Check the back of any Douglas Battery & AutoCare business card, and you’ll find the phrase “powering generations.” While the two-word motto is catchy, it also couldn’t be more fitting.                     

“You wouldn’t believe how many people we get that say, ‘I used to come here with my grandfather years ago when I was a kid,’ ” says Jim Douglas, company president. “To hear stuff like that, we must be doing something right.”

The service shop was started as an offshoot of Winston-Salem-based Douglas Battery, which was founded by Douglas’ dad and uncle in 1921.

Fifty years after starting the manufacturing operation, Douglas Battery opened an auto-care shop on North Broad Street. It owned and operated the garage until three years ago, when Douglas and business partner Joe Jarvis purchased it.

Thanks to their hard work and industry know-how, the garage has grown into one of the largest independent auto-care shops in the area. In fact, it was recently recognized as one of the 50 fastest-growing companies in the Triad by The Business Journal (No. 22, to be exact).

“We call ourselves a full-service dealer alternative, and we specialize in electrical repairs,” Jarvis says. “About the only thing we don’t do is heavy-duty transmission work.” 

With winter approaching, we decided to sit down with Douglas and Jarvis for a little Car Talk 101.

Q. What’s the advantage of patronizing a locally owned garage?
Jim: The scope of knowledge we provide. A lot of do-it-yourself shops — the Auto Zones and O’Reillys — will tell you what part you need, but won’t diagnose the real problem … the problem behind the problem. So I’d say unless you really know what you’re doing, you should let a trained technician determine what the problem is, or else you might make a mess.

Joe: I’d say that we also try to give the customers that small-town feel and really get to know everyone that comes in. So instead of treating you like a number, we treat you like we’d expect to be treated.

Q.How can you keep your car running as long as possible?
Joe: Preventive maintenance and following your owner’s manual are the biggest things. You’ve got to keep the oil changed every 4,000 miles or so, and have the tires rotated about every other oil change. Check your belts, hoses, fluid levels. Check your wheel alignment so the tires don’t wear out too fast. Keep the car clean, because that protects the paint. A lot of it is just using common sense.

Jim: I’ll add that you need to listen to your car. If you put your foot on the brake and hear what sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard, that’s your brake pads going bad. If your car makes a screeching noise when you start it, that’s a belt slipping. Listening is such an important part of car care.

Q. What are some suggestions for improving gas mileage?
Joe: Checking your tire pressure is the big one. Tires can lose, on average, about a pound of pressure per month. And when the temperatures start changing, it fluctuates even more. Keeping your car well-tuned is a big one too. Little things that don’t seem like a problem can really add up at the tank.

Jim: If your gas mileage drops suddenly, you might have a nail in the tire. It happens more often than you think. One time my son came home from college saying his gas mileage had dropped. Sure enough, there was a nail in his tire.

Q. How would you recommend winterizing your car?
Joe: Check your coolant, make sure you’ve got enough antifreeze in there for when the freezing temperatures hit. Make sure your water reserve for your wipers doesn’t have just water in it — make sure it’s got some wiper fluid, because the water will freeze. The biggest thing, again, is just preventive maintenance.

Q. What’s the most unique vehicle you’ve worked on?
Joe: Wow (laughs). We’ve had Ferraris and Rolls-Royces in here, even a DeLorean like you see on Back to the Future. But some of my favorites are those old-model cars from the 1940s. Really, it’s hard to pick just one. Our guys have pretty much tackled it all.

Douglas Battery & AutoCare is at 575 N. Broad St. They also have a Lexington garage at 905 W. Center St. For more information, call 336-722-4107 or go to dbautocare.com