Point Collision Center, Austin, Texas

an interview with Glen Muehlstein, Manager

Author: Richard Filley

www.pointcollisioncenter.com

“Austin Collision Repair Shop Makes A Point Of Doing The Job Right”

“The collision repair market in Austin, Texas is very competitive,” says Glen Muehlstein, Manager of Point Collision Center. Located right off of I-35, Point Collision is a relative newcomer in the Austin collision repair market, having opened for business in April, 2002. Managing Point Collision from the day it opened, Muehlstein came to Austin from the much larger city of San Antonio, where he says there were fewer collision shops per capita.

You need to focus on the customer to be competitive in this kind of market, says Muehlstein. “We offer a lifetime warranty on our workmanship. We do a quality check. Cars are washed and detailed inside and out before we give them back to the customer. We provide car pickup and delivery if necessary. We’ve tried other things as well. Expanding our DRP relationships worked. Radio advertising didn’t seem to bring in new customers.”

Point Collision is a part of The South Point Auto Group, the largest independent auto group in Central Texas, according to Muehlstein. “Bill Munday is owner and president of the South Point Auto Group, which operates Nissan, Dodge, GMC, Jeep, Pontiac, Kia, and Ford auto dealerships here. Point Collision was created by Bill Munday to keep the collision repair business from his dealerships in house.” Muehlstein estimates that today, about 40-50% of the shop’s business comes from the six dealers, with most of the rest coming from direct repair relationships (DRP) with insurance companies such as USAA, State Farm, Mercury, and Kemper.

Muehlstein began his career in the business in 1990 as a service writer for Slim’s Paint and Body Shop in San Antonio. He worked his way into management, and over the next decade opened two new shops for Slim’s, which was eventually bought out by Caliber Collision.

At Point Collision, Muehlstein’s philosophy about employees is simple. “Be honest, and work hard,” he says, and you can tell he means it. This goes for customers, too. “In this business, sometimes it is hard to tell customers the truth, but you have to, good or bad. Honesty keeps customers coming back.” He says that there are customers who have come back to his shop five or six times in the three plus years they’ve been open. That seems like amazingly bad luck or bad driving to an outsider, but some Texas drivers have much higher collision repair needs than others, he says with a laugh.


 

Cont......

Point Collision Center sits on a two acre concrete paved yard (conveniently located next to Round Up Towing, which is not co-owned), and operates in a single 18,000 sq-ft building. There are 21 employees. In addition to Muehlstein, several employees have been with Point Collision since day one, including parts manager Scott Brigance, and service writers Russ Bayer, Veronica Chaires, and Ron Srubar.

The facility processes about 175 cars in an average month. It has about 45,000 parts in inventory, and runs two trucks. The facility holds six Miller® welders, two Car-O-Liner® frame machines, two Car-O-Tronic® measuring systems, one Hunter® alignment rack, two downdraft prep stations, and two Blowtherm™ downdraft spray booths. The shop uses Spies Hecker® paint, imported from Europe, and is certified.

The shop has three estimators, and all are using CCC Pathways® software for estimating. CSi Complete® is also used, as is the ROME Technologies CompleteShop™ management system. The shop has been URG certified from the day it opened says Muehlstein. Other certifications include GM and I-CAR Gold®.

“We have real good relationships with our Premium Recycled Parts (PRP) vendors,” says McMaster, noting that they use Snyder’s. “The main reason we keep using them is because they stand behind their products. If there are problems they make it right for us.”

“I don’t mind working with used parts as long as the insurer will pay for us to clean and cut and fit the part if necessary,” says Muehlstein. “We don’t use older parts. As for our customers, they just need to have the situation explained correctly. I’ve found that about 90% of people will go with used parts versus aftermarket when you explain the quality and savings to them.”

The Muehlstein family includes Glen’s wife Rhonda and children Megan and Zachary. They live on a small 27 acre farm, with another 150 acres also farmed at another location. “My hobby is raising pigs,” Muehlstein says with a laugh. His family has a drove of 22 pigs and shows them at 4-H and FFA shows all over Texas. But that’s not all. They also raise and show registered Charolais cattle, with a heard of 90 mama cows and four bulls. “Let’s just say our family eats well,” says Muehlstein.

Let’s get right to the point. The auto collision repair business in Austin is competitive, and only the best shops survive and make money. Relative newcomer Point Collision Center is a success, thanks in no small part to a focus on the customer, a commitment to excellence, and smart, hardworking leadership. Looks like a blue ribbon winner to us.