Quality auto care is a family business

Name of business: C & C Auto Care

Name of owners: Ron and Cindy Causa

Address of business: Mile 5.5 Knik-Goose Bay Road

Telephone number: (907) 376-6002

Hours of operation: 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, Saturday by appointment only.

MAT-SU — Ron Causa is using his automotive experience to bring a quality auto shop to the Valley. Causa, along with his wife, Cindy, recently opened C & C Auto Care along Knik-Goose Bay Road. The Frontiersman sat down with Ron Causa to find out more about his new business.

Frontiersman: What products and services do you offer at your automotive shop?

Ron Causa: We are complete automotive repair and we sell batteries and that type of stuff. We do just about anything on a car besides alignments. We don’t have the equipment to do alignments, but we do full-line automotive work like diagnostics, water pumps, cooling systems, tune-ups and brakes.

Frontiersman: Do you service all makes and models?

Causa: We service most makes and models. I’m not going to say all, because some European cars we don’t have the technology to diagnose them. European cars are kind-of all in their own world. When we update our electronics — our scanners and whatnot — we update for American, we update for imports, which is Japanese, and you can update for European. It’s quite an expensive update, so a bigger shop might do it, but starting out we’re going to focus on what we do best right now.

Frontiersman: Your sign says auto and marine, what else do you work on?

Causa: We are expanding into marine. Right now I’ll do inboard and jet work and we’ll be expanding into outdrives at a later date. I’ve got one guy in particular who is real heavy into marine, so when I get him on we’ll start advertising it.

Frontiersman: Where are you from and why did you choose to open a business in the Valley?

Causa: We came from California and my wife’s family lives up here, so we moved up here to be by her family. I’ve been wanting to start my own business for many years. I worked at Tony Chevrolet and Lithia for 13 years and I looked at my age and what we had going and decided it was time.

Frontiersman: What kind of experience do you have in the automotive field?

Causa: I’ve been in and out of the automotive field since the early ’70s. I saw the advent of electronic ignition, electronic fuel injection and I’m one of the few guys around that still does carburetors. I’d say almost all the guys I remember growing up with learning this, they ended up bailing and going into different fields. I just stuck with it, learned it and it’s a never-ending process.

Frontiersman: What sets your business apart from other similar shops?

Causa: My personal experience in the field. There are not very many guys who can boast this kind of personal experience. I get a lot of local shops calling me for advice, so I think my background is one of the things that sets me apart.

Frontiersman: What is the best part of owning your own business?

Causa: The freedom of being your own boss for one, but also being able to help people. I now have a chance to take care of people myself and in my own way. Sometimes you don’t agree with how things have been handled when you’re working for somebody, but when you’re working for yourself, if you see a little something you want to take care of for free or you want to help somebody out, you can.

Frontiersman: How did you get started in the automotive field?

Causa: My dad was a mechanic in the Air Force and he consequently worked on all of his own vehicles. So I was out in the driveway as a little kid helping him. Then in high school I took auto mechanics and I really started helping him because I started knowing what I was doing. Outside of high school I went to a technical college in Arizona, and when I came back I was pretty much not helping him, but I was doing all his stuff. The rest is history. I kept stepping up the ladder and I’m here today.

Frontiersman: What advice would you give to someone that wants to open a business in the Valley?

Causa: I’ve got some perfect advice. The Valley is growing really fast, but it’s still small by (many) standards. Consequently, everybody knows everybody in some way, shape or form. So if I could give one piece of advice it would be to do good quality work, be conscientious and be honest.

Contact Chris Gillow at chris.gillow@frontiersman.com or 352-2284.