Maas Auto Leaving Western Springs for Countryside

After 17 years servicing cars at the northwest corner of 47^th Street and Gilbert Avenue, Marty Maas is picking up his and moving to a larger location in Countryside.

The lighthearted Maas (“my name is Marty, and I’m here to party,”) who has also run a repair facility in La Grange Highlands since 1985 (55^th Street and Willow Springs Road, eight blocks south of his Western Springs location,) along with his son, said they are looking to expand in size as they serve several dozen cars each day—and have been dissatisfied with the conditions at their Village location.

“I don’t like this place—I’m embarrassed to put my name on it,” Maas said frankly, gesturing to the somewhat dilapidated state of the building. “I call this The Dump; it’s an awful looking place.

“I’m Dutch, and if you go to my shop at 55^th and Willow Springs Road, it’s kept clean, the windows are washed, the landscaping, the tulips are coming up, and that’s the typical Dutch way."

Maas added that he had considered buying the location and renovating it, but was turned off by the strict environmental regulations for the former gas station site and corner lot.

After being denied a lease by a new building owner, the Maas father and son sought out a new location—and although they were later offered the lease back, with $50,000 in improvements on the building, they had by then made up their minds to move.

Thus, sometime in May, Maas Auto’s Village location will pack up and open anew at 5640 South LaGrange Rd. in Countryside, leaving for good the Village location he opened in 1995. His new location, he pledges, will be true to those Dutch aesthetic values.

Maas declared that he “loves Western Springs” with its “great people” with whom he has “never had an issue,” and expressed confidence that customers would continue to utilize his repair services for honest treatment and pricing.

“My customers would follow me if I went to Alaska,” Maas said.