We recently connected with Isaiah Passe and have shared our conversation below.

Isaiah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How do you think about vacations as a business owner? Do you take them and if so, how? If you don’t, why not?

As an owner of an automotive repair shop, taking time to disconnect from my day-to-day is crucial to maintain a heathy balance. Going on vacation is something that I enjoy doing and my goal is to take 2 vacations a year. Achieving this is difficult, but doable. I have some great employees that I fully trust and they keep the business running successfully while I am away. Closing my business when I’m on vacation is not an option since I need the revenue coming in to keep my business open and I also run the risk of losing clients since they could go somewhere else. Finding employees that you can trust with your business is a must. Treating your employees with respect and compensating them fairly is a necessity and it will go a long way to build that trust.

Isaiah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Working with my hands has always been a part of who I am. Growing up, I used to follow my father around as he was fixing things around the household, trying to learn as much as possible. Fixing something that was broken was always interesting to me. Knowing that I was able to make something work again was amazing. I remember crawling under our home in Beaufort, South Carolina when I was 7 years old to fix a water leak. I remember telling my mom to not use the water becauseI was going to go under the house to get it handled and a few hours later, with the help of my father, it was fixed. I helped my father do maintenance work to his 79 Chevy, which I now own and plan on restoring with my children. I knew from a young age that when I was older, I wanted to fix things. That’s what I wanted to do. So when I graduated highschool, I enrolled in UTI in Houston. I packed my things and drove from Wabasha (small town in MN) to Houston to begin my training. Once I completed my training, I decided to specialize in Volvos. I enrolled in the Volvo Safe Training Program offered by UTI in Chicago. I chose Volvo due to their safety features, did you know that they are the ones that invented the three-point seat belt and allowed other car manufacturers to use their design for free? I found that to be amazing, Volvo valued safety that much. I completed my training and was hired to be a technician at Borton Volvo of Golden Valley in Minnesota- I went back to my home state. I was with Borton Volvo for almost 10 years, from 2005 to 2014. I would have probably still been there, but life is so strange. I met my wife in 2010 while I was visiting a friend in Houston. She moved up to MN with me and in 2013 she was laid off from her work and my father was diagnosed with cancer (who later passed away). I wanted something different from life at that point. We decided to move back to Houston, where she is from. I heard of Texas Automotive Performance (the shop that I now own) from the parts manager at Borton Volvo in MN- he knew a friend in Houston that knew the owner, Tomas Larsson. I went to interview for a technician and was hired the same day. I worked for Tomas for almost 10 years, from 2014 to 2023. Tomas and I had talked about him retiring and me buying him out, and that’s what we finally did in October 2023. I became owner of Texas Automotive Performance, or Houston TAP for short.

Houston TAP is an automotive repair shop located by Memorial City Mall. It’s been family owned and operated since 1996, and still continues to be. Our team consists of myself- Isaiah, master diagnostic technician- Alex, service writer- Justin, service writer assistant- Leo and our shop dog-Gigi. Houston TAP specializes in Volvos and Saabs, but we work on most makes and models. We take pride in our work but what we pride ourselves most on is our customer service. We strive to make long term customers and in order to achieve that, trust has to be earned. We have told a few customers to take their cars to the dealership for repairs if their issue is still covered by warranty. We don’t see this as turning away work, we see this as customers appreciating our honesty and are inclined to come to us once their warranty runs out. People appreciate that we are looking out for them, even if we are not doing work to their car. When someone comes into our shop, we go over what is wrong with the car in detail, and let them know which issue is a priority to which issues are not. We work with our customers, we figure out a plan that works for both parties. This is what we are most proud of- being able to form long term customers because of our customer service. Our work, well it speaks for itself. Our technicians are skilled and knowledgeable. We know what we’re doing and we know that we do a good job at it too.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Google reviews is a big one. People go online and look for shops and they read reviews. Having good reviews makes the customer feel good about their decision to choose your business. Having bad reviews will just deter your customer. We are proud to say that our google review rating currently stands at 4.6 stars out of 5. We actively ask for customers to review us on Google. Customer referrals is also a great source of new clientele. Customers tend to leave our shop knowing that their issues are fixed correctly and on time. They feel good that they came to us, and when someone they know ask them if they know a good mechanic, they refer them to us. When that person googles us, they’ll also see that we have great reviews and come in. Finding a good mechanic is difficult, especially in Houston where there are so many of us. Not all mechanics are honest or good at their job and it gets frustrating to find someone you can trust. We know we are both- we are honest, and we are good at what we do.
Another source of new clientele that is surprising is referrals from other mechanic shops. Being an expert in ALL makes and models is extremely rare- each make is different, different tools are needed for specific brands, especially the higher end/ foreign models. We work on most makes and models, but we specialize in Volvo and Saabs. We have gotten new customers that were referred by a different shop. Volvos and Saabs require special tools and seasoned mechanics know what the issue might be by just hearing it. Shops that don’t specialize in Volvos or Saabs tell their customers to bring their Volvo/Saab to us since we will know how to properly diagnose and fix their auto. We return the favor too when we get an auto into our shop and know that it would be beneficial for the customer to go to a certain shop that specializes in that brand. This is not to say that only Volvo mechanics can work on Volvo or that they can’t properly fix other brands- most issues can be fixed. It only happens when it’s an uncommon issue and required special tools to get to the root cause.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Since taking ownership of the business, growing my clientele is the most important task I have. We achieve this doing honest work. We listen to you when you come into our shop, listen to what problem you are experiencing with your car, and we go in there are find the cause of the issue. Before we fix it, we’ll go over the repair cost and what kind of repair your car needs to get it fixed. If we do see other issues while inspecting your car, we bring it up but don’t pressure you to get in fixed if it’s not safety related. We make sure that you understand what’s going on with your car and come up with a game plan to get it handled. By working together, we form a relationship with the customer- trust is being built and it turns into lifelong customers. We strive into getting your issue fixed right the first time. We know how valuable your car is- it takes you to work, drives your family around, it is a necessity for everyday living. We value your time, so by fixing your car right the first time ensures that your life isn’t being constantly disrupted. We test drive your vehicle before returning it to make sure that the issue is not there, we do everything in our means to ensure that you do not return for the same issue. But sometimes the right bump (especially with Houston reads) will trigger the issue again or another issue. We know this happens, and it’s happened before. We let our customers know that if this happens, bring your car in again. We’ll look at it again and see what’s going on and get it handled. We try to be hassle-free and much as possible. We strive to create a hassle-free environment and getting your car on the road as soon as possible so that our customers feel valued and safe. Giving this type of service goes a long way to create new lifelong customers.

Contact Info:

• Website: TexasAutomotivePerformance.com
• Instagram: texas_automotive_performance
• Facebook: Texas Automotive Performance