us to find an employee who’d help us build upon our award-winning culture.

So we had each potential technician interview with a group of Lowell’s employees to ensure that they would enhance how we do things here.

Mitch After that process, we are pleased to (belatedly) welcome Mitch Payton to the Lowell’s team.  Mitch joined us on April 1st.

Mitch is an accomplished dart player – He played professionally for about 5 years!  He also has twelve years of combined experience at Green’s Toyota in Lexington and Toyota South in Richmond.

But we won’t hold that against him.

All kidding aside, Mitch is a valuable addition to Lowell’s.  In addition to providing us with even deeper Toyota experience and expertise, Mitch is thorough and conscientious – qualities we hold dear here at Lowell’s.

We are very happy to add Mitch to our roster of stellar Lowell’s employees.

What’s a cabin air filter?

Rob Morris 4 Comments Car Care

We recommend changing your car’s cabin air filter about once a year.  Many customers know about their car’s engine air filter, but they aren’t as familiar with the filter for their cabin.

So when we recommend changing the cabin air filter, we’re often asked “What – exactly – is a cabin air filter?”

Good question.

Put simply, a cabin air filter helps purify the air inside your car’s cabin.  The cabin air filter helps keep dust, pollen, and road particles from getting into your car’s heating and air conditioning system, which then helps keep that stuff out of your lungs and out of your car’s interior.

Clean, Dirty, and Filthy Cabin Air FiltersClean, Dirty, and Filthy Cabin Air Filters

Changing your cabin air filter will ensure that your heating and air conditioning system has maximum air flow while keeping the nasty stuff out of your cabin.

The once-a-year guideline is a general one; We really recommend you change the cabin air filter when it gets dirty.  And that depends on your driving conditions.

If you often drive on dusty roads or over leaf-covered streets in the fall, you may need your cabin filter changed more often.  If you drive in cleaner conditions, you can probably wait longer than a year between changes.

LowellsSquare
Feel free to call the shop with any questions, and – if it is time for a filter change or other service for your vehicle – to make an appointment for service.