Category: Lowell’s

A decade of comments on Car Talk

Rob Morris 2 Comments Lowell's, Web

We have long enjoyed listening to Car Talk on NPR on the weekends.  Tom and Ray Magliozzi, the brothers who host the show, are very funny and informative. 

Until recently, we didn't realize that Car Talk had a rating and comment section on their website which prominently features Lowell's.  You can see what customers have said about us (mostly good!) over the past 10 years.

As always, we are deeply appreciative of support from our customers and community.  Thank you, and please let us know how we can do better!

[where: 111 Mechanic St, Lexington, KY 40507]

Why we specialize in Toyota (and Lexus and Scion)

Rob Morris 0 Comment Auto Industry, Business, Lowell's, Toyota

When Suzanne and I bought Lowell's back in July, a lot of our friends and family wondered why the business focused exclusively on Toyota brands (Toyota, Lexus, and Scion).  There are historical reasons, but there are also significant benefits to our customers.

At first, specializing in one brand seems like a very limiting choice, since only a fraction of the cars on the road are Toyotas.  Why not serve the whole market?

There are three basic reasons we specialize:

  1. It makes us better.  With cars becoming more and more complex, keeping detailed knowledge of the unique properties of all of the brands becomes impossible.  By getting specialized training for Toyota, we're better able to recognize problems unique to Toyota vehicles.
  2. It makes us faster.  Our specialized knowledge lets us diagnose and repair problems faster than a multi-brand repair shop can.  We also stock a variety of original Toyota parts so that we can perform most maintenance or repair in the same day as the vehicle came in.
  3. It makes us more affordable.  Servicing today's more complicated vehicles requires very specific parts and equipment, which is costly to keep across multiple brands.  By focusing exclusively on Toyota, we can keep our inventories smaller and our equipment more up-to-date.  These lower costs help us keep prices lower.

Finally, this combination of better, faster, and more affordable reinforces itself: When we have deeper expertise, we provide superior service faster, which helps us keep costs (ours and yours) lower.

[where: 111 Mechanic St, Lexington, KY 40507]

Lowell’s South?

Rob Morris 0 Comment Lowell's

Occasionally, we'll come across a fan of Lowell's in the most unusual places.  We found a really great endorsement from a former customer in Orlando on this forum.  Here is an excerpt:

One thing I miss about my previous town 8 years ago was a place called Lowell's Toyota in Lexington KY. They had to be the best mechanic shop I ever came across…. I'm in search of a mechanic shop that is 20% as good as Lowell's if not better. Yes I do mean 20%.

Twenty percent as good?  Maybe it is time to open a Florida branch of Lowell's.  (Yes, I'm kidding.  We're happy right where we are.)

[where: Orlando, FL]

Crushing cans

Rob Morris 0 Comment Drinks, Lowell's

What should we do with all of these cans?
With our low prices on Cokes, we generate a pile of soft drink cans.  We recently obtained a "can-pactor" to crush all of these cans, and it is starting to get full (~500 cans).  We'd really like your creative ideas on what to do with all of these cans.

Please comment below, and tell us what you think we should do with all of that aluminum…

[where: 111 Mechanic St, Lexington, KY 40507]

The good old days

Rob Morris 0 Comment Drinks, Lowell's

CokeNickel
While we've gotten some recent relief on gasoline prices (a nearby Speedway station was all the way down to $1.759 per gallon this morning), it seems like prices for most other things are higher than ever.  It makes us wish for the "good old days".

After we bought Lowell's, one of the most frequent questions we got was whether we would keep selling Cokes for 10 cents.

The answer is "no" — Some things just have to change…

So, on October 1st, we made the decision to sell our Coca-Cola soft drinks for a nickel.  That's right — you can buy a Coke at Lowell's for the same prices as you could when it was first introduced in Atlanta in 1886: 5 cents.

One of our guys called it our own little economic stimulus package.  Come by the shop for a taste of the good old days…

[where: 111 Mechanic St, Lexington, KY 40507]

Introducing “Under the Hood”

Rob Morris 0 Comment Lowell's

Under the Hood is a new way for us at Lowell's to communicate with our customers and friends. 

Here are just a few of the things we'll do here:

  • Keep you up-to-date on what's happening at Lowell's
  • Provide car maintenance tips
  • Share insights about Toyota and the automotive industry
  • Gather your opinions and ideas
  • Talk about our neighborhood and community events
  • Offer observations on business and life

We hope that you will find the blog entertaining and informative.  Please let us know what you think.

[where: 111 Mechanic St, Lexington, KY 40507]