Quality is not a slogan or marketing gimmick with AGCO, it is a way of life. President, Louis Altazan studied the teachings of Dr. W. Edwards Deming, and applied his theories and principles of quality management to the business.

We know to obtain better results, we must employ superior methods. This is why AGCO will seem so much different from other auto repair shops. We take this as a high compliment and believe you will be pleasantly surprised.

For instance, all AGCO employees are paid on a salary bases, with no incentives. We believe by paying our employees very well, they are free to concentrate on the client’s best interest, rather than earning a reward.

It may surprise you to know this is somewhat unusual in the auto repair trade. Many shops pay employees and service writers on a commission bases. Many also accept incentives from vendors, to push certain products.

In the commission system the service advisor is paid a percentage of what they sell you. The more they sell the more they make. In some cases if they do not make a sale, they are not paid. We think this is a conflict of interest and can lead to overselling.

Another way in which we are different is the way we charge for our services. Clients are billed, for the actual time we work on their vehicle. This may seem like common sense and we feel it is, but it is very uncommon in the auto repair business.

More common is what is called "flat rate" billing. With this method a guide book is used to determine an amount of time to perform a specific job. This amount is charged, regardless of how much time is actually spent. For instance if the guide says three hours to replace a water pump, but the technician only spends two, you are still billed for three.

Since the technician is paid the cumulative "flat rate" hours, and not the clock hours they spend, they are being rewarded to rush through the job, in our opinion. If they take additional time to clean parts thoroughly or inspect surrounding parts for problems, their time spent may exceed the time paid. In such a case with the flat rate system, the technician is expected to absorb the loss. This seems to us like a poor system encouraging shortcuts that can cost you big money down the road.

AGCO technicians are paid a salary and encouraged to do a thorough job, right the first time. We feel by paying close attention to details we eliminate rework, and turn out a much better service in less time.

You will also notice that we diagnose each repair before quoting a price. This allows our technician to discover what is actually wrong with the vehicle. For example, what is called a brake service varies considerably from one vehicle to the next. Without checking the system there is no way to know what is actually wrong. This is why the $89.00 "brake job" some shops quote, all too often turns into a $800.00 job.

We believe baiting a client in with a low ball price is wrong. Instead we ask you to bring the vehicle in, have a professional inspect it and perform a professional diagnosis. This way we can give you an exact price, before any work is started. This is the way we prefer to be treated and we think you will like it as well.

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