An award-winning Chandler auto repair shop that emphasizes customer service is giving back to the community and aiming to help the environment with a special event on Monday, April 22, in celebration of Earth Day.
Desert Car Care of Chandler will hold a recycle event, and is inviting the public to bring boxes, loose papers, car batteries, automotive fluids and old paint 8 a.m.-2 p.m. at the business, 22 at 95 N. Dobson Road. ShredSolutions will do the shredding.
Frank Leutz, who owns Desert Car Care of Chandler with his wife, Josephine Leutz, said his business provides “factory-level service and repairs with a focus on a personalized service experience.”
Desert Car Care mechanics investigate check engine lights to see if there are issues with a vehicle, perform air-conditioning repairs, fix brakes, perform oil changes, do engine tune-ups, diagnose problems when vehicles fail emissions tests and carry out many, other services. It offers a 25,000 mile or 25-month warranty on recommended parts and labor.
“We specialize in all under hood and under carriage AC, electrical, brakes, engine performance and maintenance services,” Frank said. “The level of service is very unique by way of the service experience we provide, the type of service experience and our community outreach, our ability to make this a vessel for the community.”
Desert Car Care of Chandler’s technicians are all National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) certified and one is a master-level ASE technician.
Customers can access complimentary rental cars and Lyft shuttles to get to and from home and work while their vehicles are serviced. Desert Car Care’s technicians must take 40 hours of ongoing technical training per year.
Desert Car Care of Chandler has received many awards including making the top 10 in the automotive full service/repair category in “Ranking Arizona” from 2015 to this year, receiving the 2016 Small Business of the Year Award from Chandler Chamber of Commerce and getting the Best Auto Repair distinction from the “East Valley Tribune” in 2015.
Frank is active in the community and automotive industry and he and his team provide many automotive clinics to Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, the YMCA and for senior citizens in New Frontiers for Lifelong Learning, a Mesa Community College program.
The store manager Susie Wong, who goes by the radio name Susie Sockets, are co-hosts on a radio show, “Wrench Nation – Car Talk Radio Show,” which is broadcast live every Wednesday at 4 p.m. on 88.7 FM The Pulse.
The radio show is replayed later on NEON 90.7 FM and 1100 KFNX AM radio stations and Frank and Sockets also do a podcast of the show.
Active in the automotive industry, Frank is the past president of the Automotive Service Association of Arizona’s Phoenix chapter. Now he serves as a board member of the Mechanical Division Operations Committee of the Automotive Service Association. He is also on the East Valley Institute of Technology’s automotive and radio advisory boards.
Frank opened his first auto garage in 1995 in Phoenix before Frank and Josephine opened Desert Car Care of Chandler in 2004.
He entered the automotive industry in 1990. Frank played jazz and classical trombone and performed with jazz legends including Dizzy Gillespie, Branford Marsalis and Lionel Hampton, showcasing his talents at Carnegie Hall.
He said he put his trombone down and joined the Navy, where he performed mine sweep operations in the Persian Gulf. After leaving the military Frank began his work at an auto repair garage.
He is looking forward to once again helping the community at the Earth Day shredding gathering.
“This is an opportunity for the community to gather all of the junk, specifically any paper items that need to be shredded,” Frank said. “It’s a great way to clean out the garage and come on down.”
People can also bring up to 20 gallons of fluids including oil and automotive fluids per household and up to two car batteries per home to be shredded.
John Nucci, owner of ShredSolutions, said, “We’re looking forward to our partnership with them, Earth Day and building more awareness to people. We’re looking forward to a good turnout.”
ShredSolutions provides services to commercial and residential customers including people cleaning out papers from their storage units and garages and clients who want their hair dryers, CDs and hard drives shredded.
Business clients put paper into locked, executive containers in their offices and ShredSolutions comes to pick them up.
“All our paper goes to a paper mill,” and is recycled, Nucci said. “They make new pulp for new paper.”
For items other than paper, ShredSolutions always tries to find an end user so the materials do not end up in a landfill.
Shredding paperwork is important to clear space, as well as for medical facilities to comply with privacy laws and to help save trees and aid the environment, Nucci said.