The Wells County Chamber of Commerce staff and Ambassadors surprised the staff of Quality Car Care as the chamber’s February Member of the Month.
Quality Car Care is at 600 N. Main St. in Bluffton. Rick King started Quality Car Care and his son, Shawn, currently runs and operates the business on a daily basis.
Shawn explained in the early 1980s his dad started the business in their backyard garage. Although Rick was working full-time for another company, he started to build the side business and it grew. Rick traveled extensively for his employer and decided it was time to stay home more for his family. The business got its start in 1985.
Quality Car Care has been in several different locations in Bluffton, but found a home in 2008 at the current site.
“We started the business as a body shop and auto sales,” Shawn King said. “We refined our services to oil changes, transmission services, engine changes, services on ball joints, struts, and shocks. We work specifically on gasoline engines on all makes and models of cars.”
Another type of service they offer for individuals and businesses that is unique, are welding supplies, consumables, and gases. “We offer Mig tips, welding rods, wire, various parts, helmets, gauges, and tanks,” King said. “Our inventory expands as customers need supplies. There are not very many places in Wells County to get these types of supplies and we want to be able to offer this for our community.”
Quality Car Care is very supportive of various organizations in the community ranging from sponsoring baseball and softball teams, car shows, and signage at the golf courses.
“The Garage Youth Center was a vision of my dad,” King said. “I grew up on the west side of town and he always wanted to find something for kids to do. When the old tire store building came up for sale, he got support from others in the community, and decided to make it happen. Over 5,000 youth have been impacted by The Garage and he loves seeing the reports and how they are impacting our local youth.”
There are currently four employees at Quality Car Care with a combined 53 years of experience. “It is really important to have good people to work your business and with a smaller staff we can actually get more work done,” King said. “We really appreciate our customers, and they are good to us as we try to be kind and understand what is needed for their vehicles. We would not be where we are today, without our customers. There have been some tough times over the years, but the community support has been great.”
