Beetles To Beamers.
Sentinel ~ Tribune

Lyric provides down home service for imports.

Thirty years ago. Beetles were prevalent and Beemers and “on board computer” was something you’d find inside an Apollo space capsule, not under the hood of your car.

How times have changed.

Rick Kern and Lyle Yackee have rolled with the changes since first opening their Bowling Green car repair business, Lyric Auto, in 1972.

What began inside a small repair shop at the corner of South Main and Palmer streets, the former Pure Oil gas station near the city’s downtown, in now a seven bay repair center handling more than 1,000 vehicles a year.

Lyric Auto, is located just south of town at 12953 Kramer Road, east of Ohio 25.

Lyric Auto, a contraction of the two owner’s first names, specializes in there repair and maintenance of imported cars, minivans and light trucks, although the moniker “imported” has even changed a little over the decades now that some of the so-called “Japanese” cars are built in U.S. – based plants.

Volkswagens and some MGs, those quirky British sports cars popular in the 60’s and 70’s here in the U.S., used to be the most common imports Kern and Yackee healed. But they’ve been replaced for the most part, by Hondas, Toyotas, Volvos, Mercedes and BMW’s (a.k.a. “Beemers”)

“In the beginning it was mostly Volkswagens,” Kern recalled when asked about the early years, and the most popular imports he and Yackee serviced back then.

“Now most of it’s the Japanese cars, although we do work on a lot of European cars, too.”

Kern and Yackee were friend long before going into business together. They were schoolmates back in their hometown of Wauseon. Kern’s parents moved to Bowling Green his senior year of high school. Yackee ended up coming to college the following year at Bowling Green State University and the two young men linked back up.

Both men already had interested in all things automotive, as Kern explained.

“My father was a mechanic, so I grew up with it” he said. “And Lyle always tinkered with his own cars and was working on them.”

When they first went into business together, the two men rented the small, two-car-bay former gas station near downtown Bowling Green. They were there less than two years before buying their own building on Kramer Road, where they’ve been ever since.

Repairs have remained basically the same over the years, from brake jobs to transmission work, air conditioning, exhaust replacement, or anything else ailing your import.

“We do everything except body work,” Kern noted.

One thing that’s changed is the technology found on today’s imports. The days of the old air-cooled VW engines are long gone. Nowadays, computers are as much a part of most new cars as windshield wipers.

“That’s probably the biggest change. I’d say, is all the electronics and the computers.” Kern said.

Lyric Auto has kept up with the times, and features state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment.

With all their experience, three decades, working on imports, what’s the most reliable care on the road?

“I’d have to say Hondas and Toyotas,” Kern said. “They’re just well-built cars.”

Consequently, a large percentage of work performed at Lyric involves preventative maintenance – tune-ups, oil and fluid changes, brake inspections – as opposed to straight – forward repairs.

And they’ve also seen some unusual repairs over the years.

“We’ve run into all kinds of things,” Kern said with a big of a laugh. “Everything from jealous boyfriends sabotaging a car, to unusual things found in fuel tanks.”

After 30 years in the business and with no sings of letting up, what’s the key ingredient for success?

“I’d say a close friendship with the person you’re in business with,” Kern said. “We’re good at different things. I’m a little more on the business side, and Lyle’s more on the technical side. So we each have our strengths.”

And keeping customers returning is the other key piece to the success puzzle. Lyric Auto has established a well of repeat customers, including some cases where sons and daughters of customers in the ‘70s are now bringing in their autos.

“We rely on word of mouth and we have clients who go all the way back,” Kern said. “If you’re honest and treat people right, they’ll keep coming back.”

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Bowling Green Ohio Auto Mechanics