About
“TRUSTED SERVICES”
My entrepreneurial story starts, Sep 2008 I bought a "Garage…
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1K followers
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David Marks posted thisI don't talk about my faith to sell anything. I talk about it because it built this. I don't bring up my faith to sell anything, and I never will. I bring it up because it's the actual foundation under everything I built, starting with a garage in 2008 and no financing to fall back on. There were years I had no business surviving on the numbers alone. What kept me showing up was believing there was a reason to keep doing this the right way even when the easy money was doing it the wrong way. Eighteen years later I run three businesses on the same belief I started with. Treat people honestly, tell the truth even when a lie would be easier, and trust that doing right by people is never actually the harder path long term. Whatever you're carrying into this week, I hope you find something steady enough to hold onto the way I did. #QualityAutoDave #FaithAndWork #MarylandHeights #SundayReflection
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David Marks posted thisDon't let a dealer rush your decision. Nobody should ever feel rushed into buying a car. If a salesperson is pushing you to decide today or lose the deal, that's a sign to slow down, not speed up. Good deals don't usually disappear overnight, and a shop that respects your time will let you think it over. Take the time you need. I'll still be here when you're ready. 314-313-3226. #QualityAutoDave #QualityAutoSales #MarylandHeights
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David Marks shared thisI started with complimentary loaners for repair customers. Then everybody else started calling. Now it is a full rental business. #qualityautodave #CarRental #CarTok #MarylandHeights #DailyRental #AffordableRentals
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David Marks posted thisI told a customer not to fix her car. She thought I was joking. A woman brought her car in a few weeks ago expecting a big repair bill. After I looked it over, I told her not to fix it, at least not yet. The issue she was worried about was cosmetic, not mechanical. The actual problem underneath it was minor and cheap. She sat in my lobby for a minute just processing that a mechanic had talked her out of spending money instead of finding a way to spend more of it. That moment is the whole reason I started Quality Auto Repair in a garage back in 2008. This industry has earned a reputation for finding problems that were never really there, and I built my name on doing the opposite, one honest diagnosis at a time. If a shop tells you something needs fixing, you're always welcome to bring it to me for a second opinion first. 314-313-3226.
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David Marks posted thisThere are four numbers I make every buyer look at before they sign, and dealerships hope you skip three of them. Most people walk into a car deal focused on one number, the monthly payment. That's exactly the number a dealership wants you focused on, because it's the easiest one to manipulate. The four numbers that actually determine whether you got a good deal are the purchase price, the interest rate, the loan term, and the total cost of the loan once interest is added up. I walk every single buyer at Quality Auto Sales through all four numbers before anyone signs anything, because a good deal on paper and a good deal in your bank account three years from now are not always the same thing. Bring me a loan offer from anywhere, even if you're not buying from me, and I'll break down the four numbers with you for free. #QualityAutoDave #QualityAutoSales #CarBuyingTips #MarylandHeights
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David Marks shared thisI almost lost everything in year two and nobody knew it because I never told anyone. I started Quality Auto Repair in a garage back in 2008 with no financing and no safety net. Seventeen years later, here's what I wish someone had told me on day one. 1. Cash flow will decide everything before customers do. Nobody warns you that a business doesn't fail because the work is bad. It fails because the money runs out before the reputation catches up. I learned to track every dollar coming in and going out from week one, not month one. If you're waiting until year end to understand your numbers, you're already behind. Know your break even point cold. Know it the way you know your own phone number. 2. Your word is the only thing that scales. Equipment breaks. Employees come and go. Markets shift. The one thing that compounds year after year is whether people can trust what you tell them. I built this shop on being straight with people, no upselling, no games, telling a customer the truth even when the truth costs me the sale. That reputation is the reason I still have customers from 2008. You can't buy that with an ad budget. You earn it one honest conversation at a time. 3. You will feel like quitting long before anyone sees you succeed. There's a stretch in every business, usually longer than you think, where you're doing everything right and it still doesn't look like it's working. That's not a sign to stop. That's the part nobody posts about. I remember nights in that garage wondering if I'd made a mistake. The difference between the businesses that make it and the ones that don't usually isn't talent. It's who kept showing up on the hard days. If you're building something right now and it feels heavier than anyone told you it would be, that's normal. Keep going. The work you put in when nobody's watching is the same work that builds something people can trust for the next twenty years. What's the one lesson running your own business taught you the hard way? Drop it below, I read every comment. #smallbusinessownerlife #EntrepreneurLife #StLouis #BusinessLessons #QualityAutoDave
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David Marks shared thisIntermittent AC failure tied to humidity is rarely what people assume. A weather-dependent, on-and-off blower issue is almost never a failing blower motor resistor, which causes complete failure rather than intermittent behavior. It usually points to a moisture-sensitive electrical issue. Intermittent problems are some of the hardest to diagnose because they hide the moment you go looking for them. Worth having it looked at before it fails completely on the hottest day of the year.
