MID CITY AUTO SERVICE
2912 Common St
Lake Charles, LA 70601
2912 Common St
Lake Charles, LA 70601
Celebrating 35 years as owner of Mid City Auto Service
Make sure to check out the Facebook page, that's where most content is shared.
Find the Facebook page here.
The average customer coming in my door has been a repeat customer of Mid-City Auto Service for 5 years, 7 years, 10 years and as many as 30+ years. Mid-City Auto Service was started in 1961 by my father. I started hanging around the shop at a young age – most likely 13 or 14. I’m now 60 years old in 2026.
My formal training was in in refinery instrumentation technology and process technology. Computer controlled carburetors were common and electronic fuel injection was in it’s infancy around the time of me being in high school and graduating in 1983. During my instrumentation and process technology training sometime around 1986 I decided to stay in the automotive technology field. After all, electronics on automobiles IS nothing more than a process control and I was better at diagnosing and repairing the modern vehicle at the time than were all the folks that had been in the industry forever.
I bought the business from my father in 1991 and have been owning and operating Mid-City Auto Service ever since. Being “into” all things electronic and geeky and gadgety I was the first small shop with a website. Mid-City Auto Service was also the first auto repair shop to acquire dealer level diagnostic equipment – initially for Ford products first, then later General Motors products and currently have Ford, GM and Chrysler product dealer capabilities along with aftermarket diagnostic equipment for imports.
Mid-City Auto Service has undergone many different models during my 35 years. At one point along with routine repairs and service we did a large amount of hotrod work, we did a large amount of diesel truck repairs and performance, we did a large amount of carburetor to electronic fuel injection conversions, we did a large amount of swapping late model engines into older vehicles, we did a large amout of custom wiring/electrical work.
At some point during all this I began getting a higher and higher volume of people who were being referred by other shops and other customers for technical, complex, highly diagnostic oriented and time consuming work as well as for repairs and diagnostics that had been attempted often times by a few others with no success. It was at some point 6 to 8 or so years ago we let all of the really time consuming work like cab-off diesel work and custom wiring/efi conversion and one-off type work go to focus on the routine diagnostics, routine maintenance, service and repair of the average daily driven cars and trucks.
I also have had employment changes – I had a fella work for me for 27 years. Around the time of hurricane Laura aftermath/recovery he passed away from cancer at 46 years old. Also during that year the shop was closed for Laura recovery/rebuilding another employee moved on to a different industry entirely.
I worked alone for nearly a year, then picked up another guy, then later picked up another – and now, having one make a move into working strictly on hotrods, which was always his passion, and another moving on to the faster paced hustle and bustle and high volume of bigger business, I once again work alone. The labor pool as far as the intellct/IQ required to successfully work on the modern complex automobile just isn't there. I don’t have anyone to sell the business to like my dad did me and at 60 years old I have to decide if I want to continue to scale the business down more and more every year for the next 5 to 10 years before retirement or if I want to go through the hassles to try to pick up another couple guys that MAY measure up and stay full-blown business for the next 5-10 years and then just abruptly close up shop one day randomly out of the blue when it’s no longer enjoyable.
Stay tuned and follow along as I make that decision in the coming weeks/months/years. I’m not saying I won’t hire one or two guys but they would have to fit a SUPER tight qualification/ethic/character model – anyone off the street or high job swap rate folks won’t do. They just won’t fit. Maybe some talented individual with decades of work history without changing jobs like underwear who has recently retired in some other maintenance/mechanical industry who has an arsenal of tools and knowledge built up doing this type work as a hobby or in a different but related field. We shall see.
For now anyway Mid-City Auto is even more so the small scale and personal “you are dealing directly with the owner in every conversation” than before and back to that model I ran alone for that year after Laura.
Many first time prospective customers are contacting me in high numbers who have never been to the shop and I’m getting people that reach out and ask, “How does it work with y’all to get a vehicle in?”
Also even though many folks are long time repeat customers, things have changed. I am back to not manning an office and not dealing with any “drive up to discuss it” type business and back to that “contactless” not manning the office model when working alone just like after hurricane Laura.
