Coelho's Body Repair & Auto Sales Inc. Company Profile

elson Coelho's father worked for GM but had caught such an intense case of the auto bug that he would have people come to the house with a damaged car—and he would fix it right there. A natural innovator, he crafted his own frame-straightening machine.

That shop in Fremont is where Nelson Coelho spent much of his time growing up. "I've been working on cars since I was a young man, said Nelson. "I always knew I would take over the business, and I wanted to come there to work, so one day I told my dad my plans to come work with him. He was shocked, but he was also pleased."

That family tradition remains today. The eldest of Nelson's three teenagers backs up his dad at the shop nowadays. "I'm the president of the company, and my son works here part-time."

It's that type of family atmosphere that has kept Coelho's Body Repair & Auto Sales in business for so many years. In fact, the entire Coelho family is involved with day-to-day operations-a true family business. "When people come in, my mom's here, my dad's here - it's more personal," Nelson remarked. "My vision for the company, in some ways, is the same as my father's. He's good with people. He's old-school."

Fixing Even Those Things You Can't See
And while techniques and technology have evolved from the early days of auto body repair, Coelho's is a place that knows what quality work is. Nelson performs what he calls "invisible repair," meaning that a damaged vehicle will be fixed without a trace of evidence that it was ever repaired. Even though it is neither cheap nor speedy to work this way, it's essential to Nelson. "I'm the owner of this business, and it's my product going out the door. Even if something costs me time or money, if it's what the job calls for, I'll do it."

The commitment to customer satisfaction has also remained intact. At Coelho's, they will go out of their way to make their customers feel welcome and appreciated. "Other old-school owners who have owned shops for longer than we have tell me to stay as small as possible for as long as you can. I agree with that. I greet customers, I write estimates, I work on the cars, and I know each customer personally."

A Part of the Community
The reach of Coelho's goes beyond the realm of collision repair. As a sponsor of a local little league team and a regular donor to causes such as the Special Olympics, National Handicapped Association, and Police Activities League, Nelson and his family are active participants in the community.

Still, to Nelson, what it all boils down to is people. "It's really satisfying when someone comes in and I can fix something small without having to charge them. When they see how well the job was done and they respond with a smile, that's the payoff for me."



---Jim Brumm
Staff Writer
The Prime Buyer's Report