By Narelle Coulter
The Alphey name has long been associated with honest, reliable service in the Cranbourne/Devon Meadows area.
Ian Alphey is the owner of Alphey’s Garage in Arundel Street, a business he started a decade ago.
Ian’s dad grew up in Devon Meadows and ran a truck and bobcat hire business.
“The name has been around for a fair while,” said Ian, who has lived in the Cranbourne area his whole life.
“When we do jobs it is my name going out the door. We take pride in the work we do every day because it has my name on it.
“Our slogan is ‘Tailored car servicing and repairs’. Every car is different, so we tailor work to customers’ needs and budget.”
Ian, who has been a mechanic for more than 30 years, and his team offer a complete one-stop-shop service.
“One thing I learned in the early days in the trade was that if you want to fix something you have to know how it works. It’s not a case of just pulling off a part and replacing it, you have to know how that part works,” Ian said.
He enjoys the challenges of keeping up with new technologies that have revolutionised motoring in recent decades.
“One thing I like about the automotive industry is that there is always something new being developed on cars or older cars coming through for restoration work.”
Coronavirus resulted in business slowing down and Ian admits he did consider shutting the doors worried that he couldn’t provide a safe workplace as gloves and sanitiser became difficult to procure.
“I made the decision to keep the doors open as it would have been harder to reopen,” explained Ian.
“We have implemented a lot of things to provide a safe workplace for employees and for our customers. We use seat covers, steering wheel and gear shift covers. We wear gloves and there is hand sanitiser all around the workshop and for customers to use.
“We are also trying to implement non-contact payment so customers can pay over the phone.”
As the economy picks up, the future is looking bright for Alphey’s Garage with Ian advertising for a new mechanic to join the team.
He has also introduced an app for customers to help them stay connected with the business and is using Uber to provide a drop off and pick up service.
“Without Job Keeper it would have been very tight, a struggle, but the plan is to be here for a long time yet.”
Alphey’s Garage is at 3 Arundel Street. Phone 5995 9568.
