PRINTOn the Job: Homer Collins
Homer Collins
M. Colleen McDevitt
Homer Collins looks to a machine to pinpoint an electrical problem for a customer. His experience as an Army ranger and paratrooper contribute to his work ethic.
June 19, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Vox: How long have you been a mechanic?
Homer Collins: All of my life, and I am 77. A long, long time, and I am damn good at what I do. If I were not, then I wouldn’t have people always trying to come here.
Vox: What did you do before you became a mechanic?
HC: I am retired from the Army in Special Forces. I went into the Army in 1947, when I was 15 years old. I went to Korea and fought and then came back to the States.
Vox: What do you like most about your job?
HC: Independence. The one thing you’re not going to get here is that you’re not going to get screwed. This is not a real fancy shop, but it gets the work done. Making money is OK, but you have to make it honestly and with some quality of production. You don’t want to do a job and not do it good.
Vox: What are the most common problems you fix?
HC: People running their cars hot, cylinder heads, water pumps and hoses.
Vox: What is the hardest repair you’ve done?
HC: Four-wheel drive trucks. If something goes wrong with the transmission in them, you have to take the transfer case off before you get to the transmission, and people don’t like to pay for that because it’s a complex process.
Vox: What is the average cost of a repair?
HC: I would say about $300.
Vox: How has your business changed since you began in 1982?
HC: It has picked up tremendously, and it keeps on picking up. It sometimes frustrates me because people buy equipment and cars that they don’t have money to repair.
Vox: What frustrates you most about your job?
HC: Customers who refuse to listen when you educate them on what they need to do to be safe and fix their car.
Vox: Do you plan on retiring in the near future?
HC: No, not as long as I can walk around.
