Service Stations

There’s some debate about where the first service station was. “It wasn’t anything anyone really bothered to keep records about at the time,� said Susan Hahn, a spokeswoman with the American Petroleum Institute.

The earliest gas stations were probably nothing more than a guy with a gas tank at the back of a general store.

Historical consensus places the first official filling station in St. Louis in 1905. It was run by Clem Laessig and his partner Harry Grenner of the Automobile Gasoline Co., according to the “Chronological History of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Industries.� Not unlike many of its modern counterparts, the station sold nothing but gasoline.

The first service station--which sold oil and lubricants as well as gasoline--was opened in 1907 in Seattle by Standard Oil of California on the site of a bulk fuel plant.

But it wasn’t until 1911 that an oil company built a structure dedicated solely to retailing gasoline products. Predictably, it was in Detroit, at West Fort and First streets, and was opened by R. L. Francis of the Central Oil Co. The station--whose driveways, pumps and other equipment cost $1,200--was the site of many firsts, including the first free air pumps.

Its also foreshadowed modern service stations in another way: It was the first gas station to be robbed.

Not everyone is happy with service station auto repairs, and the state Bureau of Automotive Repair keeps track of their complaints.

Not surprisingly, the most frequent complaints from 1986 to the present had to do with the bill. Some 3,138 consumers complained that stations failed to seek permission to proceed with repairs whose costs exceeded a quoted estimate. Another 2,820 complained that they received no estimate at all.

Hundreds of others complained about their smog checks. More than 1,700 said they received no inspection at all.

But perhaps as a testament to the integrity of service station mechanics--or the general ignorance of the average motorist--only 35 persons complained of outright fraud, including just one person in 1989.

Despite the decline in service station auto repair, there still are plenty of places to get your car fixed, according to a recent study by the American Petroleum Institute.

As cars last longer--an average of 7.6 years in 1986, compared to 6.6 years in 1980--the auto repair business is booming.

Employment at auto repair shops increased to 457,000 in 1986 from 350,000 in 1980, the study found. Adjusted for inflation, auto repair services accounted for $30.1 billion in 1986, compared to $24.4 billion in 1980.

“The growth in self-service gasoline sales is not a cause for concern about car maintenance,� the study found. “Modern cars require much less routine servicing: Batteries are commonly maintenance-free, tires more durable and less prone to blowouts or flats, recommended oil changes less frequent and the need for tuneups much reduced,� it said.

Motorists who can’t take their cars to a garage can now bring the garage to their cars. Several small auto repair businesses specialize in making house calls.

In Orange County, Mobile Mechanix fields a fleet of 12 vans outfitted with tools and parts. “Our mechanics are equipped to do everything except engine and transmission overhauls in the field,� said Amo Rogers, vice president of the 7-year-old Santa Ana company.

In the San Fernando Valley, Auto Medics Mobile Repair & Rescue apparently has taken the house call analogy literally. The company has two vans and a tow truck, one of which is outfitted like an ambulance, complete with a light bar. The 8-year-old Van Nuys company assesses a minimum service charge of about $30 for a run, which is applied to the repair bill, said co-owner Sharon McMullens.

In South Pasadena, Rex Chambers’ Mobile Auto Maintenance is basically Chambers and a van that he has driven everywhere from Costa Mesa to Duarte to Hemet since he started in 1986. He charges a minimum of $29 plus travel costs to fix cars. The reason he drives so far? “People need it to be done,� said Chambers’ partner Edie Stovall.