From the beginning, Hogan’s pastime was destined to be his career. His grandfather, William Benson, had opened an auto body shop in Queens in 1939 where Brian’s father, Joseph Hogan, worked in the 1940s until he opened his own shop, Grand Body Auto, in 1953 on Jamaica Avenue.
Hogan continued to work for his father after high school, finally opening his own shop in 1997 in Garden City Park. He still gets a thrill from restoring a damaged vehicle, and he tries to uphold his father’s stated goal of restoring the vehicle to look like it is brand new. Like his grandfather, Hogan guarantees his work for the lifetime of the vehicle, stating “if you fix the car right, there should be no problem in guaranteeing it. If you prep and prepare each part you put on properly, it’s going to last.”
In addition to his Garden City Park facility, Hogan also owns a 4000 square foot shop in Hempstead, but due to his customer database which includes around 60,000 customers, he is currently in the process of opening a third shop of 1600 square feet on Denton Avenue in New Hyde Park. Each location employs six auto body technicians.
Hogan’s businesses utilize a Shark measuring system from Italy and all of the latest frame equipment. The shops are ASE and I-CAR certified. They do not participate in any direct repair programs currently, but Hogan has been approached by GEICO and is considering joining their DRP in his new shop.
The technicians paint with RM Diamont. They report no difficulty with color matching as most of the vehicles they repair are newer models, specifically 2011 and 2012 vehicles. Hogan notes that the restoration business has taken a nosedive, but his shops specialize in heavy collision repairs, even receiving referral work from other shops. Due to the damage from August’s hailstorm, each of Hogan’s shops are currently averaging repairs on 15–20 cars each week.
One thing that A1 Grand boasts that no other shop can is Hogan’s Raising the Bar Code software which he created to help integrate several shop management systems. Using this system, Hogan is able to scan the vehicle registration, allowing pertinent information to populate within a few seconds, updating the database to provide an estimate for the customer. This allows A1 Grand Auto Body to provide an estimate to customers within five minutes of entering the shop. Hogan’s software is just one way in which he strives to keep in touch with customers and provide quality service. Though several companies have offered to buy the the software, Hogan refuses to sell his competitive advantage.
Hogan shows his dedication by closely monitoring customer satisfaction with the paintless dent repairs many shops used to repair cars dented by the uncharacteristically severe hail storm in August 2011. Using this method, many dents reappear, but Hogan is busy contacting the customers in his database to inform them that their insurance companies will cover further costs to permanently repair this damage. This second round of dent repairs has kept his shops busy for the past several months.
A1 Grand Auto Body is a shop that can guarantee quality because Brian Hogan stands behind it. Quality auto repairs are definitely a family commitment from the Hogans and A1 Grand Auto Body.
A1 Grand Auto Body
105 Herricks Road
New Hyde Park, NY 11040
(516) 294-4200
