A successful business needs leadership at the top, a general manager who knows and understands every aspect of the business, a talented service manager to coordinate, and experts to do the work. Colony One Auto Center at 1131 Dulles Ave, in Stafford has all these, which is why they have a reputation for providing excellent car repair for 17 years!

This place is immaculate. No “grease monkeys” allowed. They aren’t even called “mechanics”, anymore. These highly professional and expertly trained service technicians work more by the computer and the internet than by the wrench. They use sophisticated electronic equipment for diagnosis and analysis of your car’s ailments and then make the repairs and/or replacements of parts, providing same day service to a majority of their customers. “It’s a sign of the times, who takes justifiable pride in the fact that his personnel stay at the crest of an ever-increasing wave of automotive innovations which are being created every new year –worldwide – by intensely competitive manufacturers,” says owner Rod Tate.

Rod and his General Manager Rick Hanson (who has been with the company longer than Rod) have seven master technicians, five of whom have the prestigious Auto Service Excellence (ASE) certification, Master L-1, and the other two technicians have multiple certifications from this same national institute. Most car repair centers have only one L-1 Master. There are also two quick serve techs for fast oil changes and state inspections.

Colony One offers a unique warranty on its repairs—18 months or 18,000 miles—a guarantee which challenges dealership repair teams. Colony One has developed a system which is almost certain to get the owner back behind the wheel of his car faster than can be promised by the dealer who sold it to him. Colony One services extended warranties on most cars.

Rod and Rick think that Sam Tate would be proud of what Colony One is doing today, and as a tribute to Sam Tate, the originator, it’s still called Sam Tate’s Colony One Auto Center on the sign at the same location at 1131 Dulles Avenue just south of U.S. 90-A across the street from Riverbend Country Club. Sam started Colony One in 1991 with Rick who had worked for Sam in an Alief repair shop many years before.

“We liked the location,” Rick said, “because we both lived in Fort Bend and it was near First Colony’s new residents …we were told that when a new bridge was completed to the south of us that there might be at least 1,500 more cars come up Dulles,” Rick grins, “ Now about 30,000 cars pass here every day.”

Rod finally convinced his father in 1995 to have him join the business. “I’ve always been a ‘ people person,’” Rod said, “ and everyone admits that this is truly a people business.” Four years later, very unexpectedly, Sam had an aneurism and died. By that time, fortunately, Rod had learned the business, and he and Rick have continued to move the operation forward. They’ve expanded to 18 bays, have added a two-car area for state inspections and quick oil changes, and have plenty of reserve parking area for shuttling vehicles through the proper work areas. The shop does just about everything except body work. Take your fleets to Colony One. They now do Voyager, Wright Express and Fleet One.

One change which has aided efficiency has been to place a full-time dispatcher in a small office next to the general manager where service can be monitored from the opening of the shop at 7 a.m. to its closing at 6 p.m., Monday through Friday.

It’s a “hands on” operation which Rod says that he learned very early on. It is important to assure customers that they will be treated with the same fairness, concern and courtesy that he would want.

Rod said that all 17 employees at Colony One know how important each customer is to them. “We’re all nice guys and we want you to come back,” Rod said. He stressed that they only fix what needs fixing and give the customer an estimate before the work is performed.

Many of the employees have been with Colony One as long as Rod, and this attests to the high morale and camaraderie there. Rod and Rick know that the complexity of the automobile business will continue to be a challenge and that all personnel must stay informed. The shop pays for technicians to get 40 to 50 hours of continuing education per year to keep up on new innovations in the industry. They all must keep up with information provided regularly from Technical Service Bulletins, and from the car companies.

Colony One always has been a AAA shop. To maintain that certification, Triple A comes to the shop and randomly selects some 150 service tickets and calls customers who rate and describe their service.

Carmakers, in their efforts to make safer and longer lasting vehicles, will put more and more pressure on technicians to know how to keep everyone moving. More manufacturers are using special motors, sensors, fluids and filters. No longer can one transmission/motor oil fluid serve all. Now there are many different fluids.

Colony One expects to stay on top of the service game. Colony One offers after hours drop off and pick up, and has two full-time drivers to not only shuttle customers back and forth but to make runs for parts.

The repeat customer record is at 98 per cent, Rod said, and he keeps score, by computer, on every customer. In mid-May, over 150, 000 cars had been serviced since the business doors opened, and thousands of these customers have given top scores of 5 in virtually every category where Colony One requests their comments: On Time Completion; Professionalism and Friendliness; Work Quality; Shop Appearance, Estimate Accuracy; Overall Value, and Would You Recommend? “We don’t want an unhappy customer,” said Rod.

Colony One cherishes its communication with its customers. There’s a sign-in sheet at the front counter where customers are urged to write in their email address. You can email Rod at rod@colonyoneauto.com and Rick at rickh@colonyoneauto.com. They have a good website at www.colonyoneauto.com. The phone number is 281-980-4440. The fax number is 281-261-0048. They use Wood’s Towing at 281-499-1024.

After they’ve serviced your vehicle they offer a Courtesy Inspection card to let you know they’ve checked and corrected fluid levels as needed: engine oil, coolant, transmission, brake, washer and power steering. They tell you the tire pressures and remind you of your vehicle due dates for state inspection and state registration. Will there be anything else, ma’am?

The constant referrals are what give Rod and Rick their greatest pleasure. “We’ve gotten to know people from all walks of life in this community from NASA, the medical center, sports… you name it. And people know us,” Rod says. “We may see them in some remote area on vacation, or at the airport or at some sports event.”

Colony One is a good neighbor to the community, too. Just look at the hundreds of plaques and certificates on the reception area walls where various youth teams have said thank you for Colony One sponsorships or contributions.

Rod and Karen’s children have been in the middle of many of these school and community activities from their Lake Colony home. The children are: Amber, 18; Sara, 16; Justin, 15, and Clay, 13.

Rod and Rick are content to “keep doing it right” at this one location. “We won’t move from this location or open another location,” Rod said. “We’re here for the long haul.”