About Us
Established in 1972 as an automotive care and service center, Imports Unlimited has been family owned and operated for over 40 years in Napa, California. As one of the longest family run automotive centers in the region, we pride ourselves on our trustworthy, honest and personalized approach to auto maintenance. Specializing in both foreign and domestic vehicles, from brand new to vintage and antique, we’re here to get the job done right.
The products and services we offer
Products & Services
Stay cool when the weather heats up! Imports Unlimited offers air conditioner installation, repairs, and service in and around Napa.
Gallery
Recommendations Given (4)
"John, is extremely knowledgeable about marketing and what works and what can be done to help your..."
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"John, is extremely knowledgeable about marketing and what works and what can be done to help your marketing efforts, without adding extra costs."
"Quality Work "
Recent Activity
Eric, are you ONLY painting? Do you do body repair? If you are only painting there are not that many people who want and can afford custom paint. That's why most body shops want to do ONLY insurance work. They'll get paid; and the work is steady. people are always having accidents.
Don't...
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Eric, are you ONLY painting? Do you do body repair? If you are only painting there are not that many people who want and can afford custom paint. That's why most body shops want to do ONLY insurance work. They'll get paid; and the work is steady. people are always having accidents.
Don't lower your prices. IT's a race to the bottom and you don't want to be the winner. Get paid what you are worth. There will always be somebody that'll do the job cheaper. You may bid so low that you'll actually lose money!
If you are only painting, you may want to turn that into a side gig, and have another job for stable income. My parts rep does just that, makes money as a parts rep, does custom paint in his shop at home.
I would do this until you have so much work that you have a couple of months back log of painting jobs.
The other thing is if they want a custom paint job and can't afford it; hook up with a bank that'll issue credit cards. FCNA issue's cards 6 mo's no interest. There are other companies too. They issue the credit, you get paid, the customer gets a paint job...
Word of mouth, is mainly how we get new customers. Otherwise we find many of our customers find us through Google search. Will probably be start doing some google ads this year. Yelp has not returned the promised ROI , we canceled them.
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Word of mouth, is mainly how we get new customers. Otherwise we find many of our customers find us through Google search. Will probably be start doing some google ads this year. Yelp has not returned the promised ROI , we canceled them.
Sometimes the higher road is the best one to take. We replaced a battery in a customer's vehicle, the vehicle still had issues. She took it to the dealer. The Dealer said because it wasn't a "Manufacturer's battery" that it was the cause of the problem. We knew it was B.S.; however we told...
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Sometimes the higher road is the best one to take. We replaced a battery in a customer's vehicle, the vehicle still had issues. She took it to the dealer. The Dealer said because it wasn't a "Manufacturer's battery" that it was the cause of the problem. We knew it was B.S.; however we told her to have them replace the battery, bring the "old" battery back to us and we would fully refund her monies for the battery. So we were totally out on this deal. Yes we had to suck up the cost of a battery; however we no longer had to deal with a customer and her problem. We spoke later with her boyfriend who is a great customer. The Dealer battery did not solve the problem like we knew it wouldn't; she ended up spending more money trying to have this problem solved. Sometimes you have to "fire" the customer. Take the lumps and move on you'll be better for it. It's just part of the game.
You have asked a question that faces even the small shops. We counter your expensive, with BETTER service. We charge a minimum of $100.oo for an Oil service. The Oil service includes the usual inspection and airing the tires. Where we differ is our communication with the customer after the...
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You have asked a question that faces even the small shops. We counter your expensive, with BETTER service. We charge a minimum of $100.oo for an Oil service. The Oil service includes the usual inspection and airing the tires. Where we differ is our communication with the customer after the service. What we found and when it should be replaced or repaired. We don't charge most of the time for light bulb changes. We charge just for the bulb when we do change a bulb, not the time. The time is included in the service.
Yon may want to TRAIN your service advisers about cars. ASE has a C1 certification for the service adviser. You have certifications for your technicians , your service adviser needs to be trained too. I have gotten into arguments with service advisers who knew nothing about the technology that is in their own product. You will see your sales numbers go WAY UP when the people do the selling actually know what they are talking about.
The MAIN thing you should be selling is that YOU are the expert on these cars. You ONLY use factory approved or factory parts for their repair.
Don't compete on PRICE, compete on EXPERTISE, SERVICE, and DONE RIGHT. Then DELIVER on the product!
You also need your service adviser to double check the recommendations of the technician. There has been many times service work has been recommended on a vehicle and the service has already been done at another service facility. As a Service Manager for Firestone Stores, I have personally saved customers who came back upset. We sent them to the dealer to fix a problem we could not resolve. They made a recommendation for a service that we had already performed. I had the customer follow me out to their vehicle watch me open up their vehicle engine compartment and put a test strip in the fluid in question. I had him hold the test strip and the bottle showing what the test strip says. By the end of this he was very upset at the Dealer. Will he be coming back? Double check your technicians recommendations on normal service work.
I just stole a customer from the local dealer when they brought the car in for mouse removal service. The dealer didn't solve the customer's problem and wanted to charge thousands to fix what we fixed in a couple of hours. We also found the problem not in the area that they wanted to go to.
We charge $130/hr. I think maybe 5 to 10 dollars cheaper than the dealer hourly. That's not going to change where or how a person comes to you. Solving your customers problem at a reasonable cost is what generates business.
You DON'T WANT the customer that is shopping on PRICE, they tend to give you the most problems. Let them go to the shop that wants to deal with them and their headaches.
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Make up some florescent Orange or Green Biz card/sticker to pass out to repair shops with your name and what you do so they can stick it somewhere they can readily see. They'll call you when they have a customer that wants to junk their cars.
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Make up some florescent Orange or Green Biz card/sticker to pass out to repair shops with your name and what you do so they can stick it somewhere they can readily see. They'll call you when they have a customer that wants to junk their cars.