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New owners at Columbia Auto ready to serve

Profile of Columbia Auto and Radiator Service in Castlegar.
44595castlegarColumbiaauto
Tim Strelieff and Brandon Black are ready to service your vehicle at Columbia Auto.

There are plenty of new changes at Columbia Auto in Castlegar, but one thing that won't change is the great service.

Back in February of this year, Tim and Lydia Strelieff purchased the business from long time owners Phil Zaytsoff and Larry Webster. The business is now a true family affair with Tim being joined in the garage by son-in-law Brandon Black. Brandon's wife, Ashley (Lydia and Tim's daughter), and one year-old son Beau can also occasionally be seen around the office helping out.

Prior to purchasing Columbia Auto, Tim owned and operated Queen City Radiator in Nelson, which he bought in 2003. Before that, Tim worked with his father and then brother at Mike's Radiator Shop in Trail.

"When Columbia Auto came up for sale, this was the perfect opportunity for Tim to diversify and centralize his location," said Lydia.

"It was time to diversify the radiator business and get into the mechanical aspect," said Tim. "My son-in-law (Brandon) is a mechanic so one and one makes two. "

The purchase of the business gave Tim and Lydia's daughter Ashley and her husband Brandon, and son Beau the perfect opportunity to move back to the Kootenays from Kamloops where Brandon worked as a Specialty Diesel Tech for Dearborn Ford.

"Brandon is our new mechanic and runs the automotive part of the business," said Lydia.

"I've always wanted to have my own shop," said Brandon. "I was with Ford at the big dealership level for 10 years. My dream was always to have my own shop, but with the economy and the dollar amounts I never could. It's a big under taking. This opportunity came up with Tim taking over - It's worked out pretty good."

Brandon has worked a great deal on engine repair, engine rebuilding, diesels, gasolines, suspension steering. "the whole works," he says.

Brandon, who was born and raised in Nelson, is glad to be back in the West Kootenay with his family.

Although Brandon specializes in Fords and domestics, Columbia Auto services all different makes and models.

"We can do brakes, tune-ups, engines, tires, brakes, oil changes, suspensions," said Brandon. "We do big gas tanks. With Tim's business, we can do big heavy equipment gas tanks repairs and stuff."

With a big parking lot area, Columbia Auto is able to have big trucks come in and turn around and drop them off on the lot.

Tim, Lydia, and Brandon all agree that the key to a strong business is customer service.

"We want to treat the customer right," said Brandon. "We're not about turning over quantity, we're not about cranking out big numbers. We just want quality work. Something we can put our name behind. That's why it's just Tim and I right now. We want to control the quality.

"We want to be a good, old-fashioned automotive shop that treats people fair. We're not here to push snake oil. We're not here to sell nitrogen in the tires. We just want to have a nice shop that people can bring their vehicle to and not feel ripped off."

The new owners realize they have big shoes to fill and hope to maintain the same great service as the previous Columbia Auto owners.

"They (Phil Zaytsoff and Larry Webster) were here since 1976," said Tim. "They started across from the old RCMP station when they first started. Then they bought here. They retired this year."

Phil and Larry would like to thank all their clients and customers from throughout the years.

Tim would like to thank his customers from the Nelson area from Queen City Radiators and urges them to check out his new location in Castlegar.

Columbia Auto and Radiator Services is located at 1050 Columbia Avenue. The shop is open from Monday to Friday from 8:30-4:30 p.m. and Saturdays by appointment. To book an appointment please call 250-365-5422 or 250-352-1838.