Locate an Auto Repair Shop in Kelso, Washington

Kelso, WA Car Consumer Discussions

Re: to the wonderful people at Edmunds [lrguy44]

by mackabee on Sat Jan 19 18:25:32 PST 2008

I've just read the link to Admiral Hopper. What a great woman! I may be getting old as I don't remember her but I do remember Rickover, Holloway, Kelso, and a few other Admirals some who were CNO's. Mack

And in the local yacht building business.........

by euphonium on Tue Sep 18 10:06:16 PDT 2007

A year ago, Kalama-based NorthStar Yachts owner Jerry Clark sat on the dock at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in Florida and realized his business needed to change to survive. Potential customers were touring a nearly identical 80-foot yacht in a neighboring slip, but they were ignoring NorthStar's boat because the Chinese-built competitor was selling for $2 million less, said Clark, chief operating officer of NorthStar. "The consumer has become more price-driven," said Clark, 46. "They are willing to accept it being built offshore." So Clark, a Longview resident, started thinking about moving his operations to Zhuhai, China's boat-manufacturing region. He said he made 10 trips to Zhuhai in the past year and "was really surprised at the growth there. It was the opposite of what I imagined." Clark, who worked through translators in China, settled on a pre-built spec factory and laid off the firm's 60 employees in January after NorthStar's plant at the Port of Kalama finished its last U.S.-made yacht. "I've been working with some of these guys for 20 years. We have a family-type relationship," Clark said. "This was a tough decision, but it was either this or close the doors." This is the first major Cowlitz County firm to pull anchor and move oversees, said Ted Sprague, president of the Cowlitz Economic Development Council. However, he said, it is unlikely more will follow suit and outsource production to China, the world's most populous country. "Often times it depends on the capital investments here," he said. "There's a lot of risk moving oversees. Typically, either the capital investment for a company here is so large or the investment is so large that companies won't move." From its Kalama plant, NorthStar made 80-foot to 125-foot long yachts costing between $6 million and $13 million. In China, the luxury boats can be manufactured for about $2 million less with the same number of workers and allow NorthStar to offer more boat options, said Clark, who has been in the boat-building business 28 years. Clark said he had no alternative for keeping the company afloat. Clark followed his father and grandfather into the boat building profession. All three worked for Tollycraft Yachts in Kelso. In 1997, Tollycraft shut down after more than 60 years making boats. Clark bought the company and moved it to Kalama in 1998. The Daily News, 18 Sep 07

Re: Not too long ago... [andre1969]

by john_324 on Wed Jan 17 07:53:25 PST 2007

Or the episode when Kelso wants to buy Leo's late '60s El Camino, and tries to borrow money from Jackie. He tries to to explain to her why it's so cool: "Jackie, it's Spanish for 'the Camino'!!" :)

Re: Pacific NW Blue TCH [lungdoc63]

by lungdoc63 on Wed May 24 20:16:33 PDT 2006

As off this afternoon, there is a loaded Silver TCH in Kelso, WA. Meantime, I am looking for Blue Ribbon, TCH with Bisque leather, fully loaded in the Pacific NW. I am in Seattle area, but could go somewhere in the west to get one. Anyone find one please let me know. THANKS