Here’s how it works – contact me - text preferrable, to discuss your vehicle needs. Then you may leave the vehicle with me using the key drop box and I look at them in the order they are dropped off. Timeline just depends on how many jobs are ahead of you and how time consuming each job is. Sometimes I’ll look at yours the next day, other times it may be a few days. If leaving the vehicle to wait in line without it is NOT an option, I can put your name on a list and contact you when it looks like I’m in a position to get to it quicker, HOWEVER, with 35 years of repeat customer base there are a great many (if not most) who choose to just leave the vehicle – THOSE take priority and seldom do I get around to the call list.
You will then be contacted with a preliminary "this is what I see so far and this is most likely" and possible costs will be discussed and you can chose to move forward or pay for the time invested at that point. Progress/timeline/cost updates will be made all along the way.
Once the vehicle is complete, I will text or email a payment link for you to pay online at a secure site. Your keys will be put in a pickup lock box which is in the same unit as the 24 hour key drop and you will be sent a combination that changes with every customer. Just like you dropped it off, you pick up the vehicle at your convenience day or night. The lot is well lit and there are security cameras literally everywhere.
If you can, when making initial contact for services please include a picture of the license plate or VIN number. Doing so often times saves a lot of time because before I even return your message many times I have already been able to look up various different things that matter, like what size engine, what options the vehicle has, whether it’s Two Wheel Drive, Four Wheel Drive or All Wheel Drive. That type stuff absolutely matters when discussing a diagnosis you need on a vehicle or discussing needed routine services. If I already have that information in that initial communication you send then things can move along quicker.
If you arrive unplanned, you WILL arrive to a locked office because I’ll be deeply engrossed in something really technical or time consuming in the shop.
I am no longer the “you drive up and I walk out and take a look at something” type shop. I am not the “someone paid just to answer every phone call” type shop. I am not the “there is always someone in the office” type shop. I am not the "I was in the neighborhood so I figured I'd stop by and talk to you" type shop. Again, when I’m working alone as I am you will in fact arrive to a locked office if your visit is not planned ahead with me.
MANY THANKS for considering Mid City Auto Service for your service, maintenance and repair.
Make sure to check out the Facebook page, that's where most content is shared.
Find the Facebook page here.
The average customer coming in my door has been a repeat customer of Mid-City Auto Service for 5 years, 7 years, 10 years and as many as 30+ years. Mid-City Auto Service was started in 1961 by my father. I started hanging around the shop at a young age – most likely 13 or 14. I’m now 60 years old in 2026.
My formal training was in in refinery instrumentation technology and process technology. Computer controlled carburetors were common and electronic fuel injection was in it’s infancy around the time of me being in high school and graduating in 1983. During my instrumentation and process technology training sometime around 1986 I decided to stay in the automotive technology field. After all, electronics on automobiles IS nothing more than a process control and I was better at diagnosing and repairing the modern vehicle at the time than were all the folks that had been in the industry forever.
I bought the business from my father in 1991 and have been owning and operating Mid-City Auto Service ever since. Being “into” all things electronic and geeky and gadgety I was the first small shop with a website. Mid-City Auto Service was also the first auto repair shop to acquire dealer level diagnostic equipment – initially for Ford products first, then later General Motors products and currently have Ford, GM and Chrysler product dealer capabilities along with aftermarket diagnostic equipment for imports.
Mid-City Auto Service has undergone many different models during my 35 years. At one point along with routine repairs and service we did a large amount of hotrod work, we did a large amount of diesel truck repairs and performance, we did a large amount of carburetor to electronic fuel injection conversions, we did a large amount of swapping late model engines into older vehicles, we did a large amout of custom wiring/electrical work.
At some point during all this I began getting a higher and higher volume of people who were being referred by other shops and other customers for technical, complex, highly diagnostic oriented and time consuming work as well as for repairs and diagnostics that had been attempted often times by a few others with no success. It was at some point 6 to 8 or so years ago we let all of the really time consuming work like cab-off diesel work and custom wiring/efi conversion and one-off type work go to focus on the routine diagnostics, routine maintenance, service and repair of the average daily driven cars and trucks.
