As fuel crises forced up the price of gas back in the ‘70s, GM blithely converted some of its standard V-8s to more efficient diesel burners. It was an engineering and marketing disaster. Head gaskets blew, fuel pumps failed, and within a couple years these misbegotten cars were just another bad memory in a growing list.
| Orangevale Diesel |
| Owners: Dean & Shelbie Rue |
| Location: Orangevale, Calif. |
| No. of Locations: 1 |
| Years in Business: 25 |
| No. of Employees: 5 |
| No. of Techs: 3-4 |
| Shop Size/Bays: 5,000 square feet/8 |
| Annual Gross Revenue: $950,000 |
grow over the past 25 years since he started his shop near Sacramento, CA—to Rue’s knowledge, “the longest independently owned [facility] of its kind in Northern California.”
California’s capital has close to two and a half million people in its metropolitan area, and Rue pulls from that entire region—and beyond. “I’ve got customers over in the [San Francisco] Bay area, Vacaville, Napa,” he reports. “I’ve got other customers that come down from Reno. The other day I had a guy come down for transmission service and it turned out the power steering lines were leaking. He came down from Truckee, about a two hour drive. It was raining and snowing over the summit, but he was here at 8:00 in the morning. It was the first time he’d ever been here; he’d heard good things about us.”
Such is Orangevale Diesel’s reputation, which Rue recently expanded to social media. “I did that on my own at first,” he explains. “Then we contracted out with the phone company. (Clients) might hear about us through word of mouth, and then they’ll get on their phone and Google us to get a review or find out a little bit more about us. It’s definitely the way things are going.”
Reputation gets customers in the door, but Rue says it’s also about making people feel comfortable by understanding where they‘re coming from. “You build trust by giving undivided attention. Let them finish their sentences so they don’t think you’re a know-it-all. You listen to them, give them some options so that they feel in the loop.
“I’ve been doing this long enough to where I’ve seen a couple of generations of families,” Rue continues. “Back in 1990 when I first started, I’d get some people who were just retiring, so they buy a diesel truck and a trailer to go RV-ing. After 10 years that truck gets passed down to the son or grandson while the original owner buys a new truck.”
At one time these trucks very utility made them almost disposable—rural artwork glorifies rust buckets rotting in fields or next to old barns--but diesel trucks can last a very long time. “Its kind funny,” laughs Rue, “since my employees are younger, when an old school diesel truck like an ’82 or ’85 comes in, they didn’t even know where to start.”
While GM made up for its former gaffe by introducing the Duramax V-8 in 2002, Rue started off his career working on International-derived Ford diesels. “I was real familiar with those motors, so I decided to open up shop in 1990,” he reports. “I work on all makes now: Ford Powerstroke, Dodge Cummins and Chevy Duramax. The other half [of our market] is RV-ers, retired people who travel a lot. I even used to work on the bigger, bus-based RVs, but I really don’t have enough room.”
Since trucks are no longer strictly utilitarian vehicles, even diesel versions are dressed to the nines with options that make them as at home at the opera as on the farm. “I’ve seen a real big turnaround in the diesel market in technology and application,” notes Rue. “It’s a little tough to adapt to that, being an independent shop, but basically they’re run the same way electronically, so we were able to figure things out.”
So much of a turnaround that Rue is even considering expanding into German-made diesel cars. “(They) require more specialty tools,” he concedes, “but I’ve got another 1200 square feet next door that I’d like to use for doing automotive stuff like Mercedes, Audi, VW; I just don’t have the people right now.”
Finding those people can be difficult, but Rue usually puts the word out to the tool guys, “to see if they know anybody in the diesel or automotive markets,” he reports. “If they’re mechanically inclined and been to school already, I can teach them the rest.” He’s also uses Regional Occupational Program (ROP) students from the local high school and currently has one he plans to hire after the student graduates. “Its hard work being a mechanic,” Rue cautions. “You’ve got to know fluids, electrical, computers; a whole variety of things.”
This may be why Rue prefers the title ‘mechanic’ over ‘technician’ for his shop staff. “(A mechanic) tries to figure out why things break, what actually happened, more of an engineer,” he explains, seeing the former as more of an independent thinker, the latter following proscribed steps.
“Our mechanics have their own hand tools and some power tools,” says Rue. “Specialty tools like one that can pull out injector cups and run computer diagnostics, I supply. I’ve got the regular Ford IDS scan tool; I’ve also got wiTECH for the Dodge. GM works real closely with Snap-On, so we’ve got that.”
The rest of his inventory is retail, since Rue also sells aftermarket parts to some of the dealerships, as well as individuals coming in to buy updated headlights for older trucks where the lenses have gotten glazed, transmission coolers, and a lot of fuel and oil additives. This being the California market, Rue is limited on engine upgrades, but none of this has stopped Dean Rue from doing his part to help take that danged ding out of the diesel market.
