Mechanic now behind the wheel at Collinsville auto repair shop

After four decades as an auto mechanic, Ed Starns is now running his own garage. He bought his business, Master Auto Repairs, earlier this year from Mike Najjar, who bought the business from the Harris family in 2005, when it was known as Wells-Harrison Tire Co. Starns invited business writer Will Buss to his garage last week to talk shop:

Why did you buy this business?

“Mike Najjar had purchased the business in June of ’05, and at that time, I was looking to buy a business, also. And we were dealing with the same agent, and the agent called me an said that Mike had outbid me. I’ve been in the automotive business for 40 years. So when Mike and I talked, he hired me on the spot and I was together with him for 10 years.”

What was your role at that time?

“I was the general manager.”

How were you able to buy the business this time?

“Mike approached me and said he was ready to retire and asked me if I wanted to purchase the business, and I said, ‘absolutely.’”

When did you buy it?

“That was in February. And we talked about it throughout the years that some day he may want to retire and sell the business off. He had five stores and sold them to all of the managers to reward us for all of our service. He had four stores in St. Louis, and this was the only one in Illinois.”

How did you get your start as an auto mechanic?

“My father was a diesel mechanic and worked on big trucks in St. Louis. My brother got into and started working at salvage yards and worked at gas stations. So when I was 14, 15 years old, I would work with him on weekends, and when I got out of school, I would pump gas and check oil and things like that. Then I went into the military as a heavy equipment operator and worked on a lot of heavy equipment and operated it. When I got out of the military, it all just took off from there.”

Where would you like to see business go in the near future?

“I would like to look into expanding a little bit. There is a property next to us for sale. This is all for sale. We do lease it now. That was a decision Mike was making, whether he would continue leasing this or buy it and lease it to me and then retire so he would have the income because he owns the other four properties.”

What would you expand?

“More service bays and more services. We pretty much do it all now.”

What are all of the services you provide?

“We do everything but paint cars, basically. We’re full-service diagnostic repairs, tires, wheels, even lawn and garden tires, ATV tires, heavy truck tires. We do them all.”

This story was originally published July 26, 2015 at 2:34 PM with the headline "Mechanic now behind the wheel at Collinsville auto repair shop."