I also have had employment changes – I had a fella work for me for 27 years. Around the time of hurricane Laura aftermath/recovery he passed away from cancer at 46 years old. Also during that year the shop was closed for Laura recovery/rebuilding another employee moved on to a different industry entirely.
I worked alone for nearly a year, then picked up another guy, then later picked up another – and now, having one make a move into working strictly on hotrods, which was always his passion, and another moving on to the faster paced hustle and bustle and high volume of bigger business, I once again work alone. The labor pool as far as the intellct/IQ required to successfully work on the modern complex automobile just isn't there. I don’t have anyone to sell the business to like my dad did me and at 60 years old I have to decide if I want to continue to scale the business down more and more every year for the next 5 to 10 years before retirement or if I want to go through the hassles to try to pick up another couple guys that MAY measure up and stay full-blown business for the next 5-10 years and then just abruptly close up shop one day randomly out of the blue when it’s no longer enjoyable.
Stay tuned and follow along as I make that decision in the coming weeks/months/years. I’m not saying I won’t hire one or two guys but they would have to fit a SUPER tight qualification/ethic/character model – anyone off the street or high job swap rate folks won’t do. They just won’t fit. Maybe some talented individual with decades of work history without changing jobs like underwear who has recently retired in some other maintenance/mechanical industry who has an arsenal of tools and knowledge built up doing this type work as a hobby or in a different but related field. We shall see.
For now anyway Mid-City Auto is even more so the small scale and personal “you are dealing directly with the owner in every conversation” than before and back to that model I ran alone for that year after Laura.
Many first time prospective customers are contacting me in high numbers who have never been to the shop and I’m getting people that reach out and ask, “How does it work with y’all to get a vehicle in?”
Also even though many folks are long time repeat customers, things have changed. I am back to not manning an office and not dealing with any “drive up to discuss it” type business and back to that “contactless” not manning the office model when working alone just like after hurricane Laura.
Here’s how it works – contact me - text preferrable, to discuss your vehicle needs. Then you may leave the vehicle with me using the key drop box and I look at them in the order they are dropped off. Timeline just depends on how many jobs are ahead of you and how time consuming each job is. Sometimes I’ll look at yours the next day, other times it may be a few days. If leaving the vehicle to wait in line without it is NOT an option, I can put your name on a list and contact you when it looks like I’m in a position to get to it quicker, HOWEVER, with 35 years of repeat customer base there are a great many (if not most) who choose to just leave the vehicle – THOSE take priority and seldom do I get around to the call list.
You will then be contacted with a preliminary "this is what I see so far and this is most likely" and possible costs will be discussed and you can chose to move forward or pay for the time invested at that point. Progress/timeline/cost updates will be made all along the way.
Once the vehicle is complete, I will text or email a payment link for you to pay online at a secure site. Your keys will be put in a pickup lock box which is in the same unit as the 24 hour key drop and you will be sent a combination that changes with every customer. Just like you dropped it off, you pick up the vehicle at your convenience day or night. The lot is well lit and there are security cameras literally everywhere.
If you can, when making initial contact for services please include a picture of the license plate or VIN number. Doing so often times saves a lot of time because before I even return your message many times I have already been able to look up various different things that matter, like what size engine, what options the vehicle has, whether it’s Two Wheel Drive, Four Wheel Drive or All Wheel Drive. That type stuff absolutely matters when discussing a diagnosis you need on a vehicle or discussing needed routine services. If I already have that information in that initial communication you send then things can move along quicker.
If you arrive unplanned, you WILL arrive to a locked office because I’ll be deeply engrossed in something really technical or time consuming in the shop.
I am no longer the “you drive up and I walk out and take a look at something” type shop. I am not the “someone paid just to answer every phone call” type shop. I am not the “there is always someone in the office” type shop. I am not the "I was in the neighborhood so I figured I'd stop by and talk to you" type shop. Again, when I’m working alone as I am you will in fact arrive to a locked office if your visit is not planned ahead with me.
MANY THANKS for considering Mid City Auto Service for your service, maintenance and repair.
NEWS
Mid City auto Service is currently closed. I work alone these days and I had a surgery with a recovery time of about 6 weeks minimum. I will be closed until middle of June most likely. All voicemail and automated text replies will be updated when I reopen.
SIGN LOGO
