Honest-1 Auto Care Celebrates National Car Care Month with Free Safety Inspection and Seasonal Tips

In honor of National Car Care Month, Honest-1, one of the only national full-service auto care companies that is 100 percent ESA® Certified Eco-Friendly, is offering expert tips for recommended maintenance every car owner can benefit from, based on the auto company’s strategic approach to car care.

Honest-1 suggests the following tips to help car owners see their vehicles spring back to life:

1. Have your car serviced on a routine basis and you will save a bundle of time and money. All car manufacturers have a schedule of recommended service for each vehicle they sell. Follow this schedule. Be sure to follow your schedule for fluid flushes.
2. Check the level and color of all fluids at every gas refill. If you don't know how to check your fluids or know what color your fluid should be, then ask your reputable technician to teach you. Your vehicle's oils and fluids do break down and require replacement in order to properly lubricate. This can save you thousands of dollars in repairs to your vehicle and keep it operating safely.
3. Change your oil and oil filter regularly to protect your engine and improve your gas mileage. Dirty oil or incorrect grades can increase engine friction, thereby reducing fuel efficiency. (Consider using synthetic oil which provide better protection and last longer than regular oil). Honest-1 Auto Care offers their Eco 360 oil and fuel treatments. Eco 360 protects your engines internal components from damage, which prevents costly repairs, and reduces friction, which computes to improved gas mileage and engine performance.
4. Change the air filter to protect the engine by keeping impurities from entering the engine and improve your gas mileage. When your engines air filter becomes clogged it starves the engine for air. The onboard computers adjust for this by increasing the amount of fuel to maintain consistent firing in the cylinders. This can cause up to 10 percent in decreased fuel efficiency.
5. Monitor your brake pad thickness and do not let them damage the metal parts such as brake rotors and calipers. This will not only result in more dollars spent on repairs, but could result in unsafe driving conditions for you and your family.
6. Wash your car regularly so that it will not damage the body or undercarriage of your car. Pollutants in the air, bugs, tar, salt in air/road, dirt, sludge, and more all damage your car.
7. Make sure to stay on top of alignments. This will increase the life of the tire and increase your safety due to improve handling and improve gas mileage.
8. Keep your tires properly inflated. Having low tire pressure causes more drag between your tires and the road, thereby making your engine work even harder. Improper tire pressure can reduce the lifespan of your tires and gas mileage by up to 30 percent or more. Another option is to have your tires filled with Nitrogen which is a more stable gas. Some of the benefits of Nitrogen in tires are less fluctuation in tire pressure, reduced tire pressure leak down under increased temperatures, and longer lasting tire life.
9. Rotate your tires at every other oil change (every 6,000 miles). Rotating your tires equalizes tread wear and maximizes the life of your tires.
10. Check your wipers and lighting. Check that all interior and exterior lighting is working properly and replace worn wiper blades so you can see clearly when driving during precipitation.

Honest-1 in The Leaf-Chronicle

According to a recent report from the Department of Labor, there is a shortage of auto technicians because most of the current crop of baby boomers are retiring. The challenge is getting the younger generation and Millennials interested because auto care has a “grease monkey” stigma.

In an article in The Leaf-Chronicle, Kristi and Tucker Seiber, as well as Rissy Sutherland, counteracted this claim, making sure viewers knew that the blue-collar image is gone and today being a mechanic is a "technical career path and applies engineering principles." Kristi and Tucker are actively recruiting mechanics, and are working with local vocational-technical education institutions to attract the best and the brightest. Tucker also talked more about the brand, what it will offer, and about the new Honest-1 opening in Clarkesville.

View the full story here. 

Honest-1 Auto Care Ends 2014 With Recognition from Franchise Gator

Honest-1 Auto Care, a national full-service auto care company that is 100 percent ESA® Certified Eco-Friendly, is proud to announce that they have been included in the 2015 Franchise Gator Top 100. Franchise Gator studies hundreds of FDD’s when determining the brands that make their annual list and take financial stability and franchisee retention into consideration, in addition to other criteria including conversations with respected industry professionals. You can read more about Honest-1 and the Franchise Gator ranking here.