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David Marks shared thisI'll show you why brand new tires sitting outside for eight years are not actually brand new anymore. 👇 #TireTalk #CarTips #automotive #CarTok #TireSafety #autorepairshop #MarylandHeights
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David Marks posted thisSomething we do at our shop that I want to explain because I think it tells you something important about how we operate. When we replace a part on your vehicle, we keep the old one and show it to you when you come to pick up. Not every shop does this. But I think it matters. Here is why. The old part is the evidence. It is the confirmation that the repair we recommended was actually necessary. When you can see a brake pad that is worn to metal, a belt that is cracked through, a bearing that has failed, the diagnosis is not something you just have to take our word for. You can see it yourself. That transparency does something beyond just showing you the part. It builds the kind of relationship where you never have to wonder whether you are being told the truth. Because the truth is sitting right there on the counter in front of you. I have been in the automotive business for over 25 years. The number one reason people do not trust repair shops is that they feel like they are being asked to approve things they cannot verify. We try to eliminate that feeling entirely. Written estimates before we start. Plain English explanations of what we found and why. And old parts on the counter when you come to pick up. If the old part is a safety item, brake pads, rotors, belts, we always show it. If it is something under the car that you would rather not see, we ask. But the offer is always there. That is just how we think this should be done.
Experience
Education
Licenses & Certifications
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ASE Certified Maintenace & Light Repair Technician
ASE - National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence
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ASE Certified Master Automotive Technician
ASE - National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence
Organizations
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Maryland Heights Chamber of Commerce
Board Member
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National Independent Auto Dealers Association
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★ Chris "Bulldog" Collins ★
Most dealerships misunderstand what a shop foreman in Fixed Ops is supposed to do. When the role is treated like a master technician instead of a production leader, productivity and efficiency across the service department begin to suffer. In this episode of Service Drive Revolution (#346), the discussion explores what the shop foreman role is really designed to do, how leadership in the shop drives technician performance and accountability, and why proper production tracking is critical to gross profit. A valuable watch for service managers and Fixed Ops leaders looking to improve shop productivity and culture. 👇 Watch the full episode. Link in comments. #FixedOps #ServiceManager #ShopForeman #DealershipLife #AutomotiveLeadership #ChrisBulldogCollins
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Cecil Turner
The automotive industry talks a lot about turnover, recruiting, retention, and the changing expectations of today’s workforce. But if we want real answers, we need real participation. That is why the NADA Workforce Study matters. When dealerships take part, they are doing more than submitting numbers. They are helping build a clearer picture of what is really happening inside our industry. They are helping identify where we are improving, where we are falling behind, and what challenges are shaping the future of dealership operations. The stronger the participation, the stronger the data. And the stronger the data, the better decisions dealer groups, managers, and industry leaders can make around pay, staffing, culture, training, and long term workforce strategy. Often businesses want better benchmarks without contributing to the benchmark itself. Studies like this only become valuable when the industry shows up and takes them seriously. If we want to improve the dealership environment, reduce costly turnover, and build stronger teams, participation is not optional. It is part of the solution. The NADA Workforce Study is not just about reporting where we are. It is about helping define where we go next.
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