Q&A: Neal Clay of Clay Auto Center

West Roxbury Patch Editor David Ertischek recently sat down with Neal Clay, of , to talk about Chevrolet, American cars, used cars, and anything else under the hood.

How long has the business been here?

Clay: It’s kind of a funny story. This was originally Clay Chevrolet in 1949, there were three brothers who started the business. In the late 50s Clay Chevrolet moved to Newton. My uncle and father stayed here and my uncle named it Howard so it became Howard Chevrolet. And it was here for a long time. I bought the business from my father and uncle in 1990, and then in 2006 I sold the Chevy franchise. But I still own the property so I wanted to continue the business and renamed it Clay Auto Center - because of my last name.

Where do you live?

Clay: I lived in West Roxbury for a long time, but now live in Westwood.

Why would someone take their vehicle to Clay?

Clay: It’s always been a fantastic location for body shop. We have a big, big body shop and a repair facility, and we had a huge customer base from Chevrolet and GM business. But I've run the business for 4.5 years and had to reinvent ourselves. We now get people bringng in import models, we’ve got tons of experience, and all the new technology. We have a great realationship with our customers. You’re going to pay a lot less here than at a new car facility.

We also sell used cars. We’re more of a repair facility than a used car dealership, but we have the space. It’s not a huge part of our business.

What kind of cars do you sell?

Clay: Everything. And a lot of it. We go to the auctions every week, we do a lot of used car requests, like if you wanted a Lexus you’d come to me and I’d get you one. Or a special type of jeep, what color, price range, but we have 30 or 40 cars here at all times. We buy a lot on specs, and buy them from customers.

What are the top selling vehicles? Have American vehicles been selling better?

Clay: The more affordable cars - $10,000 and under, and we have a good collection of those. We sell BMWs, Acuras, by request. I’ll stock a few of each model and try to accommodate. We do Mercedes. Realistically, I’m not going to buy a Mercedes and put it on the lot. We go right through them.

I think American new cars have been selling real well. Any good used car will sell, no matter what it is, as long as it’s in good shape. I believe the American new cars are much better than they’ve ever been.

Are you third generation? Did you ever think about not going into family biz? Where do you live?

Clay: Second generation. I was always kind of destined to go into the family business. I’ve bene working here since 1975. I'm 59. I’ve tried to calculate how many times I’ve driven down Washington Street in my life. It’s a fun business, I enjoy it, I have a fun repoire with our clients.

What would you say is the best thing about Clay Auto Center?

Clay: I think the people who work here. I really do. I think they’ve got a great repoire with customers and try to save them money if they can. They don’t do anything to their cars that doesn’t absolutely need to be done. I hear Don (Bailey) in the service department saying 'You don’t need to put these breaks on now.' We have a lot of commercial accounts. We know they need them quickly. We are on all the preferred insurance lists – we are all on the major preferred insurance lists for body work.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever seen in a car to fix?

Clay: Probably a Blazer we had to take the whole dashboard apart because the owner was experiencing a terrible odor. It was a family of mice in the dashboard.

How often do people come in and try to mimic the problem with their vehicle? Does that help you?

Clay: They try. We’ve seen everything. So pretty much with a couple of good imitations we’ve got a handle on it, and we’ll take it on a test drive to see the problems... We sell a lot of tires.

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever found in a car?

Clay: I can’t go there. (laughs)

What’s your favorite car?

Clay: My favorite car would have to be a Chevy Corvette. When I was a kid I worked here after high school. In the late 60s I watched all these awesome muscle cars, Chevy Chevelle, Mustangs and Camaros.

Why should someone bring their vehicle to Clay Auto Center?

Clay: Quick dependable service. We're open a7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. And we’re conveniently located on the commuter rail and buslines.

What is Clay’s specialities?

Clay: We fix everything and anything. It’s auto body and repair.

Anything else?

Clay: We're a family-run business been here for – how long has it been? 1949 on Belgrade Avenue. The Clay family has been selling and servicing cars on Belgrade Avenue since 1949.