Feature: Marcel’s Automotive

It was a Friday evening when I spoke to the no nonsense, honest, and friendly Marcel Lamoureux via telephone. 

In the background I could hear the sound of a child laughing and after what had been an emotionally challenging week hearing about the loss of a close friend’s son as a result of a car accident, the sound of laughter was a welcome one. 

Advertising sales can be tough at times so it was a nice surprise when I stopped in to Marcel’s Automotive to speak to them about possibly advertising on Sault Business Matters knowing that they were relatively new to their current location at 61 Queen Street East, formerly occupied by Advance Transmission. 

I was greeted by Marcel’s wife, Mary, who is the face you will see whenever you stop by and she too is very friendly and happy to help make the service experience as smooth as possible. 

Marcel’s Automotive used to be located in Bay View specifically at 82 Pittsburgh Ave. before they decided to make the move downtown. The move was one that made sense for Marcel giving him more space with the current location offering a four door bay instead of two at the old location. 

He opened his first shop in 2007 and operated in Bay View until learning of the Queen Street location’s availability and relocated the business to its current location in February of 2020. 

Marcel tells Sault Business Matters that being an automotive technician really wasn’t the original plan. He had a serious fall at his former employer’s staff holiday party breaking his hip which left him unable to do the type of work he had been doing as a millwright for twelve years.  (I didn’t ask how exactly the fall happened, but must have been a fun party!)

Anyway, after the injury he went through the aptitude testing that often occurs when you have an injury that prevents you from doing your regular duties and every single test pointed to automotive technician so he decided to pursue that new path. 

Marcel went to college and got his license to be an automotive technician and with a lot of perseverance along the way, he was still able to put his two children through college and raise his family while becoming an automotive technician. 

For those like me that aren’t so familiar with what automotive technicians do, basically they diagnose and repair a car’s technical faults and often specialize in modern vehicles that have diagnostic computers. 

Automotive technicians like Marcel diagnose problems and repair them. Another mechanic employed by Marcel has 30 years experience and also does his own diagnosis of problems and repairs. 

There is a licensed mechanic that works alongside Marcel and they offer full automotive repairs and servicing for all makes and models except for transmissions. 

A testament to Marcel’s work ethic and good reputation is that when he made the move to Queen,  pretty much all of his regular customers told him, “don’t worry, we will follow you where ever you go.”  

In fact, Marcel has also attracted many more new customers as well and this has been very rewarding for him.  Above all, Marcel says the most important thing when it comes to building customer loyalty is to be honest with people and word spreads quickly that you are a reputable, honest, fair technician and people will trust you. 

When asked about rates, Marcel quickly replied that his hourly rates are the cheapest in town and the main reason for that is that he refuses to take advantage of people’s ignorance when it comes to how long a certain job will take. In fact, his billing rates are based on the recommended times to do certain jobs as set out in the manual that should be used by most reputable technicians.

His hourly rate is $85.00 per hour which is likely the lowest in town and he joked that he is likely charging too little when he hears about experiences from his customers.  He even tells Sault Business Matters that people can easily check how long it takes to do a standard procedure by doing their own research but most people don’t bother but he would never take advantage of people’s lack of technical knowledge.

Oil changes are common and can be completed in about an hour which is the time set out in the manual and for those wondering, it is a mere $65 for a standard oil change since the industry started using computers unless full synthetic oil is needed which some newer cars require and in that case then the cost is $120.00.

I asked Marcel what is the minimum that people should do to keep their vehicles running smoothly and he said a spring and a fall servicing is ideal, fluids should be checked once per week instead of waiting for the light to come on!   

I remember my late father always made sure that his gas tank never got below half and I asked Marcel if that is a good habit and indeed Marcel verified that yes this is a great practice especially in the colder months. I guess my very non handy, not technically savvy Dad knew that much! 

Marcel was posed the question would you rather get paid more to work on something you don’t particularly like or get paid less to work on something that you love and his reply was somewhat unexpected.  He said all vehicles are all cool in their own way and he is not picky and in fact, he doesn’t mind a challenge and will work tirelessly to figure out an issue, whatever it takes to get the job done. 

Marcel’s is also able to do safety inspections if you are buying or selling your vehicle. 

Marcel’s Automotive, located at 61 Queen Street East,  is ready for all your automotive servicing needs, all makes and models except for transmissions!  

If you have a question, call 705-942-2715 and Mary will be happy to assist!