MLT family takes over Dave’s Auto Service after owner retires

MLT family takes over Dave’s Auto Service after owner retires

After 27 years running Dave’s Auto Service in Mountlake Terrace, owner Dave Reynolds has retired, handing the shop’s keys to the new owners Monday. Mountlake Terrace residents Edgar Vargas Marquez, his wife Julia Vargas-Shankland and his brother Cesar held a mini celebration of the transition before they opened for business.

“[Dave’s Auto Service] has been like community service at this point,” Edgar said. “We’re keeping all of its mom-and-pops. It’s all about the customers in this industry. It’s not about the car. It’s about how the customers do at the end of the day.”

Edgar said he started learning about the automotive industry while working at his father’s shop for nine years in Sunnyside, Washington and later working at a Ford dealership in Seattle where he was a technician and shop foreman for about nine years.

Some time in his 20s, he stopped working in auto mechanics because he was diagnosed with lupus. He attended the University of Washington to pursue a career in data science, but he didn’t like it and ended up returning  to the automotive business. He worked for Tesla and Rivian as an engineer before he decided to buy his own shop.

Edgar emphasized the importance of combining automotive expertise with information technology, because of the increasing integration of software and computer modules in modern vehicles.

“It’s not the same ones like in the early 2000s that you could just be like, oh, this is a motor, and that’s it,” he said. “Now these motors are programmed by a computer software system to run at a certain spec, and if that system is outdated, then you have to fix this, like a computer.”

Cesar also attended UW for data science but, like his brother, ended up back in the automotive business. “Computers… It is fun and all, it does make money, but it’s the passion for the cars that makes you want to stay with them,” Cesar said.

With a background in business intelligence, Julia said she works mostly in the business side of things, including payroll, bookkeeping and service writing.

Edgar said that Dave’s Auto Service now services European and diesel vehicles because his staff has previous experience working on them. The new owners are working to renovate the office area into a waiting area where customers can help themselves to coffee and snacks. There will also be work stations for customers who want to work online while they wait for their vehicles.

In addition, the business will be open on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Dave Reynolds said that he started Dave’s Auto Service in 1998 at the former Chevron gas station in Lynnwood. In 2008, the business was moved to Mountlake Terrace because Sound Transit bought the land for the Lynnwood light rail station. 

He thanked his customers and the community for many years of service. “I’ve got two young grandkids that I’m excited to play with and watch them grow,” Dave said, adding that he plans to do more fishing and travel in Mexico.

The new owners are planning a grand opening celebration for next summer once shop renovations are completed.