Honest-1 Auto Care on Entrepreneur

Honest-1 Auto Care on Entrepreneur 

Honest-1 Auto Care Franchisee Sherry Rector was recently featured on Entrepreneur. The article is a feature piece on Sherry Rector, Honest-1 Auto Care franchisee, for Kate Taylor’s Franchise Players column. Sherry talked about her experiences in franchising with Honest-1 and what it’s like to be a female entrepreneur in a typically male dominated industry. 

View the full article here. 

Honest-1 Auto Care on WBNS-10TV

Honest-1 Auto Care on WBNS-10TV

Danni Diol of Honest-1 Auto Care was recently featured on WBNS-10TV. For the 3 minute segment, Danni was interviewed giving great tips to viewers about fall car care and what they should do to make sure their car is running in top shape over the season. 

View the full segment here. 

Honest-1 in La Mesa Courier

Honest-1 in La Mesa Courier

John Sterne of Honest-1 Auto Care was recently featured in the La Mesa Courier. The article announces the opening of John’s first Honest-1 in the greater San Diego community and discusses the services that the brand provides as well as John’s plans to partner with community organizations.

View the full article here. 

Honest-1 in The Press and News

Honest-1 in The Press and News

Honest-1 Auto Care was recently featured in The Press and News. The article is a great story about Matt Sederstrom’s Maple Grove Honest-1 shop. In the story, Matt discusses the importance of becoming a part of the community and truly caring for his customers. Matt and his employees focus on being open and available for the customers. This involves being open in the evenings, on Saturdays and Sundays, and having loaner cars for customer use. Rissy Sutherland was also included in the story. She praised Matt and his staff for their outstanding customer-service model. 

View the full article here. 

Franchisee Profile: Brad Neuman and Tim Fiedler

Franchisee Profile: Brad Neuman and Tim Fiedler

Armed with extensive experience in executive roles, Brad Neuman and Tim Fiedler are poised to successfully grow Honest-1 as regional developers for Chicagoland. Neuman, a Chicagoan since high school, came out of retirement to purchase the Chicago region territory for Honest-1. In addition to a managing broker’s real estate license, an MBA from the University of Chicago, and a CPA, Neuman has more than 40 years of experience in strategy, systems, finance and planning. Neuman served as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President at Homart Development for ten years before selling the company, what was then the largest developer of regional malls. In 2012, Neuman worked with Avaya to improve their performance. Before Avaya, Neuman served on several philanthropic boards; led projects for the Civic Consulting Alliance serving the City of Chicago and started his own management consulting company.

Fiedler, also a native Chicagoan, has a similarly impressive resume and is also coming out of retirement for this venture. Fiedler’s expertise is in sales management and territory development, which is highlighted by the numerous awards and recognitions that he has received throughout his 35-plus years in the field. He started his career as a sales representative with UNISYS, before moving on to a number of managerial and senior executive positions at EMC Corporation, Cisco Systems and finally Avaya.

How did you learn about Honest-1 and why did you choose an opportunity with the brand? 

We were looking for a business to invest in and researched various potential acquisitions. We did some due diligence on a few opportunities, but nothing excited us in terms of quality and scale. Becoming Regional developers with Honest-1 appealed to us because it granted us the opportunity to help talented people achieve their dream of owning their own business. The opportunity to scale the system in Chicago to a significant size played an important role in the decision, as did our desire to own and operate a few locations of our own. Although Brad wasn’t initially enthused by the idea of going into the automotive repair industry, we were drawn to Honest-1’s customer service values and the eco-friendly aspect. The brand has the perfect combination of being a business with a high degree of ethics while also allowing us to grow our personal wealth. 

Why do you think Honest-1 will thrive in your territory? 

We own the territory to five counties, which is home to around 4 million people. Honest-1 is a very attractive concept within a very big market. 

What are your development plans? 

Within a year, we hope to have a few franchisees signed and at least one operating by February 2015. In the next two years we want three Honest-1 locations open. 

