Gary Bryan has always done business the same way: no gimmicks, no upselling, no sugarcoating, just straightforward answers and hard work. On July 17, his shop, Wheat Ridge Auto Service, marked 45 years of keeping cars running in the Wheat Ridge community.
There’s no website, no online scheduling, and Gary doesn’t advertise. “I guess it matters more if your car runs, and if you’re happy with it. That’s about it,” his wife, Mimi, says. “He’s just kind of no-nonsense.”
What Gary does offer is honesty. “I have to sleep at night, so I tell people the truth, whether they like it or not,” he says.
Despite not advertising, Gary’s business approach has earned him the trust and long-term business of many Wheat Ridge locals. “He’s worked on the parents’ cars, the grandparents’ cars, the grandkids’ cars,” Mimi says.
Unsurprisingly, this year’s intense summer heat hasn’t had an impact on Gary’s business model. While he’s replaced a few more batteries than usual and seen the usual assortment of cooling system issues (low coolant, minor leaks), his core advice to customers remains simple: check fluids regularly, monitor tire pressure, and pay close attention to dashboard alerts.
Gary encourages customers to, especially in the extreme temperatures of summer, be proactive in getting any vehicle issues checked out. “It’s funny, some people will come in when their brake pedal is all the way to the floor, and, you know, that’s when they finally come in for brakes,” he says.
Gary didn’t grow up dreaming of owning a business – he found his way into auto repair out of necessity. When he bought his first car and it broke down, his father told him, “If you can’t afford to get it fixed and you don’t know how to fix it, then you shouldn’t own a car.” So, Gary learned.
Over the years, Gary worked at several auto shops and was disappointed by the dishonesty of their business practices. “I didn’t understand what the mechanics were looking at, or if they were just behind on their Lamborghini payments,” he says.
In 1980, when Gary saw a “For Rent” sign on an old gas station at 44th and Teller in Wheat Ridge, he called the number and signed a lease. He was on his own: no employees, almost no savings. “I starved for a lot of years,” he says. “I probably wouldn’t have survived if I had a wife and kids I had to feed, but it was just me, so I toughed it out.” He worked long hours in the run-down, two-bay former gas station, slowly building a customer base through word of mouth.
Stories of Gary talking customers out of expensive repairs are common. One woman recently came in with a newer Subaru and a $2,000 dealership estimate. “She didn’t need a damn thing,” Gary says. “When she talked to me, she goes, ‘The people at the dealership were just rude to me.’ And I’m thinking, ‘Why would people be rude?’ I mean, when you have a customer walking in the door, it’s so much easier to be nice and it’s so much easier to tell the truth.”
In another example, a woman brought in her Subaru after being told she needed a control arm, an inner tie rod, and a strut. Gary found only one bent part, replaced it for a few hundred dollars, and sent her to Big O for an alignment. “It came back way cheaper than the other shop had quoted, and she had a big smile on her face,” Gary says.
Gary has also quietly become a lifeline for some of his older customers. He makes house calls when someone can’t make it to the shop, helps with things like expired registrations, and even installed a battery maintainer free of charge when an elderly customer forgot to close a car door and drained the battery. Mimi still marvels at the kind of personal service Gary offers. “He goes above and beyond to make sure that people are okay,” Mimi says. “That’s just who he is.”
Mimi and Gary met in 1980 when Mimi’s Triumph TR6 wouldn’t stop breaking down. He not only worked on it, but also gave her a loaner car. “Most people didn’t do that back then,” she says. They remained friends for years, eventually became partners, and married about a year ago.
For Gary, satisfaction comes from solving problems and making people’s lives a little easier. “When a car comes in and doesn’t start, and then you work on and it starts and it runs, that’s always gratifying,” he says. “That’s what makes me happy – when I make the customer happy.”
For a mechanic who doesn’t advertise, doesn’t have a website, and didn’t even know what Yelp was until a few years ago, Gary has built something rare: a reputation so strong, it speaks for itself.
Wheat Ridge Auto Service is located at 9205 W. 44th Avenue in Wheat Ridge and is open Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information or to schedule service, call (303) 421-2447.
