Honest Quality Service for Twenty Years

“If you don’t get good service, you’ll go somewhere else.” These are words that Barry Montgomery stands behind every day. He is the owner of Chapman Enterprises, Inc., an auto repair shop and salvage yard at 8028 Chapman Hwy.
Barry and his wife bought the business twenty years ago and have turned it into the area’s “place to go to” for auto repair and car parts.
Barry has built a loyal and appreciative customer base by keeping technology and equipment current. His certified technicians are able to utilize up to date equipment to provide service locally that has not been available in this area.
Barry started turning wrenches in 1972 after graduating from Young High School while working with his Mom and Dad at the family gas station on the corner of Main and Henley downtown Knoxville. Later Barry owned and operated a gas station on Sevier Avenue.
“I got tired of the rules and regulations of the big oil companies,” stated Barry. “At about that time I came out here looking for parts when Tommy Lowe (the former owner of the business) cornered me. He said, ‘You need to buy me out.’ He wanted to get out and build houses. We came to terms and I bought the place.”
Barry started with one other person. The business grew to a point where he developed it into a body shop, frame shop with alignment, and a full repair auto shop.
At the time, he had no competition. If other shops in the area had problems fixing a car, the word on the street was- take it to Chapman; they can fix it.
“I had the technology, equipment and the training. I’ve been a master certified technician a majority of m life,” Barry said. “I was the first person in Knoxville to take the ASE certification test and pass. Gulf Magazine did a big article on me. They said that certification was the trend to come.”
“When I first started working on cars they had points and condensers and maybe a PVC valve (positive crankcase ventilation). That was a big word. Then they came out with EGR valves and oxygen sensors and from this point on, you had to keep up with it thru continuing educaiton. The old days of points and condensers are long gone unless you’re restoring a classic.”
Barry said he knew what was coming up with the oil companies—“If you look around, you don’t see any independent stations anymore,” he said.
“I grew up giving service, cleaning windows, pumping gas, checking tires and oil. We sold more oil on the front than we would in the back bays every day. Today I sell more engines for cars because people don’t check their oil.” The lack of full service gas stations has contributed to this. People don’t get their oil checked like they should.
Barry said that has caused more repairs of vehicles because people are not doing preventive maintenance. “I’d rather do preventive maintenance on cars—you know, check oil, water, brake fluid, check for water and oil leaks, etc. It’s easy and it saves people a lot of money.”
Chapman Enterprises has a lot of customers over the twenty years who have their cars kept up through preventive maintenance.
Barry says, “It’s aggravating for someone to come in and say they’ve had their car five other places and they couldn’t fix it. I wonder if they would go to five other doctors if one couldn’t help them. Same thing with your car repair; if you trust the man to do your repairs, then you should trust him to do all your repairs for all your vehicles instead of here and there. We take care of our customers from breakdowns on the road to checking the fluid levels.”
According to Barry, he bought this business with two thoughts in mind: giving good service and doing minor repair. True-it’s grown then times past that, but Chapman Enterprise was the first one in the Knoxville area that went on the computer inventory system.
“I take great pride in making sure that a customer looking to purchase a part gets the right part. I’ve helped a lot of customers by talking to them. I’d say, that’s not the part you need-it won’t fix your problem. This is what’s wrong with your car. The customer would save a lot of money and time with a simple fix. One of the things we do best is diagnosing the problem.”
Being an honest shop is very important to Barry. “Many are surprised when we tell them that’s all it costs.”
Barry’s recommendation for vehicle owners is to read the owner’s manual. Follow the suggested routine maintenance-that will help save a lot of money. Many people don’t take the time to service their vehicles. People are cutting corners, but it’s going to cost a lot in the long run. Timing belts are the biggest surprise in motors these days. If it goes out, you could ruin the entire engine.
“We do a lot of good alignments here-Wal-Mart, Glen’s Service Center and many others send us their alignment jobs because we’re known for the quality of work and service.”
Barry’s philosophy is “You can buy parts anywhere, and you can get your car serviced anywhere. The only difference here is you get good, honest quality and service. It’s been that way for twenty years and will continue that way for another twenty.”
People are keeping cars longer and they still need parts to keep them running. We can help customers find those hard to find parts. “We also have a parts locating service that is invaluable to much of the local market. We ship UPS from all over America.”
If you need personalized, honest full automotive service and/or used parts from their salvage yard, you need to visit Chapman Enterprises, Inc. at 8028 Chapman Hwy., Knoxville 573-2416.