By Tanna Friday
When looking for someone to service your vehicle what are a few things you are looking for in a service provider?
• Someone who can be trusted?
• Someone who is qualified?
• Someone who enjoys what they do?
• Someone who is honest?
• Someone who offers a price that is affordable?
• Someone who offers quality parts?
Darrell Wood Auto is all six listed above and much more. Owner Darrell Wood has 22 years of experience servicing light trucks and all makes of vehicles.
“What sets us apart from anybody else is that our customers trust us,” said Wood. “I have probably one of the most loyal base that anybody could ever ask for. I hardly ever have an issue with someone. If we do, we always take care of it -whatever it takes.”
Wood explains that once he services a vehicle, he treats it like his own. “I prefer that we fix vehicles the best we know how,” he said. “If a vehicle comes in missing a bolt, it leaves with a bolt. That is just the way we do business here. It is all about treating people right.”
Wood says that working on cars has always been a passion of his. In fact, when he was a teenager he learned to take apart cars and put them back together piece by piece.
“Growing up, I was very interested in mechanics,” said Wood. “I would tear bicycles apart and was very good at repairing them. The neighborhood that I grew up in, there was a man that had an old car that was sitting in a field. I had gotten interested in cars and asked him if I could take parts off of the car and put it back on because it was an old junker.
He told me I could and asked if I had any tools. I told him that I did not. He took me to an old building and said I could use his tools, but said if I lost any of his tool that he would have my tail. He told me to go down and work on the car and he would come and look at it with me.”
Wood also learned the industry as a protege under his stepfather. “I would go and help my stepfather on the weekends at his work,” he said. “I was his runner and learning to take this and that
off.”
“It has been a joy to work on cars,” said Wood. “That’s how I basically got started working on cars. I tried different business ventures through the years such as wholesaling cars. Problem was, I didn’t want to sell a car to someone if I knew the car had some problems.”
“My brother told me I couldn’t tell people all the problems they had,” said Wood. “We bought the cars at the auction that way. I told him that I could not do it. If I knew there was a problem I have to let the customer know. He laughed and told me I would never make it in the car business.”
Wood agreed that staying in something that he knew and loved was the best decision. Customers like the Trussville Police Department (TPD), among others, agree as well.
“We have always had positive working relationship with Darrell Wood Auto Service,” said Sergeant Michael Bruce, Public Information Officer with TPD. “He has worked on some of our fleets and we trust the integrity of his business.”
So, what sets Darrell Wood Auto Service apart from other auto part services around town? “Most of the time it is going to be price,” said Wood. “Price is going to set us apart from dealership. We still use the same quality parts that the dealerships use and a lot of the time we use dealership parts, depending on what the customer wants to spend. We are a small-town shop, but we can fix whatever you need. I don’t want anything sold in my shop that does not need it.”
Wood takes prides in his work, his honesty and offering a fair price to all customers. “I am not the cheapest, but I am not the most expensive,” said Wood. “I am going to do what I tell them I am going to do.
For efficient, quality, servicing of your vehicle give Darrell Wood Auto Service a call today at (205) 655-0072. Darrell Wood Auto Service is located at 7107 Gadsden Highway, Trussville.