For this Sudbury, Ont., shop, teaching customers about safe winter car care is a matter of continuing education.

By Lois Tuffin

When not overseeing his four shops in Sudbury, Ontario, Gerry Lecuyer teaches electronics at Cambrian College. However, he never stops sharing lessons at Rocktown Automotive.

“Educating customers is the biggest struggle in everything we do,” he says.

Lecuyer has trained his staff to ask more questions when booking appointments. What vehicle do they drive? Do they go out in storms or freezing rain?

Once the vehicle arrives in the shop, techs assess the amount of wear on their tires and suggest what type of tire suits their needs.

Most of his staff have been on the team for 15 to 30 years, although Lecuyer has lost a few of them to retirement. He books toolbox chats every two weeks to keep the crew informed of any changes and the reasons behind them.

Over the years, he’s seen generations of families come into his shops. He coaches his managers, who don’t have young adult kids, how to “speak their language.”

“You have to talk to teenagers differently,” Lecuyer says. “You don’t tell them they need something. You might as well just say, ‘Blah, blah, blah.’ Instead, you show them the estimate and a video about why it’s important to make the repair. They want to see visuals.”

He also tries to get first-time car buyers to think about winter when choosing their next make and model.

“Be careful what you’re buying,” he advises those investing in a new car. That sporty new model may look great in the summer, but the cost of winter tires and rims may surprise them.

Winter in Sudbury

Northern Ontario’s cold season typically hits Dec. 1, then deepens in January, with an average low of -16°C and high of -7°C. The cold eases up around March 10, according to WeatherSpark.

However, snow can fall any time between Oct. 18 and April 30, with one to 8.5 inches on average.

Lecuyer prefers to see drivers put their winters on in early October in case of an early freeze, although “we listen to the weatherman.”

The bump in business depends on the weather, which was unseasonably mild in 2023. Normally, Rocktown would have sold 80 batteries in an average winter, but only replaced three last year.

Each shop has different needs based on its specialty, ranging from trucks to domestic models and imports. Lecuyer has four managers and 40 techs between the four locations. Each one could have 40 to 50 cars on their lot in a day.

An average ticket ranges from $500 to $600. However, they commonly see cars generate bills of $1,000 to $1,500, since so many parts have doubled in price.

At his Kingsway location, which focuses on commercial trucks and coaches, repairs can run from $8,000 to $12,000 and sometimes up to $40,000, especially on annual jobs.

Lecuyer’s crew starts stocking up on supplies in early November. They add $30,000 to $40,000 in winter tires to each store, plus air filters, antifreeze and seasonal oils. Some years, the bills tally up to close to $200,000.

If the tires don’t sell, they go back to the supplier.

“We test customers’ batteries and check their antifreeze when they come in for a lube so they don’t fail when it gets down to minus 10 degrees, especially for electric vehicles,” Lecuyer says.

They also check the air conditioning to reduce interior moisture that ices up windshields from the inside.

Money-saving advice

Year round, the Rocktown team tries to teach customers about how regular service and maintenance saves them from expensive catastrophic failures.

“People tend to ignore maintenance needs,” Lecuyer says. “We have a system. When cars come in, we look at the maintenance schedule so the customer knows it’s important.”

That includes pointing out that driving with all-weather tires or without snows in good condition can void their collision insurance coverage. Likewise, struts with more than 80,000 to 100,000 kilometres will also void an insurance policy.

Further, Lecuyer questions why people resist spending $1,000 on studded tires when a collision-related injury could sideline them for months.

He finds himself competing with rapid lube shops that sell oil changes, not tech-advised maintenance.

“Everything is about convenience,” Lecuyer says. “Customers don’t want to sit for an hour, but then they get into financial trouble.”

As NAPA Auto Pro shops, all his locations offer any vehicle under 60,000 kilometres of mileage a 10-year, 40,000-km warranty at no charge if they do preventative maintenance.

“We are always saving customers,” Lecuyer says.

He rewards his repeat customers with Rocktown branded hoodies. Heading into winter, he reminds them to drop in via website notices and postcards.

However, when the weather changes, he picks up extra inspections and repairs arising from his partnerships with collision centres. Not surprisingly, those peak with the first snowfall.

“Winter driving is an art,” Lecuyer says. “ People forget how to do it and slide through intersections.”

During slower times, he updates his staff’s training and visits struggling shops to offer his insights.

“Everything in this industry changes,” he says. “You have to assess your business every three to four years because customers change.”

After the pre-winter rush, Lecuyer closes his shops earlier at the end of the day. “Business dies down and it gets darker sooner,” he explains.

Each spring, he sees a reverse of the fall rush and “[you] see what damage winter did.” And in a few months, he starts the cycle all over again.

This article also appeared in the October/November print edition of Indie Garage