You may have heard the expression, “Don’t sweat the small stuff, and it’s all small stuff.” Back in the day, it was a popular book that had its moment.
In today’s collision repair industry, it means complexity — in cars, in colleagues, in competition — comes to a clean, uncomplicated concept: Quality repair isn’t confusing, but still calls for execution.
That’s how Northwest Collision Center in Florida goes after OEM certifications, it list decidedly growing, by detailed decision. The shop itself is also more than doubling in size as owner Greg Descent dreams a bit of what it might look like one day, as he descends into “normal” days, depending on others to extend its legacy.
By the time the Pinellas County shop turns 70 in a few years, Descent will have been at the helm half its life.
OEM for the Market, and for the Good
“My son has been telling me” he wants to take over the business, Descent said. The youth is in high school and the family is considering college, so there’s a timeline, and a good one.
Collision repair gets “more complex, with less business” coming, by which he means volume. More learning is more crucial. Going to class, paying attention — small stuff or not? Northwest Collision Center attests it’s quite big.
The shop has had Tesla certification since 2019, most recently requalifying in January, then adding Mazda in August.
Going after OEM certifications “allows us to access repair information and training; we want to repair it correctly,” Descent said.
Inside the recently expanded shop.
Northwest Collision Center snagged Lexus certification in September. “We’d been pursuing Lexus for about three years,” Descent said, making parent company Toyota the next step. “We really like Lexus, [and] Toyota and Lexus have excellent training programs.”
Another luxe nameplate it’s after is BMW. The idea is to buttress specialization — heralded on its website, just above noting its 4.9 Google rating, linking to those reviews — with actual class time.
“Access to the training was really important,” Descent said.
‘This is the Right Way to Do It’
Northwest is the only Lexus- and Mazda-certified shop in Pinellas County, Descent said, the latter hearkening to its history: for a time it was next to a dealership, now moved, that didn’t have a collision center. But now, that is just a detail.
“We repair vehicles to manufacturer specifications because it is the right way to do the repair,” he said.
He says it to insurance companies, too. “They challenge it all the time: ‘Nobody else charges for this, you guys are the only one,’ is so common it’s unbelievable,” Descent said. He repeats it to them, too.
Greg Descent.
“Because this is the right way to do it,” Descent tells them, perhaps noting, “I can’t advise you why other shops do what they do.”
Such summations aren’t unknown to shops; the particular points don’t change, likely not even the language. Descent details them — insurers looking to dash lights to greenlight labor, and all the rest; the Tesla “detail” about steering column length, driver safety and checking it, always.
“Insurance companies are about cost,” he said. “Manufacturer requirements are absolutely, 100% necessary.”
Descent documents everything: photos, procedures, parts used — “we do the repair and we ask the customer to pay” — even if it comes to naught. He does the work even if he has to write it off.
“The biggest thing is it’s right,” he said.
It’s All Details, Pay Attention to Them
Northwest plays classical music while you’re on hold. It’s conscious about whether to add A/C — it doesn’t.
“We like air conditioning, but we have health concerns with all the chemicals recirculating,” Descent said. Northwest goes with old school windows and fans, banishing the unwelcome particulates.
Northwest keeps its website vital and vibrant with a striking red-and-black motif and moving backgrounds for some images: the sideways scroll option to show more or less of before-and-after aspects of repaired vehicles.
Customers wait in comfort.
Descent is calm in conversation. A contrast, he said, to “when I was a younger man. Though I can get angry.”
It’s not about always or never, but goals and method. Sometimes things “take care of themselves” — don’t sweat the small stuff — and “if it pays off, great; if not it’s another of those experiences in life.”
Descent pursues market-exclusive OEM certifications in Mazda and Lexus, complexity in Tesla, and diversification in future OEs Toyota and BMW. As part of its expansion, Northwest Collision Center is building an 8,000-square-foot paint booth, 60 feet long and 15 feet high.
“The market for larger vehicles is here,” he said, citing roofs for Rivian, Sprinters and a new venture, for which Northwest will also seek OEM certifications, in RV work. The booth is a USI Italia, he said.
The shop opened in 1959 under James Greenly, said Descent, who bought it in 1996. It moved two blocks to its current site in 2016. When Mazda decamped to a new location, Descent grabbed the vacated dealership.
He’s done full renovations more than once, and all-in the investment is $7.5 million. The final square footage tally, including an outdoor awning area, more than doubled his space to 52,000 square feet.
His aim is to more than double business and employee count, currently at 18.
“Now’s a really good time. There are more people available than there has been in many years,” he said.
Paul Hughes