South Main Auto LLC

South Main Auto LLC We are a family owned business serving the Avoca community and surrounding area with over 27 years experience in the automotive repair industry.
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Specializing in advanced electrical diagnostics and drivability problems in late model vehicle. Test don't guess! We will diagnose your vehicle using advanced techniques instead of using "try-agnostics"

06/10/2026

It's not always the "grounds" folks...

06/09/2026

The UPS guy dropped off a little package today during lunch 😊

06/08/2026

Over the years, and even recently, I've had people question why my repair shop "makes money on parts."

I guess I assumed it was universally understood that for a business to stay in business, it has to make a profit.

Here is my simple explanation:
We don't survive by buying parts for one price and selling them for the exact same price any more than an employee works for free. Parts have markup, labor has profit built into it, and that's how my business pays for its utilities, insurance, equipment, software subscriptions, taxes, employee wages, training, and hopefully still have something left over at the end of the month.

When you receive a paycheck, your employer bills your labor to a customer for more than they pay you. That's called a business model.

Most professional repair shops aim for margins closer to 20-30% or more, depending on the part. That's standard throughout the automotive industry.

Nobody complains when a restaurant charges more for a steak than they paid the supplier. Nobody expects a hardware store to sell lumber at cost. Yet somehow, when a repair shop marks up parts, some people act like it's a shocking discovery.

The funny part is that these same people are often standing in a house built with marked-up lumber, wearing marked-up clothes, eating marked-up food, and typing on a marked-up phone. Then suddenly the mechanic is the only person on Earth who's apparently not supposed to make a profit.

Any thoughts on this? Is this a surprise to you? Let me know down below.

-Eric O.

06/04/2026

This is a great little part from Dorman. I know it's a love-hate relationship we have. Some of their stuff I love and a lot of it I hate but at the end of the day when it's good, it's good.

06/04/2026

Hopefully this can settle some of the questions as to why I don't do board level repairs or tear apart components and try to repair them. At the end of the day that it's not my specialty and I have to provide a good service and a warranty to my customers. This is the way 95% of the shops will repair your vehicle. Let me know what you think in the comment section 👍🏼

05/28/2026

Astro Pneumatic Tool Company sent the keys to the mystery box. It's time to look inside 😁

05/27/2026

People argue all day about buying "American-made" vehicles. Meanwhile I'm over here installing genuine GM parts that come with a "Made in Mexico" card large enough to be seen from space 😅

05/27/2026

Boy, I really thought I was getting myself into one of those "ever since" situations.
In the end, it worked out well because I called the customer, and they confirmed they had been experiencing this problem. Why wasn't it in the pre-scan history from the day before? Why didn't it act up when I pulled it in yesterday? Who knows.
Maybe it's partly on me for not taking it on a longer road test, but yesterday's diagnosis didn't even require a test drive.
Live and learn, document everything, and be thankful when you have an honest customer!

Remember when you used to be able to crawl under the vehicle whack on the starter a couple times and at least get it run...
05/26/2026

Remember when you used to be able to crawl under the vehicle whack on the starter a couple times and at least get it running 😅. You can do the same thing here you just got to pop the intake off real quick 😏

Another victim of aftermarket garbage. Car came in with a complaint of parasitic draw, intermittent no start, and key fo...
05/25/2026

Another victim of aftermarket garbage. Car came in with a complaint of parasitic draw, intermittent no start, and key fobs did not function. I love doing parasitic draws on a Subaru because these older ones time out in about 30 seconds after you shut the key off. This one was hanging steady about 90 milliamps. Anytime in the past I've seen 70 to 90 milliamp draws 99% of the time something is plugged into the data link connector or there's an aftermarket alarm or remote start. Took a peek under the dash, saw the typical rat nest of wiring, took it all out threw it in the trash and I'll be darned all the problems are fixed. Parasitic draw now is 12 milliamps, key fobs work, car starts just fine. I've probably removed over a hundred of these in my career 👍🏼

Address

47 S Main Street
Avoca, NY
14809

Opening Hours

Monday 7am - 5:30pm
Tuesday 7am - 5:30pm
Wednesday 7am - 5:30pm
Thursday 7am - 5:30pm

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