Like so many family-owned collision shops, D&V Autobody began as a side-yard operation with namesake husband and wife Dave and Vena Maharaj working in tandem to repair vehicles on their home property.
Forty years later, the operation boasts 70 employees, two locations, numerous brand certifications, and a reputation for partnering with customers. It’s a far cry from the shade-tree business that the couple grew painstakingly together, but the attention to detail both in customer experience and repair work has remained constant, bolstering D&V even as consolidation encroaches.
Standardized education
The D&V Masters facility boasts a more polished presentation, but both locations put a focus on standardization for repairs and customer service.Now a second-generation business co-owned by Dave and Vena and their children, Kevin and Ron Maharaj and Jenna Hardin, the store has two locations in Sterling, VA: D&V Overland and D&V Masters. The business, now operated by the couple’s children, runs on an OEM-certified model with the Overland location dedicated to daily drivers and the Masters location focused on luxury clientele.
Despite being split into two locations, techs are educated the same way. That process relies on PPG’s X-Ray Repair Planning program as its basis. It’s a preproduction system designed to facilitate workflow and help techs navigate common implementation issues. The company has trained its blueprinters and repair planners in the program; there are shop-specific modifications where necessary.
“We love it because it gives a written, thorough, high-quality process for our teammates to attach themselves to — something that’s industry-leading and something that requires accountability. It requires accuracy and, obviously, it requires some level of efficiency and speed,” Kevin told Autobody News. “So, having a written process like that is something that you absolutely must have.”
Consistency across the board
No matter the car, customers get the same treatment, Kevin said.
“The vehicles, whether they’re a Hyundai or a high-end European vehicle that’s being repaired at our Masters location, they’re treated the same way. They’re treated the same way in the sense of the process, and that’s something that we’ve been fortunate to accomplish where the process is consistent. We’ve been able to scale it, where the process is the same, whether we’re working on a collision on a vehicle with fairly low value … or whether we’re working on a brand-new, high-end European vehicle.”
The consultation process follows the same bent as repairs in terms of consistency. Partnering with customers and educating them is a priority. Customer care representatives may, for instance, explore insurance company guidelines and limitations within customers’ policies to make sure they understand the claims process.
The entire family works to impart hard-won knowledge to CSRs while still enacting more modern concepts, with Dave and Vena coming into the office at times to work with them.
“Make no mistake, we’ve aligned with all the different entities from Washington Metropolitan Autobody Association and beyond to attach ourselves to the latest and greatest training that’s available to us,” Kevin said. “But then again, we bring that old-school communication.”
Imparting expertise, he posited, lays the groundwork for trust.
“When you combine expertise with a smile, with care, with focused attention and empathy with that customer, you’re going to gain trust. And once you’ve got trust with the customer, it’s more of a teamwork mentality at that point, where we’re aligning with the customer,” he said.
Scaling the D&V business
The shops combined can process up to 400 cars a month, Kevin said.
It’s a far cry from the mid-1980s when the couple began the venture. Around 2005, Dave and Vena knew, via notifications from the local government, that they would need to move operations away from their home. They purchased land and built the 22,000-square-foot Overland Drive facility, which opened in 2007. A decade later, as they accumulated more aluminum and exotic repairs, Kevin floated the idea of another store. The Masters location opened in 2017; the facility is 21,500 square feet and handles the higher-end vehicles, and the aesthetic is meant to reflect that.
“It’s much more refined in the sense that we have a showroom where we can keep vehicles. It has a very executive, high-end feel to it in terms of the office,” he said. “It’s a more premium facility.”
The ability to serve two demographics allows for flexibility and agility companywide.
“It gives our team, especially management and ownership, the ability to load-level — not just vehicles but teammates — as needed,” he said.
Facing up to consolidation
In an age where consolidation threatens constantly and independents are selling out to multiple shop operations and large corporations, D&V still stands out for its dedication to personalized service. Kevin feels the pressure, but he also sees the family tradition as a way to reach customers in a unique way.
The business, he said, will continue its OEM certification track and refining its production systems. Kevin is also working to develop young leaders at both locations.
“We’re still positioning ourselves amidst all of this consolidation as an elite independent. We’re going to continue that,” he said. “We believe that it gives us a bit of a competitive advantage; the large MSOs can’t replicate the elite level of customer experience, the communication levels, the time it takes to really get that customer educated to the point where they trust you to help make decisions.”
Elizabeth Green