(9/2/2021- Unfortunately, if you’re reading this now, we stopped offering our Courtesy Shuttle Service in July 2021. Please call our Service Advisors at 503-230-2300 for details.)
Our Courtesy Shuttle is one of our most popular value-added services, ferrying clients back and forth during their service within a 5-mile radius of our shop. The shuttle driver is a particularly important position to us because, aside from our front-line Service Advisors, our shuttle driver is the face of our company that our clients see most. We recently had a changing of the guard in our driver position, so we wanted to say a fond goodbye to Doug and a warm hello to Josh, the new face you’ll be seeing behind the wheel…
Here’s a behind-the-scenes fact about our shop… you know those comment cards you find in your vehicle after service? Not only do we read every one (and take action where necessary) but we keep track of which employees were mentioned specifically by name. We’ve had a lot of shuttle drivers over the years. Charles, Ian, and Jeff each drove for a long time and Tom himself even drove the van many years ago. But no one, NO ONE, has received as many compliments and cheers as our most recent driver, Doug Van Dyke! Month after month, the accolades have poured in- “Doug, the very kind gentleman”, “Doug gets a gold star”, “Doug was polite and interesting to talk to”, “Doug gave me an insider’s view of Portland”, “Can I hire Doug as my personal driver?” Doug, Doug, DOUG! It got to be something of a joke around the office as we teased him about exactly what he was doing to get all those compliments! As popular as he was, we hoped Doug would be the shuttle driver for many years to come, but unfortunately, a serious family problem has cropped up that will demand his full attention for the foreseeable future. 
It looks like Doug won’t be coming back, but we wanted to pass on his “thank you” to the many clients he’s shuttled, our own thanks for his service, and our sincerest best wishes for his success in the future.
Of course when one door closes another opens, and when we opened the door Doug closed we found Josh Miller standing behind it. Josh has taken a fairly odd route into the shuttle driver’s seat; he earned his Associate’s Degree in Automotive Service Technology from PCC, but had been working for several years with special-needs adults when we met him. Josh was training to be one of our Service Advisors when the Shuttle seat came open, and he decided that it looked like a much more comfortable chair than the one he was planning on. Josh has been driving the shuttle for a few weeks now, and he seems to be really enjoying it. “Being a Service Advisor would have been great, but then I’d be stuck in an office all day. Driving the shuttle gets me out and seeing the city, driving beautiful people around a beautiful town. It’s a much more relaxed position, but still very important. I’m really looking forward to it.” We see this as a huge advantage to our clients, who will have access to someone with all our inside info as they are comfortably shuttled about their business. Josh has a tough job to meet the standard set by Doug, but he’s off to a great start and we hope you get to meet him soon.
Our Courtesy Shuttle Service
As long as we have your attention, maybe this is a good time to remind you about our Courtesy Shuttle service. Some longtime clients still don’t even know we offer it, but for others it’s one of the best value-added services we offer!
We try to make auto repair as convenient as possible, but sometimes it’s hard to maintain your schedule while your vehicle’s in the shop. We don’t offer loaner cars, but we do offer a FREE Courtesy Shuttle. We can ferry you to anywhere in a 5-mile radius (map at right; click for larger version) and then pick you up again when your vehicle is completed. However, coordinating rides all over the city can be hectic on our end, and it can mean upset clients if we can’t meet expectations. To make things run smoothly for everyone, here are some details about how the Shuttle works.
When you first call to schedule work on your car, please tell us then if you plan to use the Shuttle for an outbound ride, inbound ride, or both. We try to group riders in similar areas (Downtown, Multnomah Village, Milwaukie, etc.) on the same Shuttle, so we’ll work with you to match the days and times of your service with the Shuttle schedule. Although we do everything we can to accommodate the inevitable surprise riders, the Shuttle runs BY ADVANCE APPOINTMENT and we must serve clients with appointments first. The shuttle schedule may cause the day of your service appointment to be delayed, so remember to call several days ahead if you need a ride.
The morning Shuttle makes three scheduled outbound runs at 7:30am, 8:30am, and 9:30am.
The Shuttle does not run between 12:00pm and 1:00pm.
The Shuttle does not run Saturday.
The evening Shuttle makes inbound runs until its final trip at 5pm.
The Shuttle needs to be back and finished for the day by 5:30pm.
If you scheduled an outbound ride, you can expect a return ride as long as it has been scheduled in advance, there has been communication during the repair, and that the vehicle will be completed by 5:30pm.
We stick strictly to the 5-mile radius for the 7:30am and 8:30am morning rides, and for all our rides after 2pm. From 9:30am through 2:00pm we can be a little more flexible about distance and can run as far as 7.5 miles if needed. We will work with you on these longer rides if you can work within this middle-of-the-day period.
The latest inbound ride back to the shop is 5:00pm. If you need a return ride after that time we will not be able to pick you up. We would recommend taking advantage of an Enterprise rental car, available here by appointment at discounted rates, in situations where distances or vehicle completion times cause problems. The inbound rides during rush hour are sometimes unpredictable. If you have a pre-scheduled evening Shuttle ride and we are not able to honor it, we will pay for a taxi back to the shop.
If your destination falls outside our 5-mile radius, or can’t use the Shuttle for some other reason, don’t panic! We have other options to keep you on the move…
We offer discounted rental cars through Enterprise Rentals for qualified services.
We can drop you at bus or light rail stops within our area.
If you’re heading downtown, our shop is on the Springwater Trail. Many clients bike into town from here!
The most important thing to remember is that when you decide to trust your vehicle with us, we will do everything we can to make your experience pleasant and convenient. Please ask your Service Advisor if you have any questions.
