Deep in the Suffolk countryside, Evergreen Garage in Crowfield is a prime example of how a traditional local garage can thrive with a modern approach to its equipment, servicing and promotion.
Purchased by Jim and Tony Davey in 1981, the workshop has been extensively modernised and extended to provide motorists with a comprehensive offering which includes servicing, MOTs, diagnostics and professional four-wheel alignment.
The four-wheel aligner used by Evergreen is a Hunter DSP600 system which is now more than ten years old. Despite the technological advances which have occurred with wheel alignment systems in the last decade, the Hunter system still works as reliably as ever and helps the business carry out around five wheel alignments a week.
“Wheel alignment is not that big for us, but it does complement the business nicely,” explains co-owner Jim Davey. “We are listed on the Align-My-Car website, and we’re the only one locally to do so, so we manage to get quite a lot of customers from this.”
This modern approach to a traditional service is extended to Evergreen’s wheel balancing business too. Here, by contrast, the workshop is equipped with one of the latest and most advanced diagnostic wheel balancers on the market – the Hunter Road Force Balancer, which can eradicate the most challenging wheel vibration issues.
“The Hunter equipment has been brilliant for us,” adds Jim. “I’d highly recommend it to anyone – just as long as they’re not within a 30-mile radius of our business!
“We’ve also attended one of Pro-Align’s ADAS familiarisation seminars as we know the business has to continue evolving. However, as I’m now 70 years old, I’m not so sure it will be me investing in this one!”
