Car Talk talks with Jon and Hal from the Good News Garage

Car Talk: How did you get this idea?

Hal: I was at the right place at the right time. I was working at a Community Action Program, and had become the car fix-it guru. That is, when someone was about to lose his or her job, it was my job to figure out a way to keep his or her car running.

One day, a mother who was on welfare and had two kids came into my office. She was in tears. She had just paid 500 bucks for a piece of junk that fell apart once she left the lot. It was a terrible situation. There was no justice for her.

The idea came to me that we needed a community-based garage that would receive, repair and distribute cars.

Car Talk: Then what?

Hal: I met with Lutheran Social Services of New England. They were looking to do their first project in Vermont. We did a survey, and found out that transportation was a huge problem for folks who were trying to get off of welfare. I mentioned it at a meeting, and it was one of those Pentecostal moments--everyone loved it. So, we managed to get a grant, and started the garage. And, now, we have 13 full-time employees, and a million- dollar-a-year budget.

Getting a decent car can be quite a stretch for many low-income people. Our program is making a huge difference in getting people off of welfare and into jobs.

A Good News Garage mechanic at work

No one wants to be poor. People want to work. But, transportation equity is a real problem. Almost everyone knows what it's like when your car dies and you can't get out of your driveway. If you're scraping for money, that's what it's like every day.

It's a simple solution to a huge problem. Plus, we recycle cars.

Car Talk: How do you get cars for this program?

Jon: All the cars are donated, mostly from private individuals. We air public service announcements on public radio, and we have a spot that runs on TV stations in the region.

We received about 100 cars in our first year. We just passed our 1000th car donated.

Car Talk: What happens to the cars you receive?

About half of the cars we receive are worth fixing up. The rest, we sell to wholesalers, or use for parts.

Sometimes, we'll receive a high-end car, like an Audi or a Mercedes. In those cases, we'll repair the car, sell it retail, and use the income to operate the program.

And, because we're a nonprofit organization, individuals can deduct the fair market value of their car from their taxes.

Car Talk: What are your criteria for accepting cars, if someone offers you something? That is, what will you take... and what will you junk?

We try for cars that are less than ten years old, in running condition, and haven't been sitting around rusting in the back forty. But, we'll take almost anything if someone drops it off here at the garage. Because recipients have to cover the costs of repairs, we try to only accept cars whose repairs will be less than $1,200.

Jon looks under the hood

If we're taking our tow truck to get a donated vehicle, we will be a bit more picky. If we don't want the car, we'll refer the owner to organizations that will take the car and sell it to a scrap dealer, such as the Kidney Foundation.

Car Talk: Do you have car dealers involved in your program?

Jon: Actually, yes. Let's say a customer comes to a dealer, and has a car he wants to trade in, in which the dealer really isn't interested. Our participating dealers will refer their customers to our garage.

We also have a dealer who helps us out, by selling some of our high end cars on his lot, without charging us a consignment fee.

Car Talk: Who performs the repairs for the vehicle?

Hal: We have a total of 13 people working here now: three mechanics and Jon, service writers, a mechanic assistant, a full-time tow driver, and six of us running the program, in the office.

We have three bays. We just added a tow truck, which is making it easier for us to collect vehicles.

Car Talk: ...and who foots the bill?

If you qualify to receive a car, you don't pay for the cost of the carÑ you only pay for the parts and labor to get the car into good shape. So, the car itself is a gift to the recipient. We try to keep our repair costs under $1,000. And, various state programs will pay between $700 and $1200 a year for car repairs, so most folks just pay for the registration and taxes. We charge them $40 an hour, and only mark the parts up 25%.

Car Talk: How do you cover the costs for the parts and labor on the repair?

Hal: The majority of repairs are paid for via grants from the state for people receiving our cars. For example, the Department of Social Welfare offers $700 per client for repairs, and another $400 for maintenance in the first year. People who are not in any of these programs do have to find the money for repairs. A good percentage of our funding also comes from grants from foundations, as well as private donations. Right now, the garage has a $1 million annual budget.

We try to keep our rates as low as possible. We started out with a sliding fee scale when we first started, but quickly realized that we were going under, at that rate. We now charge recipients $40 an hour, and we're trying to keep it at that rate.

Car Talk: What are the criteria for being accepted to receive a car?

Hal: We have a rating system we've developed. Working with various state agencies and caseworkers, we look for people who have training and a job promise--or someone who has a job, but his or her car just died. Single parents get preference, and applications are weighted, so that people not near public transportation get preference. An applicant needs to have a valid driver's license and gross income of less than 150% of the Federal poverty level.

The Garage

Most of the recipients are on welfare when they receive their car. Seventy-five percent of the individuals who have received cars from us, are now off of welfare and working.

Right now, we have a waiting list of 150 people.

Car Talk: Once someone receives a car... is that it? Where can they go for repairs?

Jon: We give them a two-week guarantee on our work, but if something really serious happens within the first few months, we'll take a look at it. In general, though, we're too busy to do all the ongoing repair work on these cars. Part of getting into the real world is learning to deal with other mechanics.

We also have a list of recommended shops which we give to our recipients.

Car Talk: What are you working on now?

Jon: For one thing, we're trying to get corporations to donate fleet vehicles to our program. That way, the work becomes more streamlined. Some of those cars will get repaired, while others will become parts cars. We can be a lot more efficient if we're working on just a few models.

We're also working on moving into a new location, which will have eight bays, office space and storage space, all under one roof. We're hoping to add brake lathes and tire machines at the same time, and then get certified as a "green," environmentally-friendly garage.