What publications would you like us to focus our efforts on?

 

Village trustee magazines; female entrepreneur magazines (we would be willing to take an ad out), and 

real estate developer magazines.

Honest-1 Auto Care in Directbuywarranty.com

Honest-1 Auto Care in Directbuywarranty.com

Honest-1 Auto Care Franchisee, Dennis Eidson, is quoted in the article talking about how important it is to keep a car clean and warns that a car full of junk can be dangerous. “Numerous stacking of things along the dashboard or on seats can cause blind spots and accidents during quick braking,” he says. 

Click here to view the full article. 

Honest-1 Auto Care in the Las Vegas Sun/VegasINC

Honest-1 Auto Care in the Las Vegas Sun/VegasINC

Honest-1 Auto Care was recently featured in the Las Vegas Sun/VegasINC in an article titled, "Auto repair business turns over a new leaf." The article, which includes great photos, focused on how Rich Margo, Honest-1 Auto Care Franchisee and the Honest-1 team took over the Las Vegas shop and turned it around to be successful. The article included information about his background, why he chose Honest-1, and even included address information for the Las Vegas Honest-1 location.

Click here to view the full article. 

Honest-1 on Entrepreneur

Honest-1 on Entrepreneur

Honest-1 was recently featured in an article in Entrepreneur titled, "Franchise Players: The Challenges of Finding Funding". Steve Grimes, Honest-1 Auto Care franchisee, learned all the skills he needed to be a successful franchisee in the military: leadership training, positive attitude and intense work ethic. However, when he returned to the U.S. after a year-long tour of duty in Afghanistan and opened an Honest-1 franchise, Grimes faced an unexpected challenge: finding funding. Here's how he found the perfect bank for his needs as an auto franchisee.

You can view the full article here. 

Franchisee Spotlight: Brad McBride and Jim Greenslade

Franchisee Spotlight: Brad McBride and Jim Greenslade

Brad McBride, 51, recently resigned from his job to pursue an opportunity proposed by his father-in-

law, Jim Greenslade, 76. McBride will be combining his 35-plus years of experience in the automotive industry with Greenslade’s business-savvy to build a family business that they plan to pass on to future 

generations. 

McBride, who will be in charge of the daily operations, was born and raised in Orange County, Calif. and has been working in the auto industry since high school. During his schooling years, McBride worked at several gas stations and tire facilities performing various auto service tasks. He then went on to become a mechanic for 18 years, 15 of which he was a service manager at Good Year. In 1993, McBride was paralyzed for six months, which led to a hiatus from work and 1.5 years of college classes. Once ready to return to the workforce, McBride ran the service department of a Toyota dealership for six years before being offered a position in sales. Prior to joining Greenslade, McBride spent the past 7.5 years in sales at a Lexus dealership.

Greenslade also joins Honest-1 with experience as a mechanic, but of a different type of vehicle. The New York-raised businessman has always been interested in airplanes, and attended a trade high school for aeronautics. Upon graduation, he worked for the U.S. Air Force as an airplane mechanic for four years before spending a year with Delta Airlines. Greenslade was then hired as an airline mechanic for 

Garrett Aviation on Long Island, where he worked his way up to become the Executive Vice President of the corporation and, finally, owner. After his wife passed away several years ago, Greenslade sold the business and went into retirement. During his time off, Greenslade, a man who never rests, continued to consider business opportunities. With the hope of establishing a business that will provide financial security for his daughter’s family, he approached McBride with the idea of opening an auto-care facility together. 

Why did you choose an opportunity with Honest-1? 

We had been looking at Midas but were referred to Honest-1 by someone, and decided to look into it. After some research, we became interested in the eco-friendly service end of it, and that it catered to women. The more we learned, the more we liked. 

What is your end goal with Honest-1 Auto Care?

My son is studying automotives in college and works at a tire facility; he will come and work with us at Honest-1 once we open. My daughter is currently studying for her Master’s and has a degree in early childhood development; she will help me with the social media and computer-side of the business. I hope to have my kids take over the business one day.