Review of Toyota dealers in Seattle/Pacific Northwest

by ferazine on Mon Jan 24 22:20:21 PST 2005

Finding a good deal in the Seattle/Pacific Northwest area can be difficult. Thanks to the siennaclub.org forum and Edmunds we were able to have a pleasant experience and would like to share our experience with others who want to search for a good deal. Keep in mind that we bought our van at the end of the year, when most dealers would be more likely to deal.   The good: 1. Appleway Toyota in Spokane, Washington. We dealt with a sales manager and even though he didn’t have the car we want in stock, he was able to locate several in Oregon and would be able to drop them off at our house. We didn’t even have to go to Spokane to pick up the car. His OTD was the lowest. Spokane’s salestax is 8.2%, which would have saved us a lot of money. Our deal didn’t go through at the last minute due to some confusion on the monorail tax. After we picked up the car due to the long wait at a local dealership, we still contemplated buying a car from Appleway. 2. Toyota of Puyallup, Puyallup, Washington. We bought a car from this place with the 2nd lowest OTD. Everything was done over the phone and fax. It took us about 3 hours at the dealership because they were quite busy. There was no pressure on the extended warranty or anything else that other people who bought cars in the Seattle area warned us about. They simply informed us of the different options when we signed the paper work. We handed over a cashier check and that was it. They also effectively corrected the problems that we encountered. The washer fluid tank was low when we inspected the vehicle so the salesman took the car to service again to fill it up. A few days after getting the car, we found some rubber plugs that were not installed (common problem). We faxed the owner a letter detailing the problem and to clear up some confusion over the monorail tax. The next day the owner called us back and informed us that they will refund us the monorail tax since new vehicles are not charged the monorail tax and that she re-educated everybody on the issue. (Monorail tax is a new thing for Seattle residents). Their website inventory is fairly up-to-date. 3. I-5 Toyota, Chehalis, Washington. We found them to be professional, courteous, and honest, true to everything we read about them in the internet. Everything was done over email and phone. The tax rate is Chehalis is 8.1%, which would have saved us some money. It was just that we had a slightly better deal. They called us the last day and asked if we want their car before they shipped it to Spokane and also sent us a follow-up email afterwards to wish us well with our Sienna. 4. Titus-Wil, Tacoma, Washington. They also offered a good deal. We dealt with them over phone and fax. They just couldn’t come down to our price.   The so-so 5. Rodland Toyota, Everett, Washington. They emailed us the vehicle inquiry report for a damaged 2004 vehicle when we specified in our fax that we wanted a 2005 Sienna. We left voicemail messages and also emailed them back. They finally located one they could trade and emailed us, but forgot to include the price in the email. By that time we already sealed the deal. 6. Tonkin Toyota, Portland, Oregon. The web site is awesome. Everything was done over email on their web site. They were very nice. It’s just that they didn’t have the Sienna in stock and prefer to deal with walk-in customers. Their prices were okay. 7. Downtown Toyota, Spokane, Washington. They asked us to refax but then we didn’t hear from them. I guess they didn’t have the car we wanted in stock, as indicated on their web site. 8. Dick Hannah Toyota, Kelso, Washington. Their fax numbers didn’t work at all. This is even after we called them and asked for the fax numbers. When one of us called a few days earlier to get the name and fax number of the fleet manager, nobody gave up their name. 9. Toyota of Lake City, Seattle, Washington. Emailed us with a number of $2000 under MSRP. We left a message for them and they never got back to us with a better offer. 10. Toyota of Kirkland, Seattle, Washington. Called us with a number of of around $1500 over invoice. We left a message for them and they never got back to us. 11. Foothills Toyota, Burlington, Washington. Faxed us a couple of closest configurations in stock. Didn’t have the car that we wanted. Tried to call them but there was no contact info on the fax and the person we faxed to was no longer there, despite that fact that we called earlier to get the correct name and fax number. 12. Burien Toyota, Burien , Washington. Emailed us that they can go 1.5-2K over invoice. Very non-specific probably because they didn’t have anything we want in stock. When we told them we had better offers, they said that we should take those deals since they won’t let go of any vehicles for less than that. 13. Wilder Auto, Port Angeles, Washington. Said that they can let go of a Sienna at MSRP. We thanked them. 14. Bob Ridge Toyota, Renton, Washington. We test drove there twice. They were very nice with the test drives. They handed us the key and made a copy of the driver’s license. They were very honest and said that they could only let go of a Sienna for only $500 under MSRP. We didn’t contact them when we were ready to buy due to their honesty. Besides, they didn’t have anything we want in stock anyway. 15. Toyota of Seattle, Seattle, Washington. We test drove there while trying to decide between Sienna or Odyssey. Nice salesman for test driving. He pointed out the features of the XLE Limited and said that they are willing to negotiate. When we got back to them later, the salesman and the sales manager we talked to earlier was busy so they passed us on to another salesman who said they wouldn’t negotiate.   The bad: 16. Heartland Toyota, Bremeraton, Washington. We read that they have the internet pricing of $1000 over invoice and the deals can be done over phone and fax and they can beat any price, as indicates on their web site. This is totally not true. We emailed them and were told that we have to come in since they “are not a pricing service”. They would provide us with a free latte when we come in. After sending them some posts regarding their internet pricing, we didn’t hear from them for weeks until the slow week after Christmas, then they emailed us a quote for $1000 over invoice and said that we only needed to come in to sign the deal (provided we put up a $500 deposit). When we told them we had better offers they refused to match and beat the other offers. Don’t believe them when they post on their web site that they can beat any price. 17. Magic Toyota, Lynnwoood, Washington. We got a quote from them through Autobytel for $1000 under MSRP. We replied to their email and never heard from them again. 18. Broadway Toyota, Portland, Oregon. We didn’t deal with them since we read so many negative things about them on the internet.   The rest of th

Another headlight problem

by fionnban on Wed Jan 05 12:12:08 PST 2005

I have an older ('86) Mazda pickup that has recently developed an interesting headlight problem.   After a couple of cold mornings confronting a dead battery, I thought that the battery was dead. A check showed that wrong.   Last night I was awakened by lights in my bedroom window. When I went out to check, the headlights on my truck were on, although the switch was off. I had to flick the high beams to shut them off. I also had to get up twice more to shut them off - I missed the fourth time and still had a dead battery :(.   Not being an electrical genius I thought I'd check and see if I need to be looking for a short in the lighting system, or (more likely) a problem with my head lamp switch.   Any